BELLSPIRATION CLUB - Elida Korać: When you learn Turkish intensively, you start thinking like them (Part 3/4)

1) Dear Elida, you mentioned in the first interview that you are an "atypical PR" and that you enjoy your job. Can you explain to us why this is so and what makes your job so special?

Dealing with public relations is truly an interesting, dynamic, and challenging job. Of course, it requires precision, high professionalism where it is important to be in the power of good communication skills. Being PR in a Cultural center that organizes up to 350 programs per year makes that job even more interesting. :) Since I knew I wouldn’t be doing my tasks only from the office,  next to the computer, it made my workdays even more different and I enjoyed it. From the first moment, I had a great desire to be involved in the whole process, from the first step, the process of preparing,  to the realization, because in that way I get a complete view of the program or activity that takes place in any of our halls, on small or big stages. So in addition to public relations, there are protocol, translation, moderation,  event management, logistical and organizational support, photography :) All this, of course, is not the duties of one PR, but it is all a form of communication and dynamics that I consider to be very important in business. Eight-hour working hours often used to continue in the evening, when programs take place, when you are in the hall, communicate with the audience, feel the atmosphere at the event, see people's expressions, different reactions, hear applause… And then, when the hall is empty, you somehow get a complete,  veritable experience of everything you were working on.

I have to admit that an additional reason why I do my job with such a  special emotion is that I love art and culture very much. Somehow I promote it among the people I hang out with, among my friends, who I regularly invite to cultural events organized in the cultural center where I work and I keep them "up-to-date" about everything. Unfortunately, the situation with the pandemic has silenced and slowed down everything, now we are working in some limiting circumstances, but there is no giving up. There is a smaller audience, under masks, but I am glad that people do not give up on culture even in these difficult times. It seems that we all need to divert our thoughts, to decontaminate and heal ourselves from everything bad that is happening around us and culture is a wonderful way to do it.. I recognize that in all those who come to concerts, theater plays, literary and movie nights… Of course, that is one more motivation to work.

2) Would you share with us some interesting experiences from work, working with strangers…

There were a lot of wonderful moments, both among the collaborators and partners and with the audience… Many times it happens that tickets for the programs are sold out in a couple of days, even hours, and a lot of those who want to come, are not able to.  On one occasion a friend told me that he would pay five times the price of a ticket, just to bring his girlfriend to one concert. In the end, my colleagues and I managed to bring them two chairs in one corner, secretly. After the concert, he told me that he would never forget that night because it is his girlfriend's favorite musician, and the concert was actually an introduction to the proposal that followed immediately after that. I often meet them and they tell me I was that "culprit" who made everything went according to the plan.

We have hosted many names from the regional and world scene when it comes to pop music, jazz, classical music, many prominent actors, writers… In fact, that is when you realize how simple and modest these people are, and at the same time exceptional in what they do.

Also, international cooperation is especially important to me, because those contacts are somehow always the most precious. As we cooperate with all embassies in the country, but also abroad, there are a lot of diplomats that I had the pleasure to meet. I would especially like to single out HE Mr. Alejandro Fernandez, former Ambassador of Argentina with whom we twice had a wonderful collaboration and did two excellent projects to present their culture in Montenegro. The man really left a wonderful impression with his warm and cordial attitude. That time, he came to our first meeting with an interpreter, assuming that none of us spoke Spanish. As the meeting began, I set out to speak to him in fluent Spanish, to which he was delighted. Then he said to me, "Nena, (a gentle way to address a girl or a woman), we are taking you with us from now on as a backup translator." :) Speaking about foreigners, we also nurture nice cooperation with the Embassy of Ukraine too, and there I had the opportunity to meet a lot of wonderful people. It is interesting that while working on the last project with them, I came across a completely new task, I found myself behind the scenes to help technically and logistically during the demanding performance of a young Ukrainian star. I will conclude my ‘’international story’’  by mentioning a new friendship with an artist from Ankara, thanks to a project. Unfortunately, the concert program "Sun of Anatolia" that we planned did not happen due to the pandemic and the closing of the borders, but one of the artists became my great friend and eventually moved to Montenegro. :)

3) You are currently dedicated to learning Turkish. What attracted you to that language and literature? Tell us more about it!

I love languages ​​and have always had a penchant for learning them, but Turkish was by no means in my plan. Quite by accident, I started classes, and soon I was very attracted to it. I have to admit I wasn’t a fan of the series, but I am interested in movies and literature. Turks have great writers… I really like Sabahattin Ali and Cemal Süreya, but also the great Elif Shafak. Also, their music is special, because they have masters in all genres, through Barış Manço, Aytaç Doğan, to Cem Adrian who belongs to the new generation… The very inspiring and rich culture and tradition. As I am also a big fan of philosopher and poet Mevlana Celaleddin Rumi, I often love to read but also listen to the readıng of his poetry. At the suggestion of my teacher at the Yünus Emre Institute, I recorded a video in which I recited Rumi’s verses of the song “Demedim mi” to the sounds of Sufi music in the background.  The video ends up being published as part of an online program broadcast in Ankara, by a foreign headquarters of our Institute, and the topic was art during the pandemic. It was a very special moment for me and I am thinking of shooting another video like that because the reactions were wonderful.

In fact, the Turkish language is quite difficult, and it seems to me that even if you learn it all your life, there would always be some unexplored field left. But it is special, expressive, and its suggestiveness somehow fascinated me in a special way. … It is a language in which when you say '' kalp '', '' yürek '' and '' gönul '' you say '' heart ''. But it is interesting that you will use them differently, depending on the context, and the Turks are very careful when it comes to using it in sentences and how they will "address" the heart. There are many more such examples like this.

 I am currently at B1 level and of course, I plan to move on. My teacher likes to say that when you learn Turkish intensively, you start thinking like them. There is truth in that, I admit.

4) Follow Elida:

Fb: https://www.facebook.com/elly.korac IG: https://www.instagram.com/e__korac/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/elida-korać-03a26b64