December 1, 2018 - Boka Bay is as geographic determination, as so entitative and cultural. You do not have to stay with the people of this area for a long time to recognize the specific pride of the part of the planet they get to enjoy. History has proven, no matter how heavy it was - Bokelians could always win more places to enjoy Boka than the areas to manage it. And so they did, keeping their own affairs in their hands, Bokelians survived a lot of dominations and complicated historical periods preserving their way of life and "infecting“ all those coming to Boka.
Perhaps in that lifestyle lies the answer to the question which over the centuries, regardless of all their differences - in nations, religions, social and property status, Bokelians have always been Bokelians first. Like the Mediterranean - as it was characterized by Predrag Matvejevic, the greatest theoretician of the Mediterranean culture beside Fernand Braudel - and Boka Bay is a combination of opposites, which are always sought after by one another. Serbian writer Dusan Kostic wrote: "The Boka is made of contradictions, just like everything in humans, so it's so intimate and irresistibly attractive, and the eyes that once brought it are carrying it forever."
Boka Bay- Essence in Five Quotes
Entering Boka Bay, one by one the mountain peaks emerge, glittering peaks surrounded by stories from the rich folk epic of this region. The angels of these "heavenly goddesses" descend on them as if to look after the people whom the gods themselves are inclined to. Lovely forest girls, white fairies, walk in the minds of a large rockery.“ (Henrik Hoe, 1892.)
"The general picture is dark and intense: we walk along a narrow corridor, the tops on the hills sky-skinned. The rocks above, and beneath them, at the foot of the bay, small villages, and small towns are placed vividly as white spaces stand out on the narrow outskirts of the houses, sheltered from the light, not particularly rich in greenery gardens and olive trees. The houses are tangled by the hills and clinging to the cliffs. Made from the local gray stone, one seems to appear next to their rocks, like polyps, and hardly recognize where the rock ends, where the building begins." (Pavle Apolonovič Rovinski, 19. century)
"It has been running for many millennia since the man in this area began his game with nature, history, and himself. And he was never alone, he from that little dagger of the earth lined with the sea and the cliffs of the surrounding mountains and hills, but various travel writers, poets, and army leaders came and went to him, all with the desire to leave a fraction of himself and his interpretation on this ancient beauty life ... " (Olga Blažova Gajin Vlasic, 21st century)
"Nowhere like in Boka Bay the man feels ready for the way back, for retrospective experiencing the past, living here and present in old stone houses, where old chairs still await former guests. Where renaissance balconies always resonate with troubadours' songs and the bells of medieval churches and today measure the hours of the living, while in the darkened houses the eastern jewelry is kept in silver vases and in Chinese porcelain. " (Aleksandra Serdukova, 1939.)
"There is another reason why Bokelian is so attached to his homeland. Over the centuries, Boka Bay has been considered for the shelter of gloom and fineness. Our sailor had already come into contact with the largest and oldest cultures of Europe and out-of-Europe countries for his profession, and in time he gained a lot of practical meaning for everything related to the cultural problem, concentrating his ethical and aesthetic meaning on the magnificent churches, once inexcusable hedges old congratulations and unswerving significance. Boka is a great cultural retort. Whatever approached it, it took its spirit. Silent spiritual infiltration transforms its guests into the cultural world. " (Pavao Butorac, the beginning of 20th Century)
Discover the art of Stevan Kordić, Bokelian best known photographer and Boka Bay through his lens.
