Dušan
Rakic

Which place do you currently call home and where do you work on your projects?

I live and work in the area of multiple historical intertwinings, in the small town of Temerin, in the province of Vojvodina, in the Republic of Serbia (part of the European area politically called “Southeastern Europe” or “Western Balkans”).

Geographically, on the southern edge of the Pannonian plain, where it touches the Dinaric massifs of the Balkans, historically, in Vojvodina, which since 1848 as part of the Austrian Empire was called the Voivodeship of Serbia and the Tamisch Banat (Wojwodschaft Serbien und Tamisch Banat), and which was a centuries-old Slovenian bulwark in the incursions of the Ottoman Orient, and which, in the end, with such a historical sequence and its cultural characteristics, was and remains a part of “Central Europe” (Mitteleuropa).

Do you have a favourite place in your area where you like to relax and linger?

When the natural and cultural landscape merge so beautifully the way they do in my immediate environment, in my region, moments of relaxation become spiritual enrichment as well. Because, not far from my city, in the Srem region of Vojvodina, is the city of Sremska Mitrovica, formerly ancient Sirmium, from which area no fewer than nine Roman emperors (out of a total of 17 from the territory of today’s Serbia) were born.

Near Sremska Mitrovica, following the Danube river, lies the Fruška Gora mountain with 17 monastery jewels, temples where Serbian history was woven after several large migrations of Serbs before the terror of the Ottoman invaders (starting from the 17th century). My personal favorite is the Velika Remeta monastery. The Danube and Fruška Gora towns and city that I like to visit, Sremski Karlovci, Petrovaradin and Novi Sad, as well as the more northern cites of Sombor and Subotica, bring all the luxury of relaxation, where, in every segment of life. The cultural intertwining of Hungarians, Serbs, Germans, Slovaks, Ruthenians, Romanians and many other peoples who inhabited the Vojvodina plain from ancient times and are still inhabiting it shines.
Sremski Karlovci is a city with a rich history, a city where modern diplomacy was born, when in 1699 peace was concluded for the first time at the round negotiating table in the Peace Chapel between the Ottoman Empire and the members of the Holy League—Austria, Poland, Venice and Russia.

Today, there are more than 20 wineries around Sremski Karlovci, wine hedonism is nurtured, and people try the specific wine bermet, which was also served at the Austro-Hungarian court. In Petrovaradin, from the Petrovaradin fortress, we can see not only the city of Novi Sad, but also the endless Pannonian plain across the sluggish and wide Danube. And Subotica, a city in the far north of Vojvodina, reveals an impressive Synagogue and monumental buildings built in the Central European Art Nouveau style.

Are there any urgent political issues or problems in your region?

The extremely pressing political issues of my homeland and the region in which I live are actually painful transition-related issues that are shared by almost all countries from the former Eastern European bloc of real-socialism after the fall of the Berlin Wall. These are the post-transition issues of building a functional market economy, which is not wild capitalism but an economy of (social-democratic) social balance; issues of building a political society that (un)successfully manages to defend itself against corruption and legal social inequality.

At the same time, we are also suffering from global challenges and frightening trends that are increasingly present throughout the world—the growth of populism, right-wing extremism, and intolerance, the fusion and collaboration of the left with corporate imperialism; the betrayal of the principle of the “welfare state”, these times bring us also the perniciousness of the “cancel culture” and exclusivity, and a great deal more that blocks the building of one’s own national and state identity on a reasonable and productive basis.

In essence, our challenge is trying to balance between global and local: taking and incorporating the best of the world around us while not losing the national identity of this beautiful and naturally diverse region.

In your opinion, what has developed well in the last 5 years—and what has not?

Good and reassuring facts of living in my environment are:
– modernization of public infrastructure such as highways, railways, bridges;
– more and more rapid adoption of benefits of the modern information age in everyday personal and business functioning;
– developing local tourism potentials that contribute to the successful and positive promotion of regions;
– canceling the effects of international sanctions from the 90‘s through cooperation with a large number of countries around the world;
– appreciation for role models and the work and legacy of popular personalities from this area such as Nikola Tesla or Novak Đoković.

On the other hand, the following could be cited as the nagatives of life in this part of the world:
– degrading and even the absence of ecological awareness;
– overcoming anti-intellectualism, which gives space to the degradation of education, culture, health (by tolerating the pernicious anti-vaxxer view of the world, and the even more pernicious influence of “conspiracy theories”, i.e., abuses of the achievements of the modern information and communication age);
– despite the significant development of ethno-tourism, the continuous neglect and marginalization of old and artistic crafts as cultural heritage and as economic and cultural potential;
– neglecting agriculture as an extremely important economic potential…

Do you know a hidden gem when it comes to local manufacturers—whether it’s arts and crafts, sustainable products or food?

Drastic climate changes, precisely in my hometown, in Temerin, in the once completely continental climate zone, brought something that is truly unusual and recommendable—the first registered plantation of organic exotic tropical fruit, kiwi.

The plantation is located within the vineyards, orchards, and tourist complex Salaš on the shore of the lake.

Is there anything particularly innovative in your region? Also in comparison to other places you have already visited?

What is special and innovative about my region is the revitalization of a specific ethnoheritage—by restoring (and making it functional as a touristic cultural and gastronomic offer) traditional farms called salash, ancient Pannonian self-sufficient agricultural and pastoral family habitats of local peoples. In this way, a salash has become an almost unavoidable place for domestic and foreign visitors as a recognizable Vojvodina tourist route.

Do you have a secret restaurant tip that you would like to share with us?

I would not be able to decisively single out one restaurant as good or the best, rather it is a very specific group of restaurants that are located in the entire area of Vojvodina and are called čarda“, most often ethno-restaurants on the banks of the rivers Danube, Tisza, Sava, Tamiš, Begej, Nera, which as a basic (but not exclusive) offer have specialties from local river fish (carp, pike, perch, catfish, catfish…) with local Vojvodina wines or fruit brandies and Vojvodina tamburashes (players of a specific local string instrument) that will make the čarda experience unforgettable.
It is difficult to single out the best one but perhaps the “charda” “At the end of the world”, in untouched wilderness, on the bank of the Arkanj, one of the many tributaries of the Danube in Koviljski Rit, deserves to be. It was visited by many, including poet Mika Antić, Nobel laureate Ivo Andrić, legendary musician Louis Armstrong, chess grandmaster Mihail Talj, but also the first man in space, cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

Is there a local shop whose products are only available in your region?

In a situation where large retail chains are gradually, and more and more rapidly, suppressing small family stores, in my region only special fair manifestations bring products unique to the city where the fair manifestation is held. Thus, we have specific local manifestations dedicated exclusively to the production of characteristic sausages for that region (kobasicijada, Turija), bacon (slaninijada in the town of Kačarevo), pumpkin (Dani ludaje, Kikinda), kulen (a type of special, mostly hot sausage, kuleniada in the towns of Erdevik, Bački Petrovac and Bač), beans (pasuljiada, Temerin), cabbage (kapusijada in the town of Futog), cheese (sirijada in the town of Sečanj) and many others.

These events are seasonal and one should check for their timing when planning a visit.

What are your 3 favourite apps that you use every day and couldn’t live without?

– LinkedIn
– Instagram
– Facebook

Do you have any favourite newspapers or online magazines? And how do you keep up to date with politics or social and cultural issues?

I have the impression that the traditional concept of favorite magazine or newspaper has been significantly redefined in the modern world, because the global information age gives us the possibility to read any newspaper or magazine online, instantly, and from anywhere in the world (and with the help of solid translation tools). Which I certainly do, depending on the current interest or the current events in the world, regardless of the current terrible state and political confrontations, because, looking at it from as many sides as possible, the truth is usually somewhere in between…

So, even I am surprised that the newspaper texts that I have read are sometimes from media such as El Pais, Corriere della Sera, The Washington Post, Komsomolskaya Pravda, Times of Oman, The Guardian, Spiegel, Xinhua….

Imagine you could be mayor for a year—what would you change?

First and foremost, what I would try to achieve with every possible effort (and what is unimaginable to me if no one has attempted this so far) is to develop health and spa tourism, basically the utilisation of existing large healing geothermal springs for the benefit of the social community, as well as every individual in the city of Temerin.

Then, radical reforestation and greening of the urban and surrounding area, which for many decades has been radically ecologically devastated and impoverished in the forest fund.
And finally, to introduce binding clauses into the urban planning regulations that the architectural solutions of new buildings must, at least in an elementary or modernized way, incorporate the features of traditional Vojvodina-Pannonian architecture in order to avoid the impersonality and uniformity of modern emerging urban units, to simply preserve that Vojvodina and Pannonian identity.

One last question: If you could choose another place to live—regardless of financial or time constrains—which one would you choose?

In a world that, despite everything ugly and shameful that surrounds us, is nevertheless beautiful—it is difficult to say where I would like to live right now. Many distances are beckoned by the beauty of living.
Somewhere in the Mediterranean. Perhaps in Lisbon, where, separated only by the Atlantic, the very westernmost end of the Eurasian region and the North and South American regions meet in one magical city. Maybe in Seville, where Moorish and European heritage merge in life. Perhaps in the Tuscan surroundings of Florence, where art and cultural history are intoxicating in the air. Maybe in Dalmatian Trogir.
First of all, on Crete.