Vlasta Mandić, architect, cultural promoter, author and musician
Between Song and Flavor: Carrying the Memory of Boka into Tomorrow
Vlasta Mandić is a Montenegrin architect, cultural promoter, author and musician from Kotor, a UNESCO-listed city on the Bay of Kotor. With a lifelong dedication to preserving and celebrating local cultural heritage, she has authored the culinary monograph Bokeška kužina, which documents traditional Bay of Kotor cuisine and Mediterranean culinary identity, and has contributed literary works such as Botunade reflecting local life and dialect. In addition to her work in architecture and writing, Mandić is founder and leader of the female klapa (vocal ensemble) “Bisernice Boke”, with which she has performed widely, promoting the region’s musical heritage. Her multifaceted activities underscore her commitment to safeguarding and sharing the cultural, musical and gastronomic traditions of the Bay of Kotor.
Your professional and creative path encompasses architecture, culture and gastronomy. How would you briefly introduce yourself to readers and explain what motivates you most in your work?
Throughout my professional and amateur work, architecture has served as the matrix upon which I have built the values developed through a high-quality and broad education at the Kotor Grammar School and Music School. The city of Kotor itself also represented a kind of school to me – a school of architecture, culture, music, aesthetics, the Mediterranean mentality, and more. Gastronomy, as my genetic heritage, has made my life richer in flavour and more joyful. In my work and in the realisation of my various activities, both in the past and today, I have always been driven by creativity, perseverance, responsibility, diligence, and love for what I create.
You were born and raised in Kotor, a city of strong identity and layered history. In what way did this environment influence your personal and professional development?
For my generation, as well as for all others, Kotor represented kind of extended family. Every day we flowed into its walls, played in its streets and small squares, absorbing the almost unreal beauty of the union between nature’s creative uniqueness and the works of the hands of known and unknown master builders. Quite simply, wherever we went, we went into the city – a city that is architecturally defined and impressive, in which life has unfolded for centuries. Built to a human scale, wise and tolerant, inhabited by families of different nationalities, a city with history in its genes – a world in miniature. Stone palaces, Baroque gardens, balconies, squares, numerous churches, and the St Tryphon’s Cathedral formed part of our living space, which we captivated daily. Becoming an architect was my very early commitment. Naturally, after completing my studies, I returned to my Kotor, and throughout my life I have devoted myself to my city.
The book Bokeška kužina (The Cuisine of the Bay of Kotor) goes beyond the form of a cookbook and represents a testimony to the culture of living in the Bay of Kotor. What prompted you to embark on writing such a book, and what message did you wish to preserve?
In the memories of my childhood there are many recollections connected to my city: the outlines of the figures of Kotor’s gentlemen as well as authentic local originals, the scent of the city, the wit of botunade (good-natured teasing; playful banter), carnivals, the hum from Markat Square and the fish market, the shouts of children kicking a ball in the square in front of the St Tryphon’s Cathedral, the echoes of footsteps on the city’s stone pavements, and the aromas of cooking which the summer maestral (north-westerly summer sea breeze), or bavižela (local Boka name for the summer maestral), carries through the city’s narrow streets and stimulates the senses of passers-by – and much more. Whoever carries all this within their memories, and whose soul is warmed by such recollections, is a fulfilled and happy person. I am one of them. When I reach into the chest of my childhood, an image of my most profound being remains in the palm of my hand – my Boka–Mediterranean identity. Because of that image, which, unfortunately, is increasingly fading as everything changes, I decided to write the book Bokeška kužina. The memorised aromas and flavours from the kitchen of my childhood, my dedication to cooking, my culinary gene, and my fascination with inventing new dishes opened a door which I then pursued wholeheartedly. The photographs of the dishes are of high resolution and highly evocative, giving the impression that they have been prepared at that very instant. Each dish has its own design, garnished with the atmosphere of the Mediterranean– Kotor mentality, making each bite more savoury. This book is my contribution to the promotion and valorisation of our kitchen – our gastronomy. If we strategically commit ourselves to the development of cultural tourism in environments with historical heritage, Bokeška kužina certainly offers a traditional, local gastronomic selection which, in today’s era of global tourism, every visitor seeks and longs for. A good traditional gastronomic offer can become a souvenir remembered for the quality of its ingredients, its flavour and gušt (pleasure, delight), and the sense of good spirits it evokes.
In the book, you have given certain dishes original authorial names and, through language, shaped a distinctive narrative about the Bay of Kotor. How important is it to you to preserve the spirit of this area through words, just as much as through recipes?
Bokeška kužina contains 101 recipes and is enriched with texts and short dramatic pieces known as botunade, which speak of life in Kotor in times past. The botunade are filled with the wit, satire and humour of the people of Kotor, who are in daily interaction with one another in the squares and small piazzas where they live and work, where they celebrate, argue and reconcile. They are written in Boka localisms, just like the recipes themselves. The book also features outstanding photographic landscapes of the Bay of Kotor, photographs of stone houses, palaces and churches with numerous architectural details of Baroque Boka, as well as historical data on each settlement in the Bay. It represents a kind of gastronomic monograph of the Bay of Kotor. The book has been translated into English and Russian. Each recipe has been given a name written in Boka localisms, inspired by tradition, specific historical figures, localities and customs. My intention was for everything to be imbued with good taste, the spirit of Boka, patina and tradition. Recipes simmered within one’s own heritage are a pledge for preserving our distinctiveness. Increasingly, it is precisely this distinctiveness and originality that guide the choice of a tourist destination. I have held promotional events for the book Bokeška kužina in the cities of Zagreb, Belgrade, Podgorica, Rijeka, Pula, Dubrovnik, Tivat, Herceg Novi and Omiš. I also had a very successful promotion in Vienna. One of the reviewers, Mr Veljko Barbieri (Croatia), a gastro-chansonnier, stated: “Your Bokeška kužina is truly a memento to a special environment and to its civilisational tangible and intangible heritage, which is transferred from the kitchen and the plate to the palate and, through its flavours, reveals its own origin and inspiration. Your book is therefore an appropriate cultural work.”
As the founder and leader of the female klapa (ensemble) “Bisernice Boke”, you actively participate in the preservation of musical heritage. How do you see the role of music in transmitting the identity of the Bay of Kotor?
The klapa Bisernice Boke was founded in 1979 and has worked and performed continuously in the country and abroad from that time to the present day. In earthquake-shaken Kotor in 1979, amid the sorrowful and severely damaged face of our city, through sincere enthusiasm, the strength of voice and a shared love for song, the first Bisernice began an adventure which, from awkward and timid beginner’s notes, inscribed the klapa Bisernice Boke in serious letters among the founders of klapa singing in Montenegro. After the 1979 earthquake, the klapa gathered in the devastated squares and small piazzas of the city, where rehearsals transformed into spontaneous concerts. The repertoire of the klapa consists of old and newly composed songs about the sea, ships, captains and carnival, thematically closely connected with tradition and life in the Bay of Kotor. The singing is performed a cappella in four voices. Our repertoire also includes pop and evergreen songs. Over 47 years of existence, the klapa Bisernice Boke has held approximately 1,500 performances in the country and abroad, as well as concert seasons lasting several summer months on ships, sailing vessels and cruise liners. The klapa has recorded 24 television music videos and a CD with 24 songs. The klapa has received numerous awards, among which I would single out the November Award of the City of Kotor.
If you had to single out one value that the Bay of Kotor, through its architecture, music and cuisine, can offer to the world, what value would it be?
Kotor and its natural and cultural area were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979. The Bay of Kotor became a member of the Club of the Most Beautiful Bays in the World in 2001. In recent years, Kotor has ranked among the most attractive tourist destinations. The world has drawn our attention to the natural beauties bestowed upon us by the Creator, as well as to the beauty of the centuries-long creative and architectural achievements of our ancestors. To answer your question by singling out a single value that the Bay of Kotor can offer to the world is very difficult. Perhaps the answer lies in the development of cultural tourism that would valorise all the beauties of the Bay of Kotor, which naturally complement one another and are arranged like a pearl necklace of the Bride of the Adriatic. If only one pearl is singled out, the necklace will break. It is now up to us to preserve these spaces and the historic cores from aggressive construction of new buildings and from overall concretisation which is already underway and which, if not halted, will cause all the pearls of the necklace of the Bride of the Adriatic to fall apart.