The attractiveness of Lepenski Vir has been recognized by, among many, companies, organizations and artists, to whom this locality served as inspiration and trade mark. Many prominent painters, among whom are Mario Maskareli, Milic od Macve, Vojislav Zizic, Dragan Mojovic, Dragan Stojkov, Bratislav Stojanovic, Marica Radojcic, Mirjana Lehner and many others, transformed the fascinating monumental sculptures into first class works of art. Along with them were famous writers who have put the impression of Lepenski Vir to paper: Milorad Pavic, Miodrag Pavlovic with the works Pevanja na Viru (Singing in the Rain), Nova pevanja na Viru (New singing in the rain), the essay Lepenski Vir: Sculpture and myth (Skulptura i mit), as well as Dusan Matic, Zoran Milic, Ivan Gadjanski. For the children’s book of Jovan Janicijevic, Vodena vila iz Lepenskog Vira (Water Fairy from Lepenski Vir) and Klinče iz Vinče (Child from Vinca), the two localities served as inspiration, both special and fantastic, each in its own way. The Motive of Lepenski Vir appears on stamps in 2003. One of the most famous monumental stone sculptures found its place on a home made biscuit, which you can get with coffee in many cafes in Serbia. In 1995, the same sculpture served as a trademark of the activity of the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of announcing The Year of Culture, “It is more beautiful with culture“. The sculpture had sunglasses and a smile, and it became a symbol of the cultural rebellion against social values and the position it had in society.
Our Nobel Prize winner Ivo Andric said for the daily paper “Politika”: “Take Lepenski Vir as an example. The event excited me deeply. Sometimes history speaks through these figurines. How similar they are to modern sculptures. But I do not know if our people are informed enough on how to write in the language of a scientist. I sometimes feel like dialing a number and asking more directly about something I have read“. Ivo Andric left us this task, on which we still have to work hard.
Ana Djuricic
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