A symbol of cultural tradition and family gathering

This year, at the recently held 61st Dragačevo Trumpet Festival in Guča, in front of the monument to the Serbian trumpeter, MP Dragomir Karić with his grandchildren Filip and Monika Martać presented the Dragačevo Winner statuette to the first trumpeter of 2022, the winner Elvis Bajramović from the town of Bojnik.

The monument to the trumpeter in Guča, Dragačevo, is a permanent gift of the Karić Brothers Foundation to Serbia and its traditional and cultural heritage.

Let us recall that at the end of the last century it was clear to our Foundation that Serbia should start protecting its national tradition and adhere to those values that are deeply woven into our national culture and customs.

With the awareness of the importance of preserving the national identity, the founders of the Karić Brothers Foundation decided to materialize the symbol of the Dragačevo Trumpet Festival in Guča, by erecting a monumental sculpture that will forever remain a symbol of everything that the Festival of Trumpet really represents.

In 1998, the Karić Brothers Foundation, together with the Municipality of Guča and the Association of Architects of Serbia, announced a competition for the artistic sculpture “Dragačevo Trumpet”. The artist Velimir Karavelić won the first prize, and the master foundry of the sculptor Zoran Kuzmanović produced a sculpture of the Dragačevo Trumpeter.

As the initiator and donor, the Foundation financed the making of the sculpture, the arrangement of the pedestal and the entire main square in Guča. The monument to the trumpeter was discovered by Milanka and Bogoljub Karić on August 23, 1998.

Milanka Karić said that “the Scots have bagpipe players, the Spanish have guitarists, and we, the Serbs have trumpeters”, pointing out that for centuries „the trumpet here welcomes and sees you off, rejoices and weeps with you, puts you to sleep and wakes you up”.

From then until today, every year a representative of the Karić Brothers Foundation presents an honorary statuette of the Dragačevo trumpeter to the best artist trumpeter of the Festival.

The Dragačevo Winner statuette was presented by members of the Karić family, but also by prominent figures of our culture, professor of ethnomusicology Dragoslav Dević, associate of the Karić Foundation on many projects, Olivera Katarina, Mirjana Karanović, Bora Dugić, Jelica Sretenović, Princess Jelisaveta Karađorđević and many others.

Sreten Karić was present at almost every Festival until his untimely death, supporting all competitors and sharing joy with the winners during the presentation of the Dragačevo Winner statuette.

After him, the MP Dragomir Karić, on behalf of the Foundation, took upon himself the nice duty of awarding the best trumpet player, the winner of the Festiva, every year.

As the Foundation points out, the monument to the Serbian trumpeter in Guča is not only a pedestal on which awards are given to the best artists, but has also become a meeting place. It’s a gathering place for family members who are scattered with their loved ones in Serbia and abroad. A place where photos and videos record first young loves, engagements, weddings, baptisms and all other family gatherings and celebrations.

Also, for the past quarter of a century, professors and students of the Karić Brothers University and the Academy of Art regularly invite their colleagues from Europe and the world to be their guests at the unique world event Dragačevo Trumpet Festival.

With the support of the Karić Brothers Foundation, it is stated that “all of this remains recorded in the history and memory of Serbia and its people, but also of all those from around the world who come every year to experience our traditional hospitality, the warmth of sound and the soul of the Serbian Dragačevo trumpet.”