I’ve been told that, in former Yugoslavian countries, there are still oral poets who perform epic poems in the traditional manner. I would love to see this. Even better, would love to find a local guide who is knowledgeable about this and can help me understand, to some extent, what’s happening during the performance. Does anyone have suggestions? I’ll be visiting the area this fall.
Posted by
Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
26890 posts
Diane, one of the fun things about the forum is that it causes me to go out and learn.
You are looking for a recommendatiin of where to hear Epske narodne pjesme presented by an authentic gusle in Yugoslavia.
I am not certain about anything but it appears to originate from Serbia, which by extension means a little of Croatia a lot of BiH and most of Montenegro as well as Serbia proper. It might extend further, i havent looked because my Fall trip is Montenegro.
There appear to be professional organizations that put on presentations and these would be most common at cultural festivals. There also appears to be a few restaurants that on ocassion have them as part of a tourist show. A third possibility are Ethnographic museum and Ethnographic village presentations.
You might get lucky with Google and AI. Luck might improve with a travel agent who speaks the language and knows about all the local goings-on in Yugoslavia.
I like the idea so much that I (well ... not really me) will be seriously looking for my September trip. Even if I do find something the odds of location and timing working out are sort of far fetched, but I wont know until I ask her.
EDIT, Slovenians do something similar but more romantic and less epic. Croats do the Serbian thing along the Dalmatian coast which
follows with Serbian influence. N. Macedonia has a version but not identical to the Serbs. I think the places with the greatest possibility are going to be Serbia and Montenegro.
Posted by
OP
13 posts
Mr. É - thanks for your reply - and yes, that's exactly what I'm looking for. Haven't had any luck so far with Google/AI, but I'll try reaching out to a local travel agent for help.
In the meantime, I'd love to hear from you if you turn up anything. I'll be in the region at the end of September and most of October.
Posted by
Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
26890 posts
I'll write Dijana and see how far I get, but since this is what agents do for a living i cant push ...
Posted by
Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
26890 posts
Anyway, thanks to Dijana (the travel agent planning my September trip to the Balkans), here is an answer to the initial question (I am sure there are others): https://maps.app.goo.gl/gx19urhGVirQginR8 This restaurant in Njegusi will from time to time have exactly what you have asked for. The owner is a gusle and sometimes you will hit a presentation by random chance, but otherwise you need to contact the restaurant in advance of your arrival and confirm the dates and times or as likely pay to arrange it to occur. If it works with the rest of my September plan i would quite enjoy it if i can get a native speaker to join me.
Now your question aside, look at the photos. Have you ever seen a more beautiful setting for lunch? Gaud, I love Montenegro.
Posted by
OP
13 posts
This is great news! Thank you so much, Mr. É. We will be in Kotor for a couple of days and this looks like a fairly short drive away. Definitely will look into this.
Posted by
Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
26890 posts
About an hour a lot of which is white knuckles. Not sure i would want to go up or down after dark. Its usually a route and a stop on the way to Budva or Sveti Stefan or Podgorica which is okay late in the day.
Good weather; dinner, after sunset, bayside outside restaurant of the Hotel Conte.