MoU between Pirot and Sombor to preserve traditional r

The city of Sombor and the municipality of Pirot have formally agreed to cooperate in the preservation and promotion of traditional rug making, as hand woven rugs from the communities of Pirot and Stapar represent premium handicrafts from Serbia, that need to become recognizable regional brans and an important source of income and employment for women and young people.

Cooperation was formalized as a signing ceremony held at the Embassy of Australia, under the auspices of Ambassador Julia Feeney and support by Ethno Network and the National Alliance for Local Economic Development (NALED), whose members are both Sombor and Pirot.

- The agreement is a reflection of our efforts to emphasize the importance that culture can have for local development, employment and the promotion of cultural and economic potential of Serbia. The Australian Embassy is supporting Ethno Network and NALED in the preservation of tradition, and especially in all activities aimed at the development of female entrepreneurship - said the Ambassador of Australia Julia Feeney.

- In the early 20th century, Pirot weavers heavily influenced the development of Stapar rug making and even nowadays this collaboration comes accros very naturally. Our weavers have begun to use patterns from Pirot rugs as inspiration and one of the local weavers Milica Mrdjanov, wove a rug that is currently held in the Museum of Vojvodina as \'Pirot rug made ​​in Stapar\' - said the mayor of Sombor, Sasa Todorovic.

- Municipality of Pirot is permanently dedicated to the preservation of rug making as a recognizable brand and is ready to transfer experience to help revitalize rug making in Stapar. Also we envisaged joint efforts to promote and reposition both Stapar and Pirot rugs as valuable elements of intangible cultural heritage - said the Mayor of Pirot, Vladan Vasic.

The signatories will jointly organize a series of conferences and events (seminars, artists’ colonies, youth camps, competitions, contests, p