A fine mist of black soot filled our nostrils on the trudging train making its way Balkan village to Balkan village somewhere in the middle of Serbia.
The coal fueled convoy of windowless wooden carriages full of people, farmers, sheep, children, pigs, and for sure, one young American student art travleler.
The train stopped at every small village along the borders of Serbia, Romania and Bulgaria.
It seems I was on a Disneyland trip through Balkan cultures: Serbian, Romanian, Bulgarian, Hungarian, Croatian villages, different languages, customs and costumes.
This was not so much blending as it was peaceful cultural co-existence, thanks in large part to Josep BrozTito.
My destination: Hlebine, a tiny Croatian village and home to one of the world´s best known naïve painters, Ivan Generalic, with whom I lived for a couple weeks, studying primitive art.
It was the summer of 1965.
But in many ways, only political boundaries changed.
Hlebine, close to the Hungarian border, illustrates the Balkan ethnic cocktail of nationalities, cultures and customs.
And so it was, all this came back to roost this summer when I lived with a Hungarian family in the old Serbian village, Szentendre, 20 kilometers north of Budapest.
A traditional incubator for Hungarian avant-garde and contemporary artists for more than a century, Szentendre´s origins reach deep into Balkan history.
These are a few of my captured memories from this old Serbian village.
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| "Avant-garde Artist´s Grave" in museum courtyard Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Mythical Symbol" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Handle Holders" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Our World" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Common Hungarian Icon Symbol II" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Old Happy Walls" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "A Solitary Figure II" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "The Waiters" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Middle Ages Walkway" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Moving Colors" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "There´s a Reason Cats are Smarter than Dogs" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "19th C. Christian Symbol" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Christian Symbol" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "If You Look Good, You Feel Good!" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Magyar Marching" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Mythical Symbol II" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Hungarian Still Life I" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Communist Nostalgia" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Hungarian Decorative Door II" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Hungarian Still Life II" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Hungarian Still Life III" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Hungarian Still Life IV" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "There´s a Reason Cats are Smarter than Dogs II" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Art on a Rope" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Hungarian Still Life V" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
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| "Robert E. Lee as Hungarian Blacksmith" Photograph by Stefan van Drake (2011) |
Rock on and practice peace and love.
Stefan, the ArtTraveler ™
ArtTraveler notes:
After living at the Hotel Queen Mary in Budapest (3.5 stars), I heartily recommend it: old on the outside, otherwise totally modern (23 rooms);
The owner and staff are affable and speak English and German. Tel: 0036-1-413-3510; www.hotelqueenmary.hu; info@hotelqueenmary.hu.
Visit Andalusia for a walking holiday or week-long sculpture or mosaics workshop.
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| "Spanish Life Stilled," photograph by Stefan van Drake (2009) |
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beautiful photos...i enjoyed reading about your trip...was it cold on the train without windows..wow they must have been old trains...I can not remember when I have seen a train without windows..
ReplyDeleteI am a crafter, but can not draw or paint that good.
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