Albania to Host Holocaust Conference
Balkan Travellers
The conference, titled Albania, the Albanians and the Holocaust: An Extraordinary Mini-Case in Context [ital] is organised by the University of Tirana's Department of History and Bar-Ilan University's Arnold and Leona Finkler Institute of Holocaust Research in Israel.
It will highlight Albania’s historical role as a haven for several hundreds of Jews, which – though recognised by Holocaust scholars, has not received widespread international publicity.
Academics from a variety of American and Western European universities will participate in the conference, which begins with a historical tour on May 19.
The conference is sponsored by Colliers International in Southeast Europe, a real estate advisory firm in the region.
Epicure
Macedonia
Restaurant “Yugoslavia” to Open in Macedonia’s Capital
October 2009 | In the latest move marked by nostalgia for the socialist past, a new restaurant named “Yugoslavia” will soon open its doors in Skopje. Full Story
Curiosity Chest
Macedonia
Recycled Life: Bottle Collectors in Skopje, Macedonia
Like quicksand, poverty is hard to escape - the harder you fight, the worse it can get. In Skopje, some work hard scouring the city for "treasures." They are bottle collectors, spending the day in search of recyclable plastic which they can sell for a subsistence income.
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Useful Reads
Balkans
Through Another Europe (2009) | Edited by Andrew Hammond
When Henry Blount journeyed through Bosnia in the 1630s, two things struck him: the purity of the water and the great height of the Bosnians, which, he noted, “made me suppose them the offspring of those old Germans noted by Tacitus and Caesar for their huge size.”
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Music
Macedonia
Ethno-Jazz: Vlatko Stefanovski
The two modern forms of Balkan folk music - pop folk and ethno-jazz - differ as a hand-rolled cigarette and an expensive cigar.
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Photogalleries
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A Perfect Shot
In Homo Urbanus Europeanus, exhibited May 9-24 in front of the National Theatre in Sofia, Jean-Marc Caracci presents his photographs of people in the urban environment of European capitals.
RED&WHITE SOFIA. On the 1st of March Bulgarians say goodbye to the winter. They buy each other red&white threads to carry around until they see a stork and spring can begin. Photography by Lode Desmet
BULGARIA D'OR: The Bulgarian countryside, patinated with the noble golden dust of the autumn. Photographs by Lode Desmet
360 degrees Bulgaria, an exhibition by photographer Alexandar Ivanov, is on display at the Sea Garden in Varna until August 28. It will be shown at Plovdiv’s Central Square from Sept 5.
The exhibition Photographs of a Trip Through Bulgaria by Hungarian photographer András Balla can be seen in Sofia's Hungarian Cultural Institute, at Aksakov 16 Street, until August 22
Instant Spring in Sofia | Photographs by Lode Desmet
Off-the-season Beauty of Bulgaria's Black Sea Coast | Photographs by Adelina Iliev
Bulgaria's Northern Black Sea Coast
Photographs by Albena Shkodrova
excellent smugs