SIERRA LEONE: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

Earlier this month, I finished reading Graham Greene’s Journey Without Maps. During the 1930s, he was sent to Africa and tasked with mapping out and exploring the interior of Liberia. He had started out in British-controlled Sierra Leone, gathered a crew to help him navigate his way, and made their way through the jungles and villages in the interior parts of Sierra Leone and Liberia. Outside of the coastal cities, all that the Americans, French, and British had written about the interior of theses countries was very little, just vaguely condemning the entire area as belonging to cannibals. I love his way of describing what he saw and the people he met – and no, none of them were cannibals. 

 

Portuguese sailors during the 15^th century were the first Europeans to give this area a name and called the hills near Freetown Serra Leoa. It translates to “Lioness Mountains.” The Spanish later called it Sierra Leona, and through a series of misspellings, it became known as Sierra Leone. (To be fair, leone is the Italian word for lion, so it’s still close.)

Sierra Leone is located in West Africa, surrounded by Guinea to the north and east and Liberia to the south. It has a significant coastline on the Atlantic Ocean. The country has a variety of landscapes from mountains to river basins to lowlands to swamps, forests, and farmland. They have a tropical climate divided into a rainy season (May to November) and a dry season (December to May). During the dry season, they experience the harmattan winds that come off of the Sahara Desert. 

People have been living in this area for about 2500 years, having migrated from other areas of Africa. Many of them belonged to the Mande group of people. Islam was introduced through the Mali Empire and became widely established during the 18^th century. As the Europeans arrived (mainly the Portuguese, Dutch, French, and British), they set up trading posts throughout the area. Of course, the all three countries helped facilitate the African slave trade between various points in West Africa and the West Indies. After the United States won its independence, there were quite a few freed African slaves who fled to Canada. These Black Loyalists of Nova Scotia, tired of Canadian winters and continued racism, decided they’d rather deal with whatever Africa had to give them over that hot mess. Known as The Settlers, they set up the city of Freetown and established their lives like what they learned how to do when they were slaves in the American South. It was a rough process of getting themselves established, and the British didn’t offer much help or support (of course not). They were still threatened from outside groups with re-enslavement. During the 1790s, they held their first election—including women. The British were reluctant to let them take freehold of the land, and then sent in 500 Jamaican Maroons. And when the British abolished slavery, they dumped more recently freed slaves into Sierra Leone, many sold as apprentices or forced to join the Navy. During the 19^th century, a new ethnicity of mixed cultures emerged, and they called themselves Krio (Creole). The British turned Sierra Leone into a colony, and Freetown became a regional center, building it up and creating a European-style city complete with markets and universities. It later became a British protectorate, often butting heads with tribal leaders of taxes and land control. During the 1950s, Sierra Leone began drafts of pulling away, as many colonial states were doing in Africa, and they finally gained their independence in 1961. While things generally started out fine, it didn’t take long for all hell to break loose and someone to establish a one-party system. For nearly the first 30 years, politics in Sierra Leone were met with riots and corruption and coups, followed by a decade-long civil war during the 1990s. It took a long time to recover from the civil war, which left the country in a state of disarray and inadequate infrastructure and stability. In 2014, they suffered terribly from the Ebola epidemic that hit many areas of the West African coastal countries.

 

Freetown is Sierra Leone’s largest city and capital with a population of around 1.5 million people. It’s also an important port city, located on a harbor of an estuary of the Sierra Leone River. The city is known for Kings Gate, in which former slaves who walked through the gate were considered freed; The Cotton Tree, representing when the city was christened in 1792; Fourah Bay College, the oldest university in West Africa; and Connaught Hospital, the first hospital to utilize modern medicine in West Africa.

Sierra Leone’s economy has been struggling to recover since their civil war ended in 2002. High unemployment and slow financial infrastructure (like establishing credit systems) have impacted the growth of their economy. They do receive aid from other countries, however. Agriculture (mainly in rice production) and mining (mostly in diamonds and rutile, a type of titanium ore) are huge economic drivers. While many areas of Sierra Leone’s transportation infrastructure have been built up in the urban and coastal areas, there are still many areas of unpaved roads and rudimentary airports.

Technically a secular state, the main two religions are Islam and Christianity. Islam (mostly Sunni) is far more practiced though, with nearly 78% of the people adhering to the religion. A little more than 20% of the population follows Christianity (mostly various Protestant denominations), while a small number of people still stick with indigenous African religions. However, while people may come from different religions, there is a high religious tolerance in Sierra Leone and has strict guidelines on hate speech against other religions.

Because Sierra Leone was once governed by Britain, English remains the official language. Krio, a Creole made of combining English and several other African languages, is the most widely spoken language. Nearly 90% of the people speak it and use it in everyday living. It was actually used as a lingua franca in the early days of the country when it was set up during the 1700s.

It says "We will defeat Ebola" in Krio.

Mentioned in Journey Without Maps, Sierra Leone’s dense interior and tropical climate makes it a deep haven for various diseases like malaria, yellow fever, hepatitis A, typhoid fever, and Ebola. Rabies, dengue fever, and schistosomiasis are also commonly found there as well. Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and other nearby countries often struggle with managing these diseases, but their infrastructure, political instability, and lack of medical resources makes it hard to combat them. I remember reading an article about the 2014 Ebola outbreak, and in some cases, there were only a handful of doctors with supplies available in the entire country. While quarantines helped stop the flow of people into and out of the country, it also made it more difficult to get supplies and people to help. It was a very scary time. But we could be doing more to help.

Up next: art and literature

SEYCHELLES: THE FOOD

This weekend was a challenge. I had so many things going on and not enough time to do it in. I had my 20^th high school reunion and a family cookout this weekend, so I had a limited amount of time to cook for my blog. I had to cut a couple recipes from my Seychelles menu, but I managed to fit it all in. I’m exhausted, but I did everything I wanted to do.

Yeah, the two that I ate were good. Could've used some more, though.

The first thing I made was Gato Koko, or coconut cake. But this isn’t like what you think. It’s more like coconut cookies. First I mixed about 3 ½ Tbsp of butter with 2 eggs until it was frothy. Then I added in 1 ½ c of flour, ¾ c of shredded coconut, ½ tsp of baking powder, and ½ c of sugar. Then I mixed it again until it all came together and was smooth. On a greased baking sheet, I dipped out spoonfuls of the dough and rolled them into balls. Before I put it in the oven, I sprinkled a little coconut on top. The recipe was a little vague on how hot my oven was supposed to be, so I set it for 375ºF, and I left it in for about 24 minutes. But in all honesty, I could’ve probably pulled them out closer to 20-22 minutes. I thought they were a little dry at first, but the second bite was better for some reason. It actually kind of grows on you. They must’ve been good. The family ate them all up. Out of the 23 I made, I got two.

Amaaaaaaaaaazing!

The main course today is Seychelles-style Coconut Chicken Curry. I grabbed my heavy pot and heated some oil in it and added in some onions. Once they sautéed for a few minutes, I added in some garlic, dried ginger, black pepper, ground cloves, ground ginger, ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, some curry powder (I was out, so I just added some cumin and turmeric), a pinch of saffron, and a few bay leaves. I stirred and let it simmer for a couple of minutes before throwing in my diced chicken and diced potato. Once I stirred everything to coat the potatoes and chicken with all of the spices, I covered it and let it simmer for about 5 minutes. Then I added in a can of coconut milk, stirred, lowered the heat, and let it simmer covered for about 20 minutes. After that, I took the lid off, stirred and let it cook down for another 15 minutes or so. I really enjoyed this. It wasn’t spicy, but it was spiceful. I’ve always been a fan of North African, Arab, and Indian cooking styles of combining sweet spices with savory ones. I think it creates a very complex flavor. I don’t think we do that well (or often) in American cuisine.

I loved everything about this.

To go with the curry, I made Creole Rice.  I heated some butter (in lieu of ghee) in a pot and sautéed some diced onion, diced red pepper, minced garlic, and a little bit of ground cloves. Then I added in my rice along with some cinnamon, salt, turmeric, and black pepper. Once I let it sauté for a minute while stirring constantly, I added in my water. After it came to a boil, I turned the heat down and let it simmer until the water was evaporated. I garnished it with a little bit of parsley. I thought this was quite tasty and probably could’ve just eaten it by itself as a side dish, but I put my curry on top of it. And it was amazing.

I thought everything on this plate was really, really good. And the family did, too!

This has been a whirlwind of a weekend. I haven’t been this busy for such a long time. But instead of shirking this off somehow, I decided to go ahead and cook. I had to skip on the octopus curry and the banana ladob, but at least I did make a meal and some cookies (that were gone by the time I got home from my reunion). It was also a weekend of meeting some interesting characters, I mean, people. No matter how normal or how weird people are, I always think the same thing: I might put them in a book one day.

Up next: Sierra Leone

SEYCHELLES: MUSIC AND DANCE

Seychelles’ folk music incorporates many different influences. Its history of French and British colonization along with immigrants from India, the Arab states, and mainland Africa all play into their musical storytelling. European styles like the mazurka, polka, and contredance, sega music from Réunion and Mauritius, and several ubiquitous African styles like zouk, taarab, soukous moutye play an integral part in their musical styles. Add in various Polynesian, Indian, and Mediterranean styles, and you get a unique array of musical sounds. 

 

In many cases, two or more of these styles merged to create something new. Kanmtole, a type of complex percussion rhythms is commonly used. Reggae is a common musical style in Africa and African diaspora and has mixed with other styles. For example, sega and reggae became seggae, while reggae and moutya became mouggae. Mainly the lyrics are sung in Creole, French, English, or some combination of these languages. 

At festivals throughout the year, moutya and kontredans (their version of the English contredanse) are so popular that there are competitions. The annual Festival Kreol is one of the biggest festivals held in Seychelles. Both of these along with Kanmtole are dances that have been danced in Seychelles for centuries.

As far as traditional instruments go, there are a few that are incorporated into Seychellois music: makalapo (a wooden pole based in a can, with strings attached to the pole), bonm (calabash with one string), zez (similar to a bonm except with a resonator), tambour moutya (a wooden flat drum with a cow or goat skin for the drum head), and the mouloumba (a type of bamboo drum). Many of today’s songs use modern instruments like the violin, guitar, accordion, banjo, drums, and other percussion instruments like the triangle.  

I wasn’t able to find as many Seychellois musicians as I thought I was going to. Jean-Marc Volcy was one of the main ones mentioned that I found – but I only found one song by him on Spotify. I could definitely hear some of the instruments represented above.

However, I did find some other musicians mentioned in the Suggested section on Spotify. One was a beach chillout compilation with various artists on the album. I was kind of into this one. There were several songs on there that I liked. Because sometimes you just need to chill.

I also found some music from Sonny Morgan. Although he now lives in Australia, his music is quite reflective of his Seychellois heritage. He brings a certain Indian Ocean flair to his music which integrates blues and other styles into his sega/reggae sound.

Up next: the food

SEYCHELLES: ART AND LITERATURE

The postcard-like beaches and tropical colors of the island’s flora and fauna are inspiration enough for many artists to try their hand at capturing the beauty of the scenery. 

by Michael Adams

Many of their arts stem back to the early days of their island existence and often use materials found on the island. Themes often cover island life and historical events. Some of the items used in their art and jewelry found here include parts of coconuts, pottery, reeds and palm fronds, shells, corals, wood, husks, sand, and other natural materials.

by Alyssa Adams

One of the more well-known artists on the island is Michael Adams (no relation, but if he wanted to, say, get me a plane ticket to come visit, I mean, I’d oblige). His main art styles include watercolors and silkscreen prints. And actually, his two kids also share exhibit space in his gallery.

Andrew Gee paints in a realistic style, especially showing the changing landscape and other scenes around the island. He actually left England to become a fashion and textile instructor in the islands about 25 years ago. (I’m sure the winters are much nicer.)

 

by Sheila Markham

There are a couple of artists who work in sculpture of different mediums. Sheila Markham uses cardboard boxes and newspapers for her sculptures while Tom Bower sticks to bronze. Egbert Marday uses whatever materials he has around him that inspires him: a true recycler.

 

by Nigel Henri

Some artists’ works are seen throughout areas of the islands. A few of Nigel Henri’s paintings can be seen in the Seychelles International Airport, many people’s first official views of the country. And George Camille found his work as an artist showcased for Air Seychelles and in a popular guidebook called “Seychelles in Your Pocket.” 

cover art by George Camille

Because Seychelles is a multi-ethnic country with people of French, British, African, Indian, and Arab backgrounds, their folklore and storytelling also reflects these roots as well. Early on, these stories were passed down from generation to generation.

One of the most well-known authors is Antoine Abel. Many of his short stories, novels, poems, and plays were centered around the islands and its folklore. He wrote in English, French, and Creole, bringing the literature of Seychelles to the world.

Outside of Antoine Abel, I only came up a couple other names of writers from Seychelles. Leu Mancienne is known for his book called Fler fletri, published in both Creole and French. Although he was born in Mauritius, Guy Lionnet moved to Seychelles and became really involved with the environment and conservation. He published several works on the history and ecology of the islands. I’m sure there are others out there, but perhaps they have a far more limited audience.

Up next: music and dance

SEYCHELLES: THE LAND AND THE PEOPLE

So I made some amendments to the childhood tongue twister: She sells seashells from Seychelles down by the seashore made of sea shale. Try saying that a few times fast. (Now try it after a few drinks.) The only things I knew about the Seychelles were that they were near Africa in the Indian Ocean, and that I had read somewhere they were a popular destination for the rich and famous to spend their free time. And they have an odd double coconut. 

 

These islands were pretty much uninhabited, so there really isn’t a native name. The Portuguese called them the Amirantes. But it was the French who named them after their Minister of Finance to Louis XV, Jean Moreau de Séchelles. From what I gathered, the guy really didn’t do all that much for the Seychelles Islands, so they probably just owed him a favor or something.

The Seychelles Islands are located roughly 950 miles east of Kenya in the Indian Ocean. This 115-island nation is northeast of Madagascar and the Comoros Islands, north of Mauritius, and southwest of the Maldives. Some of the islands are granite-based and others are coral-based. Understandably because of its location and proximity to the equator, the Seychelles Islands are humid and tropical.  July and August are the cooler months of the year whereas the heat and humidity tend to be higher from December through April.

Although the islands weren’t readily inhabited, it’s also reasonable to think that sailors from the Maldives and the Arabian Peninsula probably visited the area. After the Portuguese arrived, the British showed up, and then the French. And there were a fair number of pirates who used the islands as a pit stop between Africa and Asia. However, the British moved back into the area and took control of the islands in 1794. The British and the French decided to work it out among themselves, and the British gains included adding the Seychelles Islands in with the Mauritius Islands, known as British Mauritius. In 1903, Seychelles separated itself from Mauritius and became a crown colony. They actually held their own elections just prior to their independence in 1976. It quickly became known as the place where the rich and famous go to play. However, there was a coup in 1977 and the new president warned about too much tourism and then put into place a strict one-party socialist system that lasted until 1991. The 1980s brought a number of coup attempts. But once they got rid of that mess, they approved a new constitution and tried to start over. In 2013, the Seychelles Islands were devastated by flooding from a tropical cyclone that tore through the islands causing quite a bit of damages.

The capital city of Victoria is found on the island of Mahé. Originally established by the British as the capital of its colonial government, the British gave it its current name after acquiring it from the French. With roughly 26,000 people in the greater capital area, there are several places of note they’re known for: their botanical gardens, their large fruit and fish market, a national stadium, a clock tower built after the Vauxhall Clocktower in London, and a couple national museums.

Seychelles’s economy is similar that of other island nations. Their major agricultural products include fish (both fresh and frozen), vanilla, sweet potatoes, cinnamon, and copra (dried coconut meat or kernels used to make coconut oil). There have been some efforts in recent years to really ramp up their tourism with more beach resort hotels and restaurants. 

The vast majority of Seychellois are Christian, with most of them following Roman Catholicism. The main Protestant denominations represented in the islands include Anglican, Pentecostal Assembly, Seventh-Day Adventist, and others. Because of Seychelles’s proximity and history with Arabs and Indians, there are also pockets of Hindus and Muslims as well. And surprisingly, there are a significant number of atheists and agnostics there.

While English and French remain as official languages from their colonial days, Seychellois Creole is also listed as an official language and spoken by most of the people there. Seychellois is a French-based Creole with a number of English words mixed in.

Miss Seychelles 2008, Elena Angione

So, I was reading about how their society is essentially a matriarchal one when it comes to taking care of the household and raising the children. In fact, unwed mothers do not share the same stigma that they do in the US. However, outside of the home, a woman’s status only goes so far. Sexual harassment, domestic abuse and rape, and discrimination still regularly occur, and the problem is that those in authority to do something about it often look the other way.  Numerous studies have shown that giving women access to education and equal job and housing opportunities are shown to help reduce poverty. This is why we need feminism.

Up next: art and literature

SERBIA: THE FOOD

The July 4^th holiday has come and gone. So it’s high time people stop letting off fireworks already. Seriously, we have one neighbor who thinks it’s cool to let off fireworks using some kind of cannon (which disturbs me every single time). And then last night, someone was letting off fireworks at 3am! Yes, they’re pretty. I get it. But I’ll never understand people’s obsession with it. Let’s keep it in the hands of the professionals. 

Salty cheese-filled pastries. What's not better than this?

One thing that’s NOT in the hands of a professional is cooking food from Serbia today. The first thing I’m starting with is Kiflice, or Serbian cheese rolls. The first thing I did was get my cheese filling ready: I took my crumbled feta cheese and smashed it with a fork to break it up. Then I added in an egg white, 1 tsp of chopped green chilies, and 1 tsp of minced garlic, stirring everything together. It shouldn’t be runny, but firm like cream cheese.  Then I warmed up about 50mL of milk to room temperature (maybe slightly warmer) and dissolved my yeast packet, 1 tsp sugar, and 1 Tbsp of flour into it. My yeast had apparently gotten warm, so when I poured it in, it clumped up. I stirred it together and set it off to the side until it turned frothy. After mixing my flour and salt together, I added in my yeast mix along with an egg, oil, and more milk. Once the dough started to come together, I formed it into a ball and covered it in plastic wrap to rest for about an hour. After it rested, I kneaded it for a minute before dividing it into 5 balls. I rolled each dough ball out until it was about a ¼” thick and divided it into 8 segments (cut like a pizza—in fact, using a pizza cutter made this super easy). Then I took some of my feta cheese mix and placed it on the wide side of the triangles and rolled them up like crescent rolls. Once I had done all 40 of them, I brushed the top with an egg yolk and milk mixture and sprinkled paprika on top. Just before I put it in the oven, I took 3 Tbsp of butter and divided each square into quarters and placed these small butter cubes throughout the baking sheet so that it would melt and make them crispy. It was also a little difficult to get them off the pan, but they were really tasty. I thought these were fantastic, and my family agreed.

I have a 9-year-old son. I know what it looks like. But it TASTES 109% better.

My main dish for today was Serbian Cevapcici. These were pretty much like uncased sausages. They were meant to be grilled, but I didn’t want to mess with setting the grill up, so I pan-fried them instead. I mixed together some ground beef and ground pork (I left out the ground lamb because I couldn’t find it where I was) along with an egg white, some minced garlic, salt, baking powder, black pepper, a little bit of cayenne pepper, and paprika. Using my hands, I mixed everything together as much as I could. It’s still gross to handle raw meat, and I’ve been like that since I was a kid. I was supposed to form these into finger-like sausages about ¾” thick, but mine were much bigger and probably a little misshapen. But they held up and tasted far better than they looked. I loved these, but I would probably make meatballs out of them instead of this shape when (not if) I make these again.

Someone needs to have a cookout so I can make this again and bring it.

To go with this, I made two side dishes. The first one was Krompir Salata, or Serbian Potato Salad. This was a nice alternative to the usual potato salad, and I’ll definitely repeat this one. I boiled 4 cubed yellow potatoes and placed them in a bowl after they cooled a bit along with some onions. In an old spaghetti sauce jar, I added in some white vinegar, some olive oil, minced garlic, diced roasted red peppers, salt, sugar, and some black pepper and shook everything together. Then I tossed the dressing on top of the potatoes and onions and stirred. This was fantastic, except that I used four potatoes instead of the six the recipe suggested, but I forgot to adjust my oil amounts. So, outside of being a tad oily and having to drain off as much as I could, I loved everything about this. I hadn’t ever used roasted red peppers in a jar, but I will definitely think about using these again.

This picture looks better than it really was. Actually, it wasn't that bad.

And finally, I made Prebranac, or Serbian baked beans. I went with some Great Northern beans and boiled them for what seems like forever and still wasn’t enough. While that was going on, I chopped an onion and fried it until it started to brown. I put that in a bowl and mixed it with some garlic, paprika, salt, and pepper. When my beans were finally almost done (ok, my kitchen was super hot by that time, and I was tired), I put them in a dish, added a layer of onions, a layer of beans, onions, and finally beans. I sprinkled some garlic powder on top, added a couple of bay leaves, and drizzled the pan drippings from my sausage on top. Then I put it in a 375ºF oven for about 35 minutes. It was actually pretty good minus the few beans that were still a little undercooked, and the top was a little dried out. Beans are still on my list of dishes that I need to work on, especially if I’m making something from dry beans. I just don’t have the patience for something that takes that long to soften up. (Well, I don’t know… I have been married for 13 years.)

This was a surprisingly tasty meal. Very full of flavor!

The days that I cook typically take up most of my afternoon, and I’m usually pretty tired afterwards. Today was no exception. My kitchen was like 192º in there while I was cooking. But cooking today almost had a different purpose – it was more therapeutic. I went to a funeral calling for a 2-year old yesterday, and then my car decided to give me a bunch of weird messages and drive like crap. Seeing how I never have money more than 22 minutes after I get paid, I’m hoping it’ll be a cheap and quick fix. So today, baking served a different purpose for me. This might be a stressful few days coming up, but at least we’ll be well-fed. I guess it’s like what the French say, c’est la vie.

Up next: Seychelles

SERBIA: MUSIC AND DANCE

Much of the music from Serbia is similar to that of the larger Balkan region. A large portion of traditional early music is tied to the church, especially music from the Medieval Period. During this time, court music pretty much made up the rest of their music. Later, more secular music used epic poetry as its basis. 

 

The gusle (a 1-stringed fiddle) was often used in the music using that epic poetry. (Skip forward on the video below to about the 1:30 mark to watch an example of the gusle.) Other instruments you can hear include the gadje (bagpipes), several kinds of lutes (tambura, tamburitza, gusle, kaval, bouzouki), different kinds of drums (tarambuke, davul), frula (a 6-holed wooden flute), diple (another woodwind instrument), zurna  (another wind instrument that looks like a small trumpet), the accordion, and the duduk (a double reed instrument made from apricot wood).

Serbia has a long history with its folk music. Generally, they’ve divided it into rural and urban folk music. And unlike many cultures as we enter the modern era of music, Serbia never dissed theirs: they incorporated it into other musical styles. Today, there are a plethora of musicians who integrate traditional folk styles into pop, jazz, and a combo of different genres. During the 1970s and 1980s, many of the lyrics spanned between typical folk poetry themes to more of an edgier political nature (anti-Communism). After the break-up of Yugoslavia and through the 1990s and 2000s, turbo-folk emerged, which brought rock and electronic dance music into the folk genre. And the lyrics got racier as well! Think sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll! 

Although many folk songs were danced to, there is one type of folk dance that stands out: the kolo. It's a circle dance, most often danced to the music of an accordion. And it’s almost done entirely with feet and no movement from the waist up (perhaps a little like Irish dancing in that aspect).

One of the faults of teaching Western classical music is that it generally only covers certain music of certain countries: England, Germany, Austria, Italy, France, Russia, the United States with a few others added in for effect. However, there are whole cultures of classical composers not extensively studied. Serbia has produced many classical musicians and composers alike, many who have studied under some of the top European legends. If you’re looking for something different to perform, try looking up some of these names: Stevan Stojanovic Mokranjac, Petar Konjovic, Stevan Hristic, Miloje Milojevic, Ljubica Maric, and Milan Ristic.

I found quite a few musicians on Spotify. The first ones I listened to were several artists who sung various folk traditions. In some songs, I could definitely tell a modernization to them. For one, they used modern instruments, but with trills and vocalizations that were indicative of folk styles. Some of these musicians include Silvana Armenulic, Lepa Lukic, Vesna Zmijanac, Neda Ukraden, and Lepa Brena.

They also have some dance/EDM/pop representation with MC Stojan. Still including plenty of Serbian flare, he mixes these styles with others like hip-hop and incorporates traditional instruments in with the electronic sounds.

Mile Kitic brings a little more of a pop sound to his music that also clearly incorporates Serbian vocal folk styles. However, compared to the earlier folk music where I felt like I was at an international festival, this one made me think I could probably hear this on the radio. Sanja Dordevic, Tina Ivanovic, and Indira Radic are other singers who also make me think I’d hear their music a little more commercially.

I even found a few rock musicians here as well! Smak is a blues rock band that I very much enjoyed listening to. Van Gogh is another band I listened to (I wonder if they pronounce it as “van goff” like the rest of everywhere-that’s-not-the-US?). The lead singer has a deep voice that sounds like the Serbian answer to that Canadian band from the 1990s, Crash Test Dummy.

As far as Serbian hip-hop goes, I found a few who hold up. I was hoping I would. It was kind of an interesting listen; you can tell they pulled their influences from a variety of places. Beogradski Sindikat uses a lot of strings in their music, which I like. I also listened to two female rappers: Sajsi MC (with DJ Bko) and Mimi Mercedez. Sajsi MC’s music tended to be a little more on the EDM side of things, while Mimi Mercedez had more of a “hardcore” sound to it (not to mention that every song had “explicit” next to it, even though I had no idea what she was rapping about). I’m just happy they have some female rappers.

Up next: the food

SERBIA: ART AND LITERATURE

Art in Serbia stems back to Medieval times. Like much of European art during this time, most of it was centered around the church. Frescos done in Byzantine and Italian styles were especially common. One known as “The White Angel” is the most famous: it was the first satellite image from Europe to America as a message of civility and peace. It was also used in trying to reach aliens. (We’ve gone downhill in civilization since that was painted apparently.)

 

Once the Ottomans arrived, they took the fun out of art. There just wasn’t a lot going on. The Baroque period took it back in the right direction, and painters started picking up the brush again. The 1800s saw a huge rise in a number of different artistic styles and themes, like Romanticism (like Katarina Ivanovic), Neoclassicism (like Pavel Durkovic), Realism, Symbolism, and Biedermeier (a Serbian art movement aimed at an awareness of family and home).

 

"Death of a Poor Woman" by Katarina Ivanovic

Right around the turn of the 20^th century, the first art schools began popping up. Many artists were still traveling elsewhere in Europe to learn painting and sculpture, mainly bringing back the avant-garde styles from Germany and other countries. As the 20^th century progressed, other contemporary art styles like performance art began to dig in and make a place for itself in Serbian art. Marina Abramovic is one of the most famous performance artists from Serbia and has had her work showcased around the world.

 

Marina Abramovic

Serbian literature is primarily written in the Serbian language. Some of the earliest examples of literature were religious texts during the 15^th century. Genres mostly included poetry, church service-related texts, hymns and hagiographies, as well as other prose styles. Old Church Slavonic was a prominent language of the church during this time.

The Bible written in Old Church Slavonic

The Battle of Kosovo during the 14^th century opened up a new chapter for Serbian literature, especially for epic poetry. Such a battle as this was the prime subject material for a genre like this.  As the Medieval period became a thing of the past, the Baroque period brought along some new changes: the language started to merge into the Slavonic-Serbian language. By the mid-1800s, Romanticism became the preferred style, and through the efforts of Vuk Karadzic and Duro Danicic, the groundwork for the Serbian language began to solidify.

 

Ivo Andric

The 20^th century brought along an array of authors who wrote under many different styles. Some of the more prominent writers include Ivo Andric (won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961), Vladimir Arsenijevic (award-winning novelist, known for his work In the Hold), Milos Crnjanski (expressionist poet and diplomat), Miroslav Josic Visnjic (award-winning novelist and poet), Mesa Selimovic (Yugoslav author, known for his work Death and the Dervish), Miodrag Bulatovic (novelist and playwright), Danilo Kis (essayist, novelist, short story writer), Milorad Pavic (short story writer, novelist, poet, literary historian, known for his work Dictionary of the Khazars, one of the most prominent authors from Serbia), and Jelena Dimitrijevic (novelist, poet, feminist). And a bunch of others.

Up next: music and dance