Kovačica, art and telenovelas

Yesterday we visited Kovačica, located north of Belgrade. This beautiful and small town is populated with Slovaks of Serbian citizenship who are intent in preserving their culture and identity.

A crucial element in their culture is their art, which has a clearly defined naif style. As part of our excursion to Kovačica, we visited one of its elderly artists, Katarína Ďurišová in her own home, which is filled with her work: paintings, hand-painted pottery, traditional costumes and embroidered cloths. Katarína welcomed us dressed in traditional garb while she painted her latest ouvre.




Katarína’s image and home took me not only to another place, but also to another time.



However, there, in the middle of a room dominated by her art, there was a TV set.



Using our tour guide as interpreter, I couldn’t resist and I asked Katarína about her TV consumption habits. Smiling widely, she told me that she only watches teleision at night to entertain herself before going to bed, and that she loves telenovelas!



Katarína spoke fondly of Kassandra and Thalía’s telenovelas, particularly Marimar. Katarína was visibly excited when our tour guide told her that I’m from Venezuela..."like Kassandra".

Kassandra and the perception of Gypsies (Roma) in Serbia

The gypsies (Roma)
have been the victims of racism and segregation throughout Europe. Serbia is no exception. Nataša Simeunović, a graduate student here at Belgrade University, analyzed the media representation of Roma and found that they are depicted as uneducated, beggars, dirty and animals. These representations perpetuate racist attitudes towards the Roma people. Nataša, who is also a secondary school teacher, told me that her students, whose ages range between 15 and 18 years old, hold negative attitudes towards the Roma, who they consider almost subhuman.




At the same time, Nataša told me that during the time in which extremely successful telenovela Kassandra aired here, attitudes toward gypsies improved markedly since Kassandra was a Roma herself.

Once again, and despite the many years I've been observing how telenovela content influences the social formation, I'm fascinated with my conversation with Nataša. I know that telenovelas are a business. But, I would really like that all who write, produce and direct them would understand that telenovelas are much more than just a business.