Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of North Macedonia. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba, Nidže, and Kajmakčalan mountain ranges, 14 kilometres north of the Medžitlija-Níki border crossing with Greece. The city stands at an important junction connecting the south of the Adriatic Sea region with the Aegean Sea and Central Europe, and it is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It has been known since the Ottoman period as the "City of Consuls", since many European countries had consulates in Bitola.
Karolina Gočeva, sometimes credited as Karolina Gocheva or known only as Karolina, is a Macedonian singer. She launched her music career in 1991 with a performance at a local children's show and continued participating in the following years, receiving recognition for her talent. In 1992, she released her first children album titled Mamo, pušti me. She signed a contract with the record label Avalon Production in 2000.
The Bitola inscription is a stone inscription from the First Bulgarian Empire written in the Old Church Slavonic language in the Cyrillic alphabet. Currently, it is located at the Institute and Museum of Bitola, North Macedonia, among the permanent exhibitions as a significant epigraphic monument, described as "a marble slab with Cyrillic letters of Ivan Vladislav from 1015/17". In the final stages of the Byzantine conquest of Bulgaria Ivan Vladislav was able to renovate and strengthen his last fortification, commemorating his work with this elaborate inscription. The inscription found in 1956 in SR Macedonia, provided strong arguments supporting the Bulgarian character of Samuil's state, disputed by the Yugoslav scholars.
Vasko Lipovac was a Yugoslavian and Croatian painter, sculptor, printmaker, designer, illustrator and scenographer and one of the most prominent artists of the region. He is best known for his minimalist figuration and use of intense, unmodulated and often dissonant palette. With the exception of his juvenile period of geometric abstraction, he remained loyal to figuration throughout his whole career. Exceptionally prolific, he worked in various techniques and was equally skilful in using high-polished metal, polychromous wood, enamel, terracotta or polyester to create his sculptures, reliefs and mobiles.
Bulgarians are an ethnic minority in North Macedonia. Bulgarians are mostly found in the Strumica area, but over the years, the absolute majority of southeastern North Macedonia have declared themselves Macedonian. The town of Strumica and its surrounding area were part of the Kingdom of Bulgaria between the Balkan wars and the end of World War I, as well as during World War II. The total number of Bulgarians counted in the 2021 Census was 3,504 or roughly 0.2%. Over 100,000 nationals of North Macedonia have received Bulgarian citizenship since 2001 and some 53,000 are still waiting for such, almost all based on declared Bulgarian origin. In the period when North Macedonia was part of Yugoslavia, there was also migration of Bulgarians from the so called Western Outlands in Serbia.
Gjorgi Kolozov was one of the best-known Macedonian actors. He became famous by playing one of the main roles in the television series Makedonski narodni prikazni, which aired in the late 1980s and 1990s.
Makedonsko Devojče is the fifth studio album by Macedonian singer Karolina Gočeva released in North Macedonia on 26 June 2008 through Avalon Production. The record label City Records released the album in ex-Yugoslavian countries in December of the same year. The composer of all the songs and the main lyricist is Zlatko Origjanski, a member of the Macedonian band Anastasia. Two singles were released to promote the album: "Ptico malečka" and "Za kogo?". Sonically, the album marks the singer's first attempt at an album that is rooted in traditional Macedonian music in an attempt to broaden her musical style. Makedonsko Devojče was the best-selling album in the country during the year of its release. The album's popularity and success prompted Gočeva to release a sequel, titled Makedonsko Devojče 2 (2014). Songs from the album have become an important part of the singer's career and are currently incorporated in set list of her live performances.
Petar Stojkovikj is a Macedonian actor who works in theater, television and film. He is also an LGBT human rights activist.
Goran Trenchovski is a Macedonian-born director, writer, artistic leader, founder, lecturer, humanist. He is the current head of AsterFest, and lives in Great Britain.
Tale Ognenovski was a Macedonian multi-instrumentalist who played clarinet, recorder, tin whistle, bagpipe, zurna, and drums. He composed or arranged 300 instrumental compositions: Macedonian folk dances, jazz compositions, and classical concerts.
Vlado Goreski – Rafik is a Macedonian-Slovenian graphic artist and scenographer.
Macedonian IdolSeason 1 was the first and only season of the Macedonian version of the worldwide known talent franchise series Pop Idol. The show started airing on 13 November 2010 on A1 TV and finished airing on 30 May 2011 with the big final held in the Metropolis Arena, Skopje. The winner was Ivan Radenov from Gevgelija. As first runner-up finished Ivan Radenov and second runner-up Dejan Jovanov.
The Vullnetari were a volunteer militia of Albanians from Kosovo set up in 1941 by Italian forces after the successful invasion of Yugoslavia. They served as an auxiliary force for civilian control and protection of villages.
The International Cinematographers Film Festival "Manaki Brothers" is an annual international film festival organized by the Macedonian Film Professionals Association (MFPA). The festival is held in Bitola, the town where most of the activities of the Aromanian brothers Yanaki and Milton Manaki were organized. They were the filmmakers, who in 1905 filmed in Avdela the first motion pictures in the Ottoman Balkans. Each year the festival is supported by the Ministry of Culture of Macedonia and the President of North Macedonia. The award of the festival is Camera 300 that given to the year's best motion pictures chosen by the festival's film committee. The Manaki Film Festival has been hosted at the Center of culture, with screenings at the Big Hall, located in the center of Bitola and has been attended by celebrities such as Michael York, Charles Dance, Victoria Abril, Daryl Hannah, Catherine Deneuve, Isabelle Huppert, Julliette Binoche, Aleksei Serebryakov, Bruno Ganz, Claudia Cardinale, Fatih Akin.
Romeo "John" Gonzales-Arcilla is a Filipino actor. He won Best Actor awards at the 78th Venice International Film Festival and the Gawad Urian Awards for his performance in On the Job: The Missing 8. He is the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to win the Volpi Cup for Best Actor. He played the role of Antonio Luna in the historical drama film Heneral Luna, Hagorn in the fantasy drama television series Encantadia, and Renato Hipolito in the action drama television series FPJ's Ang Probinsyano.
Nova Jugoslavija Square is a municipal square in Kumanovo, North Macedonia.
The Drama Art Scene is the first cultural-artistic society in Novi Sad that fostered theatrical amateurism and had a permanent professional scene, as well as correspondent and multimedial Correspondence Theatre. This specific theater was formed on 3 March 1974 within the local community Rotkvarija in Novi Sad, Serbia.
Nina Yakovlevna Simonovich-Efimova was a Russian artist, puppet designer and one of the first professional Russian puppeteers. Together with her husband Ivan Efimov she founded the tradition of Soviet puppet theater, acting as the driving force behind the Efimovs' presentations.
Izvor is the ninth studio album by Macedonian singer Karolina Gočeva released on 23 February 2018. Avalon Production released the album in North Macedonia and subsequently, it was made available for streaming on platforms such as iTunes Store and Spotify. In April 2019, the album was also released in Croatia through Croatia Records, marking the singer's first release in the country.
Qëndrim Rijani is an Albanian director of theatre, film and opera. He has directed many plays, Albanian and foreign, that were performed in many different countries in Europe and that have been honored with many awards in various festivals. His plays are characterised by his direct and rough style. He is also the director of the first Albanian opera in North Macedonia.
