April Fools’ Day is the traditional date when the International Festival of Humor and Satire “Golden Helmet” is being held. The closing event was the opportunity to award the best authors in different categories – best humorist, satire writer, and caricature artist. The Life Achievement Award went to writer Ljiljana Habjanović Djurović, and jounralist from Kruševac Dragan Gogić was knighted as the “Vitez od Čarapanije” (Knight of Čarapanija).
The attendees were greeted by the Director of Cultural Center Kruševac Marija Cvetković.
“In 33 years and with a lot of will and ethusiasm, this manifestation has become an International Festival of Humor and Satire, from its humble local and regional festival beginnings. Now, it is an important cultural event that attracts the attention of numerous world caricature artist who take part in the event. This year, more than 2000 artists sent their works, and the Festival has gathered more than 10.000 caricatures and over 20.000 satirical works so far.”
Mayor’s Aide for Social Activities Snežana Aleksić held a speech and expressed happiness that Kruševac was, once again, a good host to the best artists of satires, aphorisms, caricatures, and theatre and cinema creators from the country and worldwide.
“This event strives to reach the height of contemporary art, in addition to keeping traditional values. It also creates opportunities for artists from different countries to showcase their creativity and wittiness, which further contributes to promoting our city as an important cultural hub of both Serbia and abroad. The Festival is an excellent example how culture creates bridges between different peoples, and is simultaneously an open invite to all participants and spectators to continue to nurture the tradition of humor and satire”.
She concluded her speech by congratulating the award winners who through their inspiration and optimism enriched the event itself, adding to its content, importance, and strength.
“Dream” was this year’s topic, inspiring 119 authors from 35 countries around the world: 201 caricatures, 22 stories, 18 poems, and 422 aphorisms were submitted.
In the “under-18” category, 173 caricatures, 42 strip comics, 2 stories, and 1 poem were submitted.
“Rade Brka” Special Award for the creation that shows the folk spirit went to Đokica Milosavljević from Novo Selo.
Golden Helmet for Written Form (aphorism) went to Živko Đuza Mrkonjić from Grad (Bosni and Herzegovina). The winning aphorism was “As he wished to rest his eyes a bit, he lay down on an ore”.
The author of the award-winning caricature was Muhammad Đerlek from Novi Pazar.
The Lifetime Achievement Award is meant for the broad creative body in the field of humour and satire, the creators who belong to the creative hub of Kruševac by birth, choice, or body of work, and who ingrained their artworks in the vault of national culture.
This year’s winner was Ljiljana Habjanović Đurović, one of the most popular and best-selling Serbian writer since 1996, and the most successful Serbian writer abroad post-2000. She has written 17 novels, 9 children books, and various poem collections. In 2022, 51 of her books have been published in 18 different langauges. She has been awarded the highest Serbian and foreign literary awards.
The title of “Vitez od Čarapanije” (Knight of Čarapanija) was awarded to the Radio-Television of Serbia correspondent from Kruševac Dragoslav Gogić. He is the author of 45 documentaries, having travelled around the world and visited 56 countries. He participated in domestic and foreign festivals and 7 Grands Prix, having won over 40 awards. He is the President of the Balkan Mountaineer Union, was the Vice President of the Mountaineering Association of Serbia, and a member of the Mountain Protection Committee of the World Mountaineering Federation.
The awards were handed to the winners by the Mayor’s Aide Snežana Aleksić and Director Marija Cvetković.
Golden Helmet program also consisted of musical performances of the duo Smiljana Mitrović and Darko Stević, as well as a comedy play “Tašta ne prašta” (“Mother-in-law Does Not Forgive”), starring “Kruševac Ghetto”, the famous comedy duo from Kruševac.
