Museum activities of Serbs in Canada

Serbian community, because of various programs, because of loyal
support, and the desire to raise community awareness on the need to
preserve and promote their culture. Mrs. Dragasevic was also very suc-
cessful editor of the English section of the monthly magazine Voice of
Canadian Serbs since 1983 when the newspapers moved from Windsor
to Toronto, until 2005. Her knowledge, experience and successes are
indeed numerous.
Another independent project, is a documentary video project titled
Royal Army: The Culture of Remembering that represents a sort of
chronology of memories “DPs” (displaced persons) who, in the twilight
of the Second World War, surrendered their arms and fled to Italy. This
is a story about the suffering of their families, of war crimes against
the Serbian population and about the days spent in Italian prison and
civilian camps. This is also the story of an uncertain road to freedom,
upon which will the fates of people who have built what today repre-
sents the Serbian community in Windsor, would cross. Documentary
film is a work of a longtime journalist Zoran Kljajić and under the
auspices of Serbian Heritage Museum of Windsor. The film became
available in “free share” format for downloading at the museum’s web-
site in early spring of 2016. Royal Army – Written and directed by Zoran
Kljajić; Production and editing: Meg Roberts; Consulting: Bob Brko-
vic; Artistic realization: NeDa Studio; Production: Aleksandar Media.
Participants in the film: Zarko Vucinic, Anka Obradovic, Milorad
Gaćeša, Milan Keča, Anda Stipić, Danica Pavlica, Djordje Dobric,
Gruja Stevanov Lala, and Soka Diklić (https://www.youtube.com/
watch?v=QjYNDGqOlyc)]. This is another feat that will go to the
museum. Certainly there are many interesting projects undertaken by
many across Canada and the world.
Zoran Kljajić began working in radio journalism in 1986 at the Yu-
goslav National Broadcaster, Radio Sarajevo. He worked for a large num-
ber of top alternative and independent radio and television broadcast-
ers in the country, covering a wide range of social, political and cultural
issues. The beginning of the war in Yugoslavia he has spent in Slovenia.
In the period between 1991 and 1992 Zoran Kljajić makes numerous
reports and stories for BBC World Service program (Yugoslav branch)
regarding the "conflict within the brotherhood and unity" between
the Serbian and Croatian diaspora in Brazil and South America. For a
short time, he reported on the beginning of the war in Bosnia Hercego-
vina, and later led the first private radio station in Serbia, in the period
from 1994 to 1998, just before moving to Windsor. He is a freelance
journalist active in the Serbian community of Windsor-Essex County
and is an avid photographer. He is also a former editor of News for
Windsor CJAM News (CJAM 99.1FM Windsor-Detroit) Public Radio.
In Ontario, there are twelve museums registered as heritage or local
history museums to date. Except for the Serbian Heritage Museum of
Windsor and Josef Schneider Haus Museum in Kitchener, all others
are located in Toronto. This is partly because the largest number of
various ethic communities, and partly because of more available re-
sources. Beautiful examples of museums of this type are Lithuanian
and Ukrainian in Mississauga, followed by Nikkei, Japan's Cultural
Heritage Museum and Estonian Museum in Toronto.
I mention these four museums because they have large collections,
they invested the most money and spatially are relatively large. All
others are much smaller, with a small collection and mostly located
along the cultural center of a community they represent. It is often
the case with such small museums is that is run by one person, and
governing board is committed for the promotion and donations. The
Ontario Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Sport, through its Museum
Services department, is trying at leased to provide useful information
to small museums, if grants are not always available. Serbian Heritage
Museum of Windsor is an exception in many ways, but it should not
be the only one in Canada.
A good example of safeguarding Serbian cultural heritage is vis-
ible in the monastery of the Holy Transfiguration in Milton, where a
modern library was built ten years ago ten years ago. It hosts important
cultural activities. Serbian communities around the country are gen-
erally organized around the Serbian Orthodox Church, in a networked
system of congregations. The Serbian Orthodox Church is very much
used to provide encouragement and venue for varied cultural activ-
ities, and monastery in Milton is not an exception.
This recipe for such an organization has so far proven to be suc-
cessful, however such a structure should be used a bit more practically.
Each administration of Serbian congregations could start work on the
documentation of life in their community, gathering as much infor-
mation and items for the future collection or archive. In many cases
people bequeath old books, correspondence, family photographs, evi-
dence of its successful life if they are entrepreneurs, etc. The gathering
of collection is easier than one might think, because there is always
some space available, where the archiving is possible, even under not
the most ideal conditions. Even the existing challenge of finding staff
that would adequately and professionally deal with and the care of
such a project, it is possible to overcome it with the practical training
that would ensure appropriate work. The inspiration to start documen-
tation and archival activities of a community, which later grew into a
museum, came from the contacts with the Jewish, Ukrainian, Hun-
garian communities and through exploring UNESCO documents and
conventions on safeguarding the cultural heritage.
Documentation of social and cultural life of Serbs across Canada
were conducted mostly within congregations, whose archives are quite
extensive, through the publication of anniversary books written by the
Circle of Serbian Sisters, by parish administrators, by church choirs,
and humanitarian, athletic and cultural associations. Many archives
of various organizations are often in the private hands of its former
members of the Management Board or a person of trust that has some
kind of storage capacity. In a way, a private storage of social organiz-
ations’ archives can be disadvantageous because it is often thought to
have been lost, or because the depot space can sometimes be harm-
ful to the material that stores. Similar project of collecting the docu-
mentation about the origins and history of the Serbian community in
Toronto was initiated, for now, in a modest format (www.facebook.
com/heritagegeeks). The newspaper Voice of Canadian Serbs, in De-
cember 2015 issue has an article where it was mentioned. In parallel
with this project, there is another one which is meant to record and
document tangible Serbian heritage in Canada, following the example
of the UNESCO Representational Lists. Such an inventory would help
to understand the true picture of Serbian culture and its achievements
in Canada. Then it would be easier to claim a grant for any kind of
activity – from the conservation of important old buildings, proper
storage of mobile property, founding a library or a collection, registra-
tion of all our cultural workers and artists. Out of these, a detailed for-
mulation of our cultural identity can be achieved and a strategic plan
can be created for its safeguarding and promotion under international
UNESCO guidelines.
It is often the case that any community organizes itself mimick-
ing or in contrast to its source culture. This is a spontaneous process
that often placed diaspora on the margin of evaluation in any sphere of
life. It is acceptable to look for role models in the source culture where
the system of cultural values and its authorities have already been es-
tablished, and where institutions and organisations already operate
successfully. However, one should take into consideration that the
diaspora develops according to the established patterns of the source
culture, but in different dominant cultures that set their own require-
ments and challenges. In the past, these challenges were the lack of
access to information via the media and Internet, lack of communi-
cation with cultural institutions and even political isolation in some
cases. The lack of frequent exposure to their own culture has accelerat-
ed a natural process of assimilation into the dominant culture and the
development of remaining traditions and collective consciousness in a
specific way. The older the Serbian community exist in another more
dominant culture, the more pronounced will its specific characteris-
tics be. Timisoara and Arad in Romania, Budapest and Szentendre in
Hungary are good examples where the Serbian community exist more
than four centuries, and are quite different from those that existed
only a century in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Hamilton, Toronto, Sudbury, or
even very small and young communities in Botswana and Libya, Saudi
Arabia and the like. When the specificity of the cultural development
of any Serbian community in Diaspora is well defined, its character-
istics will be of greater value to itself and to the source culture. That
is to say, Diaspora does not have to be culturally inferior to its source
culture, just because the conditions for its development are different,
and the challenges and obstacles far greater. Many will recognize more
entrenched stereotypes that Diaspora only listens to folk music, or
likes to watch comedy theater, or considers folk art as high art. These
stereotypes are quite humorous and only occasionally true.
The responsibility of documenting the existence of Serbs in the di-
aspora lies with Serbs individually and their institutions and organiz-
ations collectively. Serbia may offer an example, resources, perhaps oc-
casionally some financial assistance. It would not be fair to the cultural
development of the diaspora anywhere to seek help praise only from
institutions from Serbia. Serbian cultural organizations in Canada
have a duty and a social responsibility to enrich and promote their cul-
tural heritage, and to safeguard it for future generations in accordance
with the guidelines of Canadian cultural institutions that will be able
to support them better. In conclusion, the creation and preservation of
Serbian cultural heritage is our collective responsibility, raising aware-
ness and education is the responsibility of our organizations, a clearer
definition of cultural matter and formulation of an effective system of
support and networking is a need that can not be further neglected.
A concrete plan for the near future can begin now. Congratulations
to all who have safeguarded Serbian cultural identity for many years
through selfless efforts, and who have enriched it by their creativity.
Serbian cultural identity in diaspora will continue to be replenished
and guarded well.