When you meet someone on a web forum, you’ve no idea who they really are. They may come across as 'legit' but there really is no way of telling for sure - they could be absolutely anyone, Axe murderers included.
So after three hours on a plane, an hour of mad Hungarian taxi drivers and another seven on an over-crowded train, imagine our relief when Dushan and his girlfriend Ljubica greeted us at the train station with warm smiles; their own car ready to take us away and a taxi side-kick waiting on the wings. Packing our bags into the boot our weary bodies still had no idea where we were heading - it was perhaps only our curiosity and anticipation that kept us awake as we rolled out through the city of Novi Sad.
As we headed out of town towards Petrovaradin and the beautiful Vojvodina countryside our exhausted souls began to re-energize. Outside a huge family house we were greeted by the entire Vurdelja family and given the warmest of welcomes. After being shown to our quarters and soaking up the views across the valley we were encouraged to relax and prepare for dinner; we were in store for some serious hospitality - Serbian style!
The next few days were amazing and unforgettable, inexplicable in words. Here’s a rundown of the memorable people we met during our time in Novi Sad:
Dushan : The main man - this guy was the hero of the trip for us. Always looking out for us, his main concern was always our well being - were we hungry? Did we need a lift anywhere? Did we bring that Tesco's chili sauce he had asked for? Although Dushan explained there was no need to keep saying 'thank you', I don’t think we’ll ever stop thanking him. He truly made our trip unique, our profound and auspicious connection represents a bright future.
Ljubica : Dushan’s girlfriend, paralleled Dushan in her kindness and sincerity towards us - she was truly a delight to meet. A true and blazing example of Serbian beauty both inside and out. Like so many of the Serbs we met she was always willing to converse, listen and showed a genuine interest and insight for what was being said. A mutual respect was felt.
Sinnic (mini-Doosh): Meeting Dushan's father was like coming face-to-face with the former Yugoslavia. An amazing character of another time and generation who showed us a great deal of generosity. As head of the house we all immediately paid him due respect. He returned this insisting that we drank regularly from his bottomless reserve of homemade Serbian liquor ‘rakija’.
Not speaking any English, Mr Sinnic Vurdelja managed to communicate with us all solely through hand gestures and an unparalleled strength of character - we can’t thank him and his wife enough for the hospitality they showed in opening their doors to us. HVALA PUNO!
Evitza: With us for the majority of our time in Novi Sad, Evitza is a Croatian allie of Dushan's and his people. A regular in the area from his native Zagreb, Evitza added a subtle but hilarious edge to the more serious tone of our mission. Never taking anything too seriously, always with a smirk on his face, a cigarette in his mouth and a glass of Rakija in his hand; Evitza turned out to be a fun filled character that we hope to meet again sometime soon.
Gorko: Also known as 'Che', Gorko's revolutionary hard-line edge was only a small aspect of his massive personality. He was one of the most charismatic people we met in Serbia. Mostly showing up at the festival to ensure that we were having as good a party as he was, Gorko had a lot to say and seemed to really appreciate this chance meeting of ours. A passion for writing his own hip-hop, Gorko was able to pull off a relatively convincing ghetto thug act, but when it wore off you could sense amazing goodness and warmth that Gorko had for his fellow people and strangers alike – one love in his direction, and look after my hat!
Urosh: Another vital part of Dushan's clique and possessor of a talent for graffiti writing. Urosh was always around and about us but we saw less of him as time went on. A very modest guy, he told us his story and gave much insight into what it meant to be a Serb youth living through times of war and political upheaval. He provided us with an acute and essential angle to consider for this project – ideas of Serbian national identity and sub-culture.
Hain Teny : We met Hain Teny at the EXIT festival through their contributions at the NGO stage. We only managed to hook up with them once or twice but were lucky enough to see them perform and grab a quick interview. Having just released a new Album ‘Haintelligence’ these guys seem to be going from strength to strength. Holding a wealth of diverse musical talent and influence, these guys also had a positive vibe and lot to say about socio-political issues. Can't wait to see them on a stage outside of the Balkans one day soon – Bristol baby!?
The make-up of the people we met in Serbia added substance to the cause of the ENTER/EXIT project - one of the main aims being to illustrate the cultural benefits of breaking down international boundaries and pre-conceived stereotypes. Being from multi-national and cultural backgrounds ourselves, we'd like to think the appreciation of our journey was a mutual blessing yet more imprtantly symptomatic of a future fast-approaching.
Our exploration and insight into Serbia's EXIT festival is consequently dissolving borders between the Balkan people and Europe - let's hope that some day soon our audio visual portraits of these people will not be the only way that they appear in our country.
Please indulge in our project..