Dzenan was my host whilst in Novi Pazar. A photographer and artist, Dzenan is now working on campaigns building the local community and attracting artistic talent to the area. The state funding is usually directed to other projects and Dzenan aims to improve the city, arts and base quality of life in areas that are often neglected or overlooked. Those that desire or need a space to work in and contribute with their creativity will have a studio available to them and a community run café is being developed that will also have a rewards scheme for those that actively improve the community and share their skills. It sounds like a fantastic initiative and was wonderful to meet someone with real passion for what they believed in. It was also the first time I had slept in a studio and it felt quite homely.

When ordering a Turkish coffee it is common here to also have a small glass of grape juice to accompany it. You can find Turkish coffee in all of the surrounding counties as much of the Balkans still has influences from the Ottomans. I had not experienced this combination before but it was delightful.

I spoke with a group of students who began by translating for the barkeep. They gave me an insight into the city and differences between the majority of the country and their region. Novi Pazar is in one of the few regions of Serbia that is largely Islamic. It is estimated that 85% of the country identifies as Orthodox Christian and only 3% Islamic; approximately 82% of Novi Pazar are Muslim. This divide has been known to cause tension, especially in recent times with global politics at play. I was told that some of the country’s problems were blamed on the minority in the south. It was upsetting and shocking that they felt the need to express that they were just regular people and not dangerous. The prejudice they face is terrible and has caused them to think that people from the outside view them as being unsafe.