At the end of last year, the management of the Board of Prosvjeta in Vienna decided to move the jubilean tenth Prosvjeta’s Serbian New Year concert in Vienna Although the program was ready, as were prominent Serbian and international artists, the circumstances did not allow the celebratory concert to be held.

‘We are all sad, a lot of work was invested in the preparation, especially because this concert was supposed to be jubilean. It was an opportunity to remind of the earlier concerts and the establishment and creation of this important tradition of Viennese Serbs, which has presented successfully the pinnacle of our culture, art, musical tradition all these years, but also represented the centuries of presence of Serbs in Austria.’ – says Srđan Mijalković, President of Prosvjeta. A little reminder of modest but valuable beginnings: VIDEO ВИДЕО

‘However, time is on our side, we are pleased that Prosvjeta’s Serbian language school is still successful, as well as the work of Prosvjeta’s Young Artists’ Club, which are our flagships in this difficult time’, adds Mijalković.

Although much had to be canceled in the past year, and the difficulties caused by covid-19 severely affected and slowed down the work of Prosvjeta, as well as of many others, several successful online activities were held, among which we highlight the lecture on Serbian prisoners of war in Hungary and Virtual Poetry Week of Prosvjeta’s Young Artists’ Club, which attracted poets from all over former Yugoslavia. We hope that these misfortunes will disappear in the coming year and that the work of Prosvjeta on preserving and nurturing our culture, tradition, art and education will continue successfully, as in the previous decade, they say in the Vienna Prosvjeta.

A certain sign that this will be so is the new action:

GOD’S SIGN – HOPE FOR A BETTER TOMORROW

A documentary film about the demolition of konak of the monastery dedicated to St. Basil of Ostrog on Briska Gora near Ulcinj is being prepared, produced by the Serbian Educational and Cultural Society Prosvjeta from Vienna. This film marks the beginning of the project Let’s Renew the Sanctities, whose preparations started in November 2020, with the blessing of Bishop Andrej of Austria-Switzerland and Father Benedict, the hegumen of the monastery Miholjska Prevlaka, at the desire of the blessedly reposed Metropolitan Amfilohije.

The song God’s Sign is an integral part of the film, and it was premiered on 12 December 2020 on the eponymous Youtube channel: VIDEO ВИДЕО

The idea of the project is to point out the need for the sanctities in Montenegro, which were threatened by the former authorities, to be renewed and thus preserved for the future. One of those sanctities is the monastery of St. Basil of Ostrog on Briska Gora near Ulcinj. The film is an attempt to motivate the public and to start collecting assistance for the renovation of that small but marvelous monastery.

The entire project was started by the members of Prosvjeta, Mladen Erkić, Cvijetin Smiljić and Ivan Popović, when they returned from Montenegro last summer, where they had visited the monastery. As they say, the grace they felt on the ruins of the konak gave them the strength to gather a whole team of people around them to support this project.

For the needs of the documentary, Prosvjeta member Vesna Špirić wrote the song God’s Sign by which she succeeded to inspiringly describe the cross and the sufferings of this sanctity, the beauty of the monastery and the beauty of spirituality held by the nuns in themselves and finally the hope for a better tomorrow because ‘the hand of Saint Basil returns light to the monastery, protects it for all time’.

The song is performed by musician Danijel Tasić, who conveyed its message wonderfully to the listeners, according to numerous reactions from the audience. The song was recorded in the studio of Saša Joksimović from Vienna.

In the documentary which is being prepared, viewers will have the opportunity to see everything about the renovation of the monastery, the nuns who give their hearts for the monastery, the demolition of the konak next to the monastery by the former Montenegrin regime, as well as the importance and need to renew the monastery.

Source: PR Prosvjeta Austria, 4.1.2021.