May 4, 2018 - The Art Media Hotel is a small dispersion hotel in Žanjic bay, specific as one of the few tourist projects in Montenegro, which chooses its guests and allows guests to select it. The hotel is looking for and wishing to be part of a story that is one of the aspects of tourism of particular interest - cultural tourism. When we say cultural tourism, we primarily think of the cultural values we inherit, cultural programs organized by local cultural centers, and national projects. However, there are few touristic service providers in our country that have formed the concept around the stage. Art Media is one of them.
Art Media Hotel is a pioneering story in this regard, but with a firm foundation in the fact that in the Perovic family, everyone is in some way involved with art. Drportrays Nina Perovic is a composer of classical music, and the brother Igor is also a musician. Father Nikola Perovic is a sculptor and amateur musician, while the mother Silva, with a lot of tastes and style, combines all of their art into a harmonious story located on just 1.5 thousand square meters under centuries-old Dalmatian pine trees.
"The concept is first and foremost a project of my father, Nikola Perovic, who has a brilliant blend of two talents, both artistic and talented in business. So, he designed the tourism concept, but with lots of room to filter through the story and art content, which is very important. And all of this is based on a unique ambiance that we wanted to preserve to the fullest extent and to incorporate our story into it," explains Nina Perovic. "From the very beginning, the whole story is a result of really happy circumstances. Starting from Žanjic, a place incredible to all of us from the very beginning. Wonderful energy, wonderful nature, silence and peace and all the conditions that look for this kind of tourism that will turn to some other layers. This will address a different tourist profile than those who will opt for a loud destination like Budva," says one of the most respected young composers in Montenegro.
What has been a promising fact in the Perovic family project is that, before they even thought of developing a tourist story, they were the guests of Žanjic for many years, choosing this wonderful place of the still untouched nature and harmony that served them rest, and so much for inspiration and creation. "I can say that Žanjic, in some ways, opted for me as an artist since I grew up there. But that is not the question of our family's ability to recognize Zanjic as such. I had the situation that my composition teacher in master studies was staying at the hotel for two weeks. Apart from being a composer, he's also a clarinetist, and he spent one full day on Mamula playing the clarinet. He was delighted with the uniqueness of this incredible ambiance, acoustics, and the fact that all this is available to everyone. This is the peculiarity of this ambience- Žanjice really invites everyone to art," says composer Perovic.
The fact is that the beauty and peace she is talking about slowly disappears, and piece by piece destroys the authenticity and uniqueness of the entrance to Boka bay. There is more and more space that is already, or will soon be closed for access. Among them are valuable monuments of culture and architecture – former concentration camp Mamula and fortress Arza. Also, there are a lot of interventions that entirely do not match the ambience they would like to have at all costs.
"It's something that is happening to us and our heritage, and we have no strength; we cannot react at this point. There is a privilege to be closed 1500 sqm and to believe that at least there will be nothing else you consider appropriate for such a place," says Nina, explaining that her father was primarily responsible for the design of that space. It is not strange since Nikola has been engaged as a sculptor, making his pieces of art out of olive trees, enjoying incredible shapes of this wood, recognizing shapes and with small interventions, breathing their new, art piece life. The most common are human characters. "My dad, as I said, is a talented a businessman and an artist. When I say artist, I think first of all of a great nature lover. The construction of our hotel did not cut down a single pine tree in the pine forest. From the sea, the hotel is completely unobtrusive, although it is only 20 meters from the sea. I personally did not like such thoughts, but I had the opportunity to talk to our guests who claimed that the place has incredible energy. Some of them chose to enjoy the sun loungers within the small playground that we have designed, lying for hours on the chairs,"says Perovic.
The summer terrace is an area of organization of a large number of cultural and artistic contents, from the presentation of the tradition to the appearance of some significant names on the cultural map of Montenegro, such as the violinist Roman Simovic or painter Miki Radulovic.
"From my point of view, and I'm almost entirely artistic oriented, this stage, along with other common spaces, is the most precious part of our hotel and it is exactly what makes it stand out from other tourist destinations. The space is conceived to include a scene with seating areas. And, what we have found for now is that the public profile is really what we wanted. We are still a young hotel, and in these first few years, other things are priorities concerning cultural content. But I can sort out some programs that really were a privilege, and the result of really happy circumstances. For example, a guest of our hotel was the famous violinist Roman Simović, so together with the guests, we had the opportunity to enjoy his performance with his wife, Milena Simović. Our guest was also the soprano Olivera Tičević, who gave us an incredibly wonderful evening performing arias. The actor Aleksandar Radulović recited the verses of the Gorski vijenac, and there were great quartets from Novi Sad. In part, this is the result of the fact that a large number of my colleagues, classical musicians, do not often have the opportunity to perform in such a relaxed atmosphere. And all this is presented to foreigners because the guests in the hotel are mostly foreigners. For example, at the folklore evenings, they remain completely text-free and are delighted with such performances. This is our small contribution to the presentation of both contemporary culture and tradition. For the time being, these are programs that show us the opportunity. Investing in culture in this country means much more than the desire to change something. This must be the result of reflection on the subject and the systematic management of the whole structure so that it becomes available to a wider audience, not only to our guests. I think this is a great value of our hotel and what we can and should do in perspective," explains the artist modestly.
While Nina contemplates the need for a more systematic approach to the music program organization, her father, the sculptor Nikola Perovic, does not rest either as a creator or as a host. In addition to the hotel's exterior, decorated with his sculptures in olive tree wood, this spring he organized the art colony for the third time, which brought together some of the most subtle Montenegrin visual creators. Miki Radulović, famous Montenegrin painter, besides pointing to the fascination with Luštica's landscape, was equally enthusiastic about hospitality and love, which, according to him, Perovic managed to engage in all spheres of his activity. The first colony was inspired by the fate of the island of Mamula, a former concentration camp, which is being transformed into a boutique hotel. The first colony name was Greetings to Mamula, while those following have been named simply-Motives of Luštica 1 and Motives of Luštica 2.
"When you realize that the contents could be repeated, deepened, and complicated, that is precisely the real value that promises that your endeavors in the future may develop into something important. The art colony is already a tradition, and names like Filip Janković, Mišo Vemić, Miki Radulovic, Momcilo Macanovic, Ljubo Popadić, Ivica Arandus are certainly a confirmation of the quality of our art colony, which we intend to extend interestingly for the following year by incorporating music and dramatic art to make some synthesis of these three arts to show content that portray our identity. In addition, we have the conditions for organizing different workshops, and in October, we intend to organize an art therapy workshop with excellent Croatian lecturers," announced Nina Perovic.
All photos Art Media Hotel Facebook
