An evening dedicated to the culture of travelling was held at the Madlena Art Palace on 29 February 2024. This was also the occasion to present the travelogue entitled “Knjiga putovanja” (The Book of Travels) by professor Branko Vasijević.
Branko Vasiljević (1950) is a full-time professor of the University of Belgrade. He graduated from the Faculty of Political Sciences and Faculty of Law in Belgrade. He attended his graduate studies at Sorbonne and the London School of Economics. With his academic career exceeding four decades, he has taught courses in contemporary political economy, financial markets, and banking, both at domestic faculties and abroad. As a passionate traveler, he has visited more than one hundred countries, collected the notes from these travels and published them in his books “Duh putovanja” (The Spirit of Travelling) published in 2021 and the new travelogue – The Book of Travels which was discussed by exceptional guests: the author of the book Branko Vasiljević, tourist guide Jasminka Ponjević, professor Miodrag Zec, and professor Slaviša Orlović, while the moderator of the event was Tanja Peternek.
The discussion opened the topic of what travels are like nowadays, how these images get imprinted and how one remembers people and events which leave memories behind. One cannot live on memories, but one can live for them. It is a gift to present the reader with the treasury of own images, notes, and memories. Texts and photos provide insight into remote places and cultures. A travel writer is an eternal traveler. He is neither a vagabond nor a homeless, but a hiker who, like an explorer of some unfamiliar land, wants to thread his own way on every continent. Although in a hurry, he never misses an opportunity to pause before beauty. We feel more gratified if we are, even for a moment, citizens of the world.
The author’s personal impressions were evoked by actor Milutin Milošević who read fragments from the book.
