Australian Ambassador in Stapar room

After visiting Odzaci, Australian Embassy delegation headed to the authentic Vojvodinian village of Stapar where the guests had the opportunity to visit the ethno Stapar-room, which is located in the primary school Branko Radicevic and is equipped in the spirit of the first half of the 20th century. On this occasion, the Ambassador was able to see examples of antique stapar rugs and listen to the pcituresque stories of the local history teacher, Rastko Stokanov, about this authentic Serbian brand and the place it comes from. The hosts welcomed us with local delicacies, strudels and list-pastry and talked with members of the delegation on opportunities for cooperation to revive the motives of the rug as well as its production.

Professor Stokanov also told us that Stapar was established in 1752, when at the order of Maria Theresa Serbs who were formerly located in the vicinity of Apatin were resettled to Stapar moor. Tradition says that local residents were unhappy with significant colonization of Germans into Backa, and began intercepting ships on the Danube, on which the Germans were transported to a predetermined location, attacking and looting German settlers. By these actions, the Serbs to be moved to Stapar, were called \\\'pirates of the Danube\\\'.

Under Austro-Hungarian rule, Stapar was developing according to plan as the only village with Serbian population, surrounded by other ethnic groups. An interesting detail that speaks of the spirit of this place is that Stapar stamp from the time of the Austrian Empire, which at the time when the German was the only official language would hit print in cyrillic.

Stapar rugs are next to those from Pirot (southern Serbia), the most distinguished, traditional Serbian rugs. They originate from the community of Stapar in Backa region, in the north-west of Vojvodina province, and the first ones were made in the 18th century under the cultural influence of other ethnicities, so that initially geometric motifs were replaced by floral