By visiting Roma painters, brother and sister Farije and Bajram
Mehmeti from Lepina, the Mayor of Gračanica municipality, Srđan
Popović, shown that the Municipality of Gračanica took care of all
the communities equally.
The seven-member family of Farije and Bajram Mehmeti live in a
difficult financial situation, with the immobile father. The brother
and sister are talented painters barely surviving by selling some
paintings.
These two artists, as well as their family, were visited today by the
Mayor of Gračanica municipality, Srđan Popović, and his closest
associates, who handed them on that occasion the necessary
material for painting – brushes, colors and canvas, as well as a
package with basic foodstuffs.
"These two artists, brother and sister, are very hardworking
people, who have their own studio and they asked material for
their paintings from the municipality. We in the local self-
government are glad that there are such talented people and we
will surely assist our locals dealing with the similar work in the
future. Artists present our municipality in the right way wherever
they appear. I am very glad that Farije and Bajram had
international exhibitions in Austria and Switzerland, and we, as a
local self-government, will come to their assistance as much as
we can, first of all in organizing exhibitions and appearing at
appropriate events where they can present their works", Popović
said.
Mayor Popović emphasized that today's visit to the Mehmeti
family convinced himself of the difficult conditions they had been
living and creating in.
"We will help them to recover the dole they lost, today we have
given them one-time assistance and we will not stop on it, we will
try to employ at least one member of this seven-member family in
the future", Popović said.
Bajram Mehmeti thanked Mayor Popović and the Municipality of
Gračanica for visiting and assisting.
"We are glad that the mayor visited us and brought us a package
of foodstuffs. The material that has also been brought to us will
serve us for our new paintings. This kind of support means a lot to
us, especially for further work. Because we do not have
conditions, we paint on plain paper because we need better
colors and material for the canvas, and we are not able to afford
it. Rarely, we make money from our work, once or twice a year,
which is not enough, it's a one-time thing to make a living from",
Bajram said.
Together with Mayor Popović, the Mehmeti family was also visited
by Deputy Mayor, Saša Danić and Education Director, Brankica
Nićić. As a token of gratitude, Bajram presented paintings to
them.
