Home Belgrade music festivals, Bemusa, this Thursday he also reminded of the other two biggest festivals of the capital, Fest and Bitef.
Because Bemus managed to survive this crisis year, it seems without any problems, and the fate of Bitef and Festus is still uncertain.
"I did my best," the president of the BEMUS festival board told Vreme Olya Jacobs.
"And they have the same budget as us, twenty million dinars. So, I was given certain money to create a festival for them, and I did it. I had that money, and I was looking for sponsors. I guess I was lucky to get them."
The budget did not affect the program
He says that the Culture Secretariat of the City paid the money for this year's Bemus to the festival, and that a smaller budget has never affected the quality of the program.
He points out that for the first time in its history, Bemus brings together all four national orchestras of Serbia, and also brings world stars such as Avi Avital, Aleksandar Madžar and Maxim Wengerov, as well as young artists such as double bassist Strahinja Mitrović and jazz virtuoso Miloš Čolović.
He does not agree with the public impression that Bemus is privileged compared to the other two festivals, that there was a will of the city government for Bemus to be held, but not for the other two festivals, because at Fest and Bitef it is possible to expect student indexes and other manifestations of current protests, and it is assumed that there will be no such thing at Bemus.
Red indexes
"I can't know that. Bemus was opened on Thursday by the Belgrade Philharmonic, which was the first to publicly express its protest over low wages, and which went on strike this spring, like all other institutions. And yet, as you saw, at the end of the concert, they didn't show indexes or banners. I think the participants of Bemus know that it's not appropriate for a festival with this kind of program, so that's why they don't do it," explains Olja Jacobs.
Olja Jacobs was elected president of the Bemus Board in March of this year, and then it was written that she is an artist. On the Bemus website, there are no biographies of the people who created it, and on the list of those who supported Aleksandar Vučić, it is written that she is a pianist and a piano teacher.
Bitef and Fest uncertain
The committees of Bitef and Fest still do not have an answer as to whether these festivals will take place this year. Bitef was announced for the second half of November, and Fest for the end of December. The Bitef Board says that they still do not have any information to share, and that they have agreed not to make assumptions.
Nataša Muhailović Vacić, city secretary for culture, said that we should send the question about Fest and Bitef to the Information Secretariat. We have sent an inquiry, but we have not received an answer.
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