DOLL IN SERBIAN NATIONAL COSTUME FROM KUPRES AREA REACHES ALL CORNERS OF WORLD

BELGRADE, SEPTEMBER 18 /SRNA/ - A small doll dressed in a Serbian national costume from the Kupres Plateau, affectionately named "Srpkinjica Kupreškica" /Little Serbian Girl from Kupres/ by its creator Valentina Duvnjak, has won the hearts of many Kupres natives who have been scattered around the world.

Valentina recently presented one of these dolls as a gift to Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić, who visited Serbs in her native Malovan and that part of the Federation of BiH /FBiH/.

Valentina, who sews and embroiders the miniature national costume in between her many obligations, primarily growing vegetables without the use of chemicals, told SRNA that her goal is to make the costume as authentic as possible and for her "Srpkinjica" to become something that will be kept in a family, passed down from generation to generation, and serve as a cherished item in someone’s home that reminds them of their ancestors, culture and traditions.

"It is not just a souvenir, nor is it merely a doll in a national costume. It tells the story of a people and its difficult history. Besides my love for my native region and ancestors, one of the reasons I make these dolls with so much love is the suffering of my people on the Kupres Plateau. In this way, I want to preserve the culture of remembrance of those difficult days," she said.

Valentina makes the doll’s costume based on an authentic national costume, parts of which she inherited from her ancestors, and points out that it differs in certain details from one village to another.

"We knew in Kupres, and we still know today, that if someone is from Ravno, you know what patterns are on the apron and what the shirt looks like, if someone is from Blagaj, you know, or from Novo Selo or Malovan, you know what decorations are on the headscarf and what embroidery is on the shirt. That is how we could tell which village a girl or woman came from," Valentina noted, as she is currently making an apron for a customer whose family originates from Ravno.

She said that the traditional cap features three peacock feathers and multicolored woolen decorations.

Valentina first presented her doll to the public at one of the traditional Kupres gatherings, where returnees to the area come together not only to socialize but also to support one another in their determination to return and rebuild their homes.

"And that is how it all started when it comes to the doll," Valentina recalls.

SHE LEFT JOURNALISM AND RESTORED TWO OF HER GRANDFATHERS’ FAMILY HOMESTEADS

A decade ago, Valentina decided to quit her journalistic career in Banja Luka and try to restore the homesteads of her grandfathers.

"We managed to restore two homesteads so that they would not become overgrown with weeds. Everything had been devastated - one house had been completely demolished. But we managed to fix up a small shed next to it, put a roof on the outbuilding, and now there is already a fire there, there is already a hearth," Valentina said.

With great and selfless help, above all from her mother, she also managed to revive the overgrown family fields and grow exceptionally high-quality vegetables there, using traditional methods passed down through generations and without any chemicals. Customers in Banja Luka eagerly await her produce.

"My wish was to grow vegetables that would grow like wild plants around them - like trees and other plants - so that they would be truly natural. I literally started from scratch, and my starting point may even have been below zero, but I had a vision, and I turned my dream into reality," Valentina stressed.

KUPRES IS HARSH, BUT IT PRODUCES SWEET FRUIT

She says her garden is now both her workplace and her office, and that she has found herself again there.

"Kupres is quite harsh, it is not easy to engage in agriculture here, but precisely because of the Kupres climate, clean nature and quality soil, we get sweet vegetables. Beetroot and carrots are sweet like honey, potatoes are delicious, beans. All the vegetables are very tasty and high-quality," Valentina says.

She has had customers in Banja Luka for years, and her "Bašta Malovanjka" products are sold at a local supermarket.

Last year, Valentina proposed to the mayor of the Kupres municipality in Republika Srpska that they organize an event called "Dukat sa Kupresa, naša zemlja, naše zlato" /"A Golden Coin from Kupres - Our Land, Our Gold"/, where producers would have an opportunity to present their products and find buyers, which is of crucial importance to them.

"Now we are preparing the second event, and I am very happy about it. People’s reactions were very positive. This year it will be held in mid-October, and people from other municipalities will also come. I will really devote myself to it," says Valentina, who left her Malovan twice as a refugee as a child, but never abandoned it in her heart.