In the blessed beauty of May, as the Sacred Bigorski Monastery breathes in the calm of prayerful silence, this year once again the Monastery of the Honourable Forerunner, with the blessing of our venerable Elder and Abbot, Bishop Partenij of Antania, became a home of youthful joy, of colour, line, form, and the pure wonder of children before beauty. Within the framework of the jubilee 45th edition of the world children’s art colony “The Small Montmartre of Bitola,” young artists from various countries and cultures around the world arrived at Bigorski, seeking, through diverse artistic techniques and their own immediate creative expression, to capture its spiritual, natural, and architectural beauty.
This significant international event, born from the Children’s Art Studio “Saints Cyril and Methodius” in Bitola, has for decades served as a luminous bridge between peoples, languages, and cultures. With love and dedication, it nurtures children’s artistic talent and opens the Macedonian cultural space to the world. It is not merely a colony of young talents, but also a school of friendship, respect, and creative freedom, where the sincerity of children becomes an artistic testimony to the beauty of the world.
At Bigorski, the creative impulse received a particularly elevated setting. The monastery architecture, the residences, the stone, the wood, the porches, the church, and the mountain landscape revealed themselves before the young artists as a living book of beauty. Each of them, according to their age, talent, and inner sensibility, sought to capture what cannot be seen with the eyes alone: the peace of the Sanctuary, the dignity of the space, the light that falls quietly upon the walls, and that distinctive spiritual atmosphere which Bigorski bears as a seal throughout its thousand-year history.
With their easels, brushes, inks, pastels, and rapidographs, the young creators filled the monastery courtyard with the joy of artistic work. Children’s faces concentrated before beauty, hands carefully following the lines of the architecture, eyes noticing details that often escape adults, and hearts receiving, each in its own way, the grace-filled atmosphere of the place.
A special joy for the participants was their warm encounter with our beloved Elder, His Grace Bishop Partenij — a man who deeply feels and loves art, especially when it springs from the pure heart of a child. With fatherly love, he blessed the works of the young artists and greeted their teachers and the organizers of the colony.
At the end of the working day, the expert jury selected the most successful works created at Bigorski, valuing precision in realistic depiction, the personal perspective of the young authors, and their ability to present the monastery architecture through segments, details, and their own artistic experience. The awards were presented to:
Vukan Slović from Belgrade, Serbia — for a work created in tempera;
Zeynep Beyza Altuntaş from Trabzon, Turkey — for a work created in ink;
Mara Mona Stojanović from Cetinje, Montenegro — for a work created with a rapidograph;
Ng Sui Hin Cedric from Hong Kong, China — for a work created in dry pastel.
Yet events such as this are not measured by awards alone; for awards, however joyful and well deserved, are but a small sign of gratitude for the labour invested. Far greater than any award is the joy that these children were part of a colourful world of colours and forms, an international garden of talent, love, and friendship. In that world, every child has a place, every effort has value, every attempt is a step forward, and every work — whether awarded or not — bears witness that within the young heart there lives an inexhaustible strength for beauty.
The jubilee 45th edition of the world children’s art colony “The Small Montmartre of Bitola” is being held from 23 to 30 May 2026, with its solemn opening at the Officers’ House in Bitola.
This year’s colony includes delegations from fifteen countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Israel, India, China – Hong Kong, Malaysia, Poland, North Macedonia, Slovakia, Serbia, Turkey, Croatia, Czechia, and Montenegro. Their presence transformed the jubilee “Small Montmartre of Bitola” into a true small world community of children’s art, where different languages, traditions, and cultures meet in one shared love — the love of beauty, creativity, and friendship without borders.
May the jubilee “Small Montmartre of Bitola” continue to inspire generations of young artists throughout the world, and may the Sacred Bigorski Monastery always remain an open embrace for every heart that seeks beauty, goodness, and light.
