Office for Kosovo and Metohija at the Book Fair: Preserving the spirit, faith, and culture of the Serbian people

Milena Parlic, Assistant Director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, responsible for cooperation with the Serbian Orthodox Church and the preservation of cultural heritage, announced this year’s presentation of the spiritual, cultural, and scientific creativity of the Serbian people from Kosovo and Metohija at the Belgrade Book Fair.

“This year, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija proudly presents the spiritual, cultural, and scientific creativity of our people in Kosovo and Metohija,” Parlic emphasized.

In an area of 300 square meters, located in Hall 1A and Hall 4, across 12 exhibition stands, the Office will showcase scientists, cultural workers, institutions of culture, as well as churches and monasteries of the Eparchy of Raska and Prizren, through a program lasting over 60 hours.

The audience will have the opportunity to become acquainted with creative works rooted in faith and in the centuries-old truth of the perseverance of the Serbian people, serving as a response to the ongoing attempts to rewrite history.

“Visitors will meet those who create with the pen, those who bear witness today that the spirit of the Serbian people and the written word cannot be erased – living witnesses, living memory, who build upon ancestral foundations, leaving a legacy to future generations as a pledge for a better future,” Parlic said.

The assistant director of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija highlighted that the Book Fair is an opportunity for the public to meet the ‘invisible heroes’ who preserve the cultural identity of the Serbian people in Kosovo.

“The Book Fair is the perfect occasion to meet these invisible heroes. Of course, when I say ‘invisible,’ they are visible to the Government of the Republic of Serbia, the Office for Kosovo and Metohija, the Ministry of Culture, and the Serbian Orthodox Church, but perhaps not to the wider public. This is a chance for people to see that in Kosovo and Metohija, the written word endures, survives, and serves as a warning. And when we say ‘serves as a warning,’ you will see this clearly in the works published by the Archive of Kosovo and Metohija and the Cultural Center of Gracanica, about the March Pogrom, as well as in the important book by our wonderful Mitra Reljic on the destroyed cemeteries in Kosovo and Metohija,” Parlic said.

She added that this is just a small part of what the Serbian people have to offer.

“This is only a fraction of what our people represent, there are more than 115 new works being presented. I would like to take this opportunity to publicly invite all admirers of Kosovo and Metohija’s creative and literary heritage to come, visit, and explore the stands of the Office for Kosovo and Metohija starting tomorrow and in the coming days,” Parlic concluded.