When introducing Dejan Medaković to a foreign audience, one does not know quite where to begin. Erudite is perhaps the first epithet before moving on to his many roles — writer, historian, internationally-known researcher, one of the most popular professors at Belgrade University —concluding with crown titles "academician" and "most distinguished" at the least, and arguably "the greatest" among that unique breed of Serbian intellectuals, the historian, and its subset the art historian. Dejan Medaković presides over Vuk's Foundation and other distinguished cultural institutions; he was president of SASA and held important functions at Belgrade University and numerous domestic and foreign research and cultural institutions. Asked in what order to cite all these functions, Dejan Medaković says: "I like to say that I am an honorary citizen of Sremski Karlovci. I like to say that I've had some good friends, including great Serbian artists, the majority of whom, unfortunately, are no longer with us…Mića Popović, Mihiz, Voja Đurić".
- Mr. Medaković, what does your recently published book The Holy Mountain Fruška Gora, mean for you personally, considering that it encompasses decades of work and a deep dedication to the monasteries of Fruška Gora?
- Writing this book over two long decades of experience, I've revealed some key moments in the timeline of Fruška Gora's monasteries. I wanted to produce a historio-graphic survey, to note the principal bearers of their histories and the researchers who worked there. There were school-type problems and I could easily observe the gap between what was taught in school and the reality.
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I showed that I could bridge this gap and explain how things were, are, and will be.
- Can this work be described as belonging to Serbia's spiritual legacy?
- Yes, that's true. I must stress that I experienced my first close contact with the monasteries on Fruška Gora while still a student at the Karlovci Gymnasium, as we visited them twice a year as part our school excursions. Later, I supplemented my first impressions of Fruška Gora monasteries through regular visits and studying literature, so that this picture was constantly broadened. After World War Two, I practically rushed to the monasteries on Fruška Gora to examine their state. We were astonished by the level of hatred directed at wiping away the vestiges of our centurieslong presence in this area. |
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- What did that look like?
- All the monasteries were damaged, half ruined. It looked as though the Ustashi and had succeeded in annihilating any remnants of Serbian culture and spirituality. We returned with deep impressions, sad and insulted, and we couldn't fully believe that this was possible. It was like a bad dream. After these sad impressions, we returned and observed, carefully following any improvement, even the smallest, as when, for instance, something had been mended and patched. We were especially interested in whether life would ever return to these monasteries. That "return of life" was key when the process of revitalisation began.
- How does this process develop?
- In a number of phases. It's similar to helping a person who has been run over by a car. First you stop the bleeding, then you take the victim to hospital and administer treatment which, it is hoped, saves his life. The same is true of monuments. First you have several urgent phases to save something, and then come architectural interventions. The majority of monasteries collapsed and their real state had to be established. Only after these interventions did the monasteries get another chance; they didn't seem so hopeless. Only after these interventions could we think about the next phase, which was returning life to the monasteries. It is futile if the interventions are completed and no life comes to the monasteries, if they remain empty.
- How did the process begin of returning monks to empty monasteries on Mt. Fruška Gora?
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- Things were going slowly. I can say that the beginning of the revival of monk communities began with the return of nuns. They took the first step, entering the monasteries and returning life to them. That was the case with the monasteries of Opovo, Krušedol and Beočin. Many of these spiritual enclaves that were once monasteries (for monks) have now become convents (for nuns). Actually, that phase bore fruit that was soon visible. Then monks began to arrive. |
As far as a timeframe, this occurred during the era of Serbian Patriarch German. His greatest success was to stabilise and develop a core group of monks in the first decades after the war. He established contacts with authorities that helped them begin to understand the importance of monasteries and their culture. Their rigid attitude began to soften. Institutes for the Protection of Cultural Monuments were established at the level of the city, republic and province, and many had local profiles. Such institutions were established In the city of Sremska Mitrovica and other cities throughout Serbia.
- Is there one story you would single out as exceptional?
- The best and the most noteworthy example is the Kovilje Monastery, in the town of Bač, which had just one monk, who happened to be from the village of Kovilje at that. That monastery had been in acute agony, yet today there are 25 monks, all of whom are educated. There are men of all walks of life, from professors to physicians. This is a blossoming brotherhood, not only in number, but in their reputation, as in everything else. A new community of monks cannot and must not be below the level of moral values by which monks should be surrounded. I would mention with admiration the Monastery Djurdjevi Stupovi. This is a church that had almost been demolished but is now very developed. Soon, the other bell tower will be restored. It is a significant monument from the Nemanjić period and will be an important cultural and spiritual centre to benefit of the whole region. The same applies to the Studenica Monastery. Recently, work on their superb guest quarters were completed, and it is now like a better class hotel in terms of the quality of the lodgings, allowing visitors the possibility of spending the night at this enormously important Serbian spiritual centres, which was not previously possible. I used to take my students there and we slept on straw. So, though a part of the romance of the ascetic life is now gone, it is now much better.
- How do you look at the past as historians with humanity standing at the door of globalization?
- In my opinion, the past is a creative power and not just a sentimental looking back that has no connection with reality. What is being suggested today is oblivion, erasing the past form memory as soon as possible. I think there is no future without acknowledging historical experience. What is tradition if not a collection of centuries of experience? Hence what is stored in collective memory as a message is also confirmed through the centuries. Can we renounce this in the name of anything at all? Why should I turn myself into a crippled traveler without belongings? Everyone on this planet carries his or her belongings, whether consciously or not, whether renouncing it or respecting it. In my opinion, heritage should not be turned into a burden to be rejected, but into something to draw us to up to a higher level of spirituality. I constantly return to spirituality because it is one of the greatest problems of modern humanity. In the present day, we see a tremendously disproportionate focus on material over spiritual values in the process of globalization. Man is focused exclusively on so-called material benefits to the exclusion of spirituality and how to survive when faced with the great truths that will continue to impose themselves on us. I simply wonder where we are going to.
- To what extent can faith help us?
- For a man without faith and spirituality, all that remain are emptiness and dust. For dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. This void must be filled. It is not easy to accept the notion that you are here today and gone tomorrow. All religions offer recipes to facilitate man in accepting the notion of his own existence. On the one hand is the story about paradise, on the other man faces the waste of everyday life. This void must be overcome.
- How do you overcome this void?
- To me, the guiding thought is, first of all, what stands before me, which I would call achieving. Not in the achieved. There must always be something before me, something to tend to, and by my actions and spiritual efforts to surmount life's tempo. With regard to myself, I think about what my dear friend, the great Serbian writer Isidora Sekulić, used to say: "I am a creative pessimist". I am aware of the theory of ceasing to be, but every individual can lessen the absurdity of his life through work. One should rely on faith, which gives sense to man's life, to his efforts and sacrifices. Modern man runs away from sacrificing. Our ears are filled only with having a better life and with the possibility of enjoyment. However, we are created not only to enjoy, but also to work out life itself. The birth of a child is the greatest gift that God can give to make mankind to survive. Hence, one should respect this experience and apply it whenever we can, and to be always on the side of life.
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