DERVENTSKI VEZ: A COLORFUL TREASURE WORTHY OF ATTENTION

At the address Trg oslobođenja in Derventa, within the premises of the "Branko Radičević" Public Library, several women gather every Monday to diligently work on preserving the traditions of their region.

PHOTO: eTrafika

With smiles, jokes, sweets, and intriguing stories from the past, they reminisce about how their mothers and grandmothers used to live and create items adorned with motifs of Derventa embroidery. Each of them has her reasons for being there, but their common ground is their love for tradition and their homeland.

Their motivation for embroidery arose after visiting and interacting with women from the Banja Luka association "Duga" ("Rainbow"). They were impressed by the handicrafts of its members, particularly the Zmijanje embroidery. Inspired by what they saw, they decided to give it a try themselves.

"We were impressed by their handicrafts, especially the Zmijanje embroidery. After the visit, we decided to start similar work ourselves, so we first tried Zmijanje embroidery. Then we did some weaving, engaged in various handicrafts, had numerous creative workshops including decoupage, painting, and more," says Jovanka Popović, president of the Association.

The Association was founded in 2005 at the initiative of a group of women involved in humanitarian work.

They decided to register the association and become a non-governmental organization. They currently have around 100 active members, each village having its representative who organizes activities. Their mission includes gender equality, equal opportunities between men and women, and the prevention and fight against human trafficking. They are actively involved in the RING network fighting human trafficking. They focus on violence prevention, economic empowerment of women, and have conducted numerous humanitarian actions. They receive support from the city of Derventa and the Ecumenical Initiative.

After realizing their talent for embroidery, they decided to focus on creating items with motifs of Derventa embroidery. Unlike Zmijanje embroidery, Derventa embroidery is rich in colors, playful, cheerful, and colorful. It features red, yellow, blue, and black colors with vegetal motifs, floral patterns, branches, and roses. Due to its vibrancy, many find it appealing and desire items such as bags or blouses with motifs of this embroidery. These motifs can be used for blouses, shirts, dresses, traditional costumes, bags, and pouches.

"Library director Mirjana Plisnić helped us collaborate on Derventa embroidery. There was already an exhibition of folk costumes in our museum, so we chose motifs to work on souvenirs, paintings, and clothing items. We selected interesting fabrics typical of Derventa, aprons, and folk costumes. Since December, we have been actively involved in creating motifs of Derventa embroidery, which are diverse, with beautiful colors and can be used on pillowcases, paintings, and bags," explains Jovanka.

Their goal is for it not to be just traditional attire that no one wears but to become a tradition that young people will also embrace.

"Thanks to our members, we managed to create an exhibition in the museum that some have already visited and been amazed by. We won't stop here. We plan to meet with the directors of elementary and high schools to hold workshops, to motivate and interest young people, and perhaps have them join us someday," says our interviewee optimistically.

Derventa embroidery workshops began in December and will last through March, maybe even April, until they complete what they started.

For Kata Stupar, embroidery is much more than just a workshop. While working, she recalls her childhood, youth, and words of her parents, especially her mother from whom she learned handicrafts. She worked in education for forty years, but teaching never bored her. At workshops, she continued to teach interested individuals and pass on her knowledge.

She mentions that she still has various items she made when she was young, and she is glad to have the opportunity to show them to others or work on them. With a smile and a special cheerfulness on her face, she talks about her youth and what was considered important for a girl awaiting marriage.

"In my time, girls got married based on their skills in crafts, how much they knew to make patterns, who wove more, who had more embroidered towels, blankets, sheets, and tablecloths. I started knitting when I was five years old, and handicrafts are not difficult for me. Women are interested and work; I am very satisfied with how they manage. Each one embroiders as if she has been doing it for several years. Some of them also know how to crochet, and everything can be learned if there is a will. No one is born learned, but you learn over time through workshops. Sometimes I don't know something, so I ask someone to help and explain it," Kata candidly shares.

She points out that there are many complex motifs that are difficult to work on because they need to be drawn on paper with squares first to facilitate work. Those who had previous experience adapt more easily and quickly, but others do not lag behind. They emphasize that diligent hands, desire, and motivation are essential for successful work.

They would like to see more young people willing to learn from them. They are happy to share their knowledge and help young girls continue their path.

"We are getting old, and our wish is to pass on our knowledge to girls. Everyone wants to preserve their tradition, and so do we. We are pleased that we can show young people how things were done in the past, and we will make some items to leave to the library and their museum," she said for eTrafika.

In addition to their love for preserving tradition, Association members also gather for socialization. Most of them are retired and spend their free time enjoying each other's company. Embroidery relaxes them, and they often continue their work at home to pass the time more quickly.

"Handicrafts calm me down; I always work because I am alone at home, and if I didn't have that, I don't know what I would do. It's hard for me when it's a holiday or Sunday. Then I have to read newspapers or solve crosswords because I don't know what to do out of boredom. It's strange when retired women say they are bored because the day is short for everything I would like to do," Kata says sincerely as the other members nod in agreement, understanding what she means.

Finally, as they pack their unfinished work, they admit that they don't like giving interviews and that Kata always says everything they would say. They leave the library, but they note that they will continue their work at home to finish everything on time.

Source: eTrafika

Text and photo: Snježana Aničić Petković