Mihajlo Pupin, a world – famous scientist and diplomat, was born in Idvor, so thousands of young people and tourists visit his native house, museum collection and legacy.

The Ethno House in Padina is representing the typical home  of a middle – class family at the end of the 19 th century. There are also naive art painters in Padina and a significant gallery collection as well, but the special charm to this town is given by its magnificent wells, which are dating from the 19th century.

The naive art creation of the Romanians in Uzdin is a treasury of quite masterpieces. One part of this treasure is exibited in the gallery of Uzdin’ s cultural centre.

Part of the cultural heritage of Uzdin is presented in the Romanian ethno house.

Crepaja is known by horse – loving people and its famous cultural event ” The Fiacre of Crepaja ” .

The Gallery of the academic artist Ksenija Ilijević is also located here.

Debeljača is known by its agricultural fairs, which are enyoing a long tradition.

In Debeljača, there is also the Etnographic Museum, where the tools and products of this area’ s old handicrafts are exhibited.

The handicraft of Jan Nemček is unique : hand – made violins and other string instruments. The naive artist’ s ateliers near the Gallery may be visited as well.

Vladimir Fijat’ s legacy in Samoš is a rich collection of famous Serbian painter’ s masterpieces from the end of the 19th and the first half of the 20th century. 

Each village has its women’ s association, which is actively organizing various exhibitions of embroidery, contests in preparing old national dishes, as well as any kind of women – oriented lectures.

Aiming to preserve their cultural identity, heritage, tradition, language and customs, the amateurs, gathered at the culture centres are achieving notewortz results in the field of  theatre and fine arts, reciting, music and folklore.

The population’s orientation towards cattle – raising as its main occupation, then large quantities of excellent wool and Pirot as the trade hearth of the region predetermined the growth of carpet – weaving and weaving production in general.

That is how all the conditions for the production of the Pirot kilim were met: the sheep from Stara planina ranges yiealded large quantities of excellent wool which was processed and dyed here, the weaving – technique was well – advanced, and the trading activity was highly developed.

The Pirot kilim – weaving went through several phases in its development: given the fact that the Pirot production of kilims was fully formed in the 16th century, we take that period as the first phase in its development when the woven products were made exclusively for household use. The products included simple rugs, ” crga ” and ” šarenica ” , which were not dyed. In the second phase, during the 17th and the 18th centuries Pirot carpet – production became significantly advanced. A vertical loom, known as ” the Pirot loom ” was used in one piece. In the third phase, during the 19th century, this kind of carpet – weaving was highly developed and may be said to have reached a high level of technical and artistic possibility and value reflected in a wealth of ornamentation and the number of patterns. Carpet – weaving entered the 20th century and its fourth phase coupled with the fully mastered technique, the quality of the kilims which was excellent, the numerous patterns and combination of colours and motifs which were perfect and there were four clearly differentiated parts: the external border, the panel, internal border and the field. The whole kilim is named after the patterns it has in the field. By the very end of the 19th century kilims were dyed with natural dyes followed by the application of aniline dyes which led to the use of many colours and a large number of nuances.

The colour red prevails in the kilim in a number of nuances ranging from a pale red to the dark – sour – cherry red. It was made from insect dyes and was used to weave the field. There is a good deal of blue made from natural indigo with a little yellow added.The colour green in the kilims is of an elusive nuance and matches successfully the red and the blue tones. From the mid – nineteenth century white began to be used while until then a tan, onion – like colour was used. Colours in the Pirot kilims have a primarily territorial – ethnic feature. The colours are quiet, warm, sometimes a muted dark or sometimes boldly contrasting, yet always in a harmonious composition.
 
The ornaments in the Pirot kilim are always geometrical whether they depict a bird, a flower, a dove or an object in the direct – environment of the weaver. Women – weavers created all the patterns ( apart from the influence of other areas and cultures ) out of their own inspiration using objects in their homes and around them as their models. Later they made combinations of patterns brought to them from the merchant travels to remote areas: the wofras ( as a series of eloganted spiked rhomboids on a red field ) , the stylized ” mihrab ” , ” the sofre ” , ” the amajlika ” , ” the nemačke kutije ” , ( the German I boxes ) , ” the bomba pattern ” , ” the cover ” , the kashmir ” , … Mostly used figure patterns are: ” the lizard ” , ” the flame ” , the pattern of ” the bird ” , the scorpio ” , ” the hearth’ s tongue ” , ” the dove ” , … and the vegetative elements: ” a tree – trunk ” , ” roses ” , in a number of variations, ” domes of pillars ” , ” pomegranates ” , the ” wreath ” ( consisting of a cross – section of flowers plaited into a wreath ) , different kinds of flowers ( ” karanfil ” – the carnation,  ” svekrvin jezik “  -  the ” mother – in – law’s tongue, ” lala ” – tulip, ” ruža ” – the rose, ” metlice ” ) . While the patterns in the old kilims were smaller and more harmoniously spaced, the patterns in the recently woven kilims are larger, sometimes of unfortunate stylization.

By the end of the 19th century the first merchants who expanded the kilim trade appeared. Amongst the oldest merchants was Toma Petrović who founded the Pirot trading kilim association in 1894. At the beginning of the 20th century the first enterprise engaged in export of kilims was founded. It was the ” Pirot Kilim ” domestic industry firm of the Garotić brothers and the Džadžić Hristić – Beraha firm. The Pirot kilims were exhibited for the first time at the big Vienna Exhibition in 1886 where they were enthusiastically – praised and wondered at, due to the fact that the patterns were the same on both the front аnd the back of the kilim. Between 1904 and 1940,the Pirot kilims were shown at 26 fairs in Тurkoman, London, Barcelona, Amsterdam, and Staples as well as in Milan, Paris and Berlin. The high quality and the originality of the Pirot kilim were awarded prizes, awards and written commendations.

The Pirot kilim was often received as a valuable gift either in private or political conntacts, it was a precious award and finally a young girl’s dowry. There are kilims for floor coverings, for the walls, for bedspreads and furniture covers. In more recent times they are used for curtains, drapers, pillows and alike. Yet they can just be kept either in maidens’chest or as the house amulet. As the authentic rarity the Pirot kilim can be found in many monasteries all over Serbia, in Bulgaria ( The Monastery of Ril ) , in Greece ( The Monastery of Hillandar ) , in the palace of the Obrenovićs and Karađorđevićs.Those kilims were of non – standard sizes but as ordered ( ” the batal ” which means something very big, ” the dobata ” or as ordered ) . The town population were in need of ” the šestak ” , ” the smetenik ” , ” the jan ” , ” the sedžade ” , ” the merka ” , spreads, table cloth, pillows, curtains and the doily.

Caused by numerous reasons in the second half of the 20th century both the production and the sale of the Pirot kilim kept falling. The weaving of kilims is an arduous, long – lasting task. That is why the kilim has always been an expensive product. In the contrast to this, the work of the women weavers, the craftswomen and artists, was always cheap and never adequately remunerated. Traditional craftswork was never adequately rated in the economic activity.

Since June 2003 as an original product the Pirot kilim is protected by Institute for Intellectual Property on the basis of the Law on geographical origin.

Potters were making earthenware on a” nožno kolo ” ( a gadget for making objects out of clay ) . Craft – workers – potters were making their own tools and kit for their needs. The main raw material for producing pots is clay. To prepare clay for processing, first, it has to be digged up with a hoe along with adding a certain amount of water. That procedure is primitive and was applied in the 19th century. With the beginning of the 20th century handmade gadgets were used for grinding the soil. Today the use of electrical devices makes it possible for the procedure to be improved.

The objects were shaped on ” nožno kolo ” and then glazed into yellow, green and brown and for „ engobiranje ” white clay was used. Glazed pieces used to be baked in special ovens „vurnja”. Today the process of baking is done, in electrical furnaces.

The pottery in Pirot was very productive. There used to be manufactured over 70 types of pots of different shapes and purposes.
Oily clay served for making convex pots and for those which had to be resistant to high temperatures fatless clay was used.

The craft got its name after ” grne “ , a pot used for cooking food on the open hearth. Apart from ” grne ” , they also used ” đuveč “or „ đuvečarka” , ( pan for making stew ) , then a little pot for yogurt, ” grnajče ” also called „ brde ” ( a coffee cup ),  bowls and plates.

The Pirot potters were sometimes referred to as  “testidžija “ because they manufactured „ testija “ or  „ stovna ” ( a kind of pot in which water was kept in ) which was considered to be the most significant pot for everyday life.

Goblet or pitcher has the neck which ends with a small glass used to be a kind of decoration in a household. Nicely ornamented wedding goblet was used in the ceremony of inviting wedding guests. Flask or copper ( narrow – necked vessel with a cover ) served as a brandypot.

There were not so many kinds of winepots as there were various brandypots. Small pitchers were used for storing either water or wine. ” Shepender ” , solely storing wine and collecting ” merka ” , ( three litres ) was a kind of a pitcher with a wide half – covered opening, so called funnel, in the upper part of the pot.

The objects of cultural significance, icon lamp, were manufactured with particular devotion. The potters also manufactured ” panica ” ( bowl for holly water ), used for blessing the water, ” svetovod ” as well as ” chirak ” , ( candlestick ).

The potters created the pieces of pottery which were used in households ( funnels, lids for brandy stills, watering places for poultry ) .

They also made toys, whistles, pipes, then various craft – helping devices ( small pickax used for decorating the pieces of pottery ) , and lots of other various pottery products.
 
All these pieces of pottery which used to be purchased at the fairs held all over Serbia are characterized by harmonious colours ( yellow, green, brown ) and decorated with different kinds of ornaments by engraving the circles, winding lines, vines, by sticking on the ornaments with applicated rosettes, floral and snakelike ornaments, drawn flowers and other motifs. The pots of anthropomorphic and zoomorphic forms are of exceptional value. The potters from Pirot used to shape figural cheramics thus emhasizing the main characteristics of the person ( with femails those were clothes and extremely slim waste and with mails beard, moustaches and arms ) .
The artistic value and beauty of the Pirot pottery could influence the contemporary artists who make designs in cheramics as well as the inexperienced potters. The Pirot traditional pottery is widely recognized in Serbia as well as all over Europe.

INTERNATIONAL FINE ART COLONY OF CERAMICS ” ZLAKUSA “

The international colony of art ceramics Zlakusa - Užice is an autor’s project of Sofija Bunardžić, a painter and craftsman in ceramics from the town of Užice. What makes this project special is the fact that craftsmen have the possibility to do research with still not enough studied processing, a technique called ” Zlakusa ” or ” Sofija – Zlakusa” .

The specifics of this colony could be observed through the construction of fine links between, on the one hand, traditional pottery which is unique after its material and applied working methods and baking of ceramics at the open fire.

On the other hand, this includes modern trends in art ceramics. In the same way, as once it was manufactured ( from prehistoric until the present ), modern artists produce works in this colony  ( potter’ s wheel ) .

The artists participate if invited by the organization or as the artist exchange from other comprehensive arts gatherings with which Association ” Zlakusa Pottery “ Užice makes this kind of cooperation. There is also possibility that artist themselves pay the participation fee. Lodging, food and work are carried out in the households of Zlakusa village, which are still practicing this kid of craft, or in the city of Užice.

The success and the well known title of Zlakusa acknowledges ” Zlakusa Pottery “ as a valuable contribution to modern pottery, as well as a cultural step forward for us. Genuine, as it is based in our national heritage, marks its authenticity, its need that crafts should be preserved through times, but also that they should be enriched by new visions of the people who are gifted to notice beauty and value.