From August 31st to September 1st in 2024, the fantastic TANDARA MANDARA FESTIVAL took place around the Belgrade Art Pavilion „Cvijeta Zuzorić“ in Kalemegdan Park and comic lovers, anime fans and gamers encountered a colorful oasis of fantasy and fiction. This was the third edition of the event and the range of presenting participants, as well as the associated genres, has once again grown considerably. In addition to booths from publishing houses, illustrators and comic producers, there were also board games, collectible figures, toy cars and even a Lego exhibition. Not forgetting the many superbly dressed cosplayers who strolled around the grounds in elaborate outfits and showed off their costumes at a presentation on Sunday.
Great epic series like One Piece, Dragonball or Naruto could be found at individual stands, but also classics such as Conan the Barbarian, Lord of the Rings or Star Trek. Especially the domestic productions and comics by Serbian artists were particularly interesting. A wonderful paradise for all the nerds! People read and browsed, role-games or card quests were played at various tables in the park and the extensive supporting program also included artist interviews and auctions on the main square. Several very unique collector’s items and rarities were available at the biddings.
We spoke to VANJA PETROVIĆ from DARKWOOD COMICS at the festival about the event and their work. The publishing house distributes various well-known comics and animes, and also translates several series and individual works into Serbian language. Vagabundler collective member SAVO KATALINA also works for that publishing house. Additionally we had an interview with MARIJA BURSAĆ aka ELION, who is part of the festival team and organized the cosplay actions. Of course she was also in a great costume! Below you will find the two interviews as podcasts to listen to, but also some passages written down in the text. In between are photos of the festival and some of the participants. You can find all the contact information at the end in the Infothek.
Comics & Animes – DARKWOOD
Tell us a bit about Darkwood Comics and what you are doing there. So what is Darkwood?
Darkwood is a publisher and a comic book store in Belgrade. It’s in Lomina 5 street in the Zeleni Venac district. We have our comics that we print and we have also comics from other publishers and recently we have a lot of mangas. So Japanese comics and we buy the rights from the Japanese, then we translate it into Serbian language and then we publish it. We have a lot of comics. We get American comics too, and Italian, French. On website you can order which comic you want, then we will package it and send it to your address.
With Darkwood you are active since quite a while and the stores provides great stuff since more than 20 years now. It became an imporant meeting point.
Yes, definitely, it is a meeting place for everybody who loves comics, mangas and books. Our comic book store exists since 2001 I think, so many people know it meanwhile. Before that there was nothing on the internet and also at that time, there was not that much around at that time if you consider in Serbian language. So Everybody came to the store to buy, but also to get news and talk about the topics. Whenever I spoke to somebody who wasn’t in the store for a long time, they always say, when I come to Belgrade, I always go to your store. People love coming there because it’s a lovely place filled up with cool stuff. You come and you watch comic books, you pick what you want, you talk to the people and the sales stuff there and you just know everybody.
And a big part what you also do is to go to different events and festivals in cities around Serbia.
Yeah, we go to a lot of events and festivals. We set up a stand and we sell there with like, with discounts. I work for Darkwood since last winter. We have small comics, bigger comics, up to quite huge big books, so it’s all in the full range of everything. Currently the the biggest part of our stand are mangas. And the other part are like regular comics. So with One Piece in Serbian langauge we got to the 32nd book and with Naruto we are on 31st. It takes some time with translations and printing and everything. So I can’t wait to get all of them.
What are your favorite comics and mangas?
I’m more into mangas. I was a huge anime fan so that translated into mangas because you can’t wait for the new episodes you want to know what happened and then you just grab the manga and read it. So the anime is on television which you can watch and the manga is actually the printed version. It’s like the comics and mostly the anime is made from the manga. My absolute favorite is Attack on Titan. I think it’s a masterpiece, it’s a really good one. I grew up with Naruto, this I read and watched a lot. I’m currently watching 86, it’s also really good and I can recommend it. These are all huge novels. Like Naruto is a very big one. Attack on Titan is not that old like others but it’s meanwhile also quite big. You have a lot of episodes and you can see what I’m a fan of. Then there is One Piece, they have 1500 or whatever episodes. I watched 60 episodes in three days and I put it down. Because I want to have a life. It’s really good, but I have some things that I don’t get into because I know I will have an obsession with it. I never played World of Warcraft. Even though I’m a gamer, I never went into World of Warcraft because I know I will like the game and I will get stuck in it for days. My neighbor, he played for two weeks straight. His girlfriend broke up with him and he didn’t know.
Yeah, that’s love with a computer. You already said it, you love gaming as well. I mean, it’s very much connected like comic, drawing, enemy, gaming, computer, all this one world. So which games do you play?
I play League of Legends and Valorant mostly. I pick up some single player games like a lot of Assassin’s Creed. But one of my all time favorites is the game I played as a kid. It was published in 2002. It’s Indiana Jones, The Emperor’s Tomb. It’s like a third person game. But it’s a very old one.
Cosplay – ELION
You started this festival in 2021, then was the first event. So how did it happen? Why did you start it and how was the beginning?
So I did not, I wasn’t here from the beginning. This is my first year joining and helping out in the events. But basically it’s a bunch of people with a common love for geek culture who just wanted to make an event to bring people together, to share interests and to have fun.
How and when did you went into Cosplay and what do you love about it?
It’s been i think over 10 years ago actually. I went on my first ever convention in Serbia and I just never knew that the option of cosplay was available here So when I saw all these people dressed up with wigs and contacts, I was totally in. Also I love acting as well. So this was just like another step up to express myself. It was just so beautiful and so great to see. So that’s when I started and I never stopped.
Which is the comic and anime universe you’re most into?
I know this is going to sound a little bit of cringe, but the first I started with Goku, obviously, because it was like available in Serbia to watch. But I really, really love Naruto. That was like what got me started. And that was actually one of the characters which I did at the first cosplay ever. So that just gave me a push. Nowadays not so much anymore, so I don’t love it anymore as much as I did before that specific franchise, but it still has a really special meaning and a warm place in my heart. Because it is what I cosplayed first and how it started. .
There are people who just like to read and to watch but you went a step further, so you really want to get part of it and dress up like this, it’s a subculture. How was it years ago? There were not so many, but after a while you met other people and then you figured out, there are more who also love it. Let’s make a festival.
Exactly. So when it all started, it was really hard to get anything cosplay related. So I started when I was still in school. I would have to pocket my lunch money in order to get enough to buy one wig and it was not as accessible as it is right now. So back then there was not a lot of options to buy costumes. You kind of had to get really creative. So to see how it is now and how even younger generations can just get into it and it’s so much more accessible, I’m really happy to see that.
You could not buy it online or just buy whatever Dragon Ball outfit. So you had to be inventive and make it in some way yourself. So how did you do this in the beginning?
So actually, for my first cosplay, I could not buy a wig. I cut my hair completely. I dyed my hair black. I went to a hairstylist, showed her the photo of a character. And I was like, can you make something close to this? I looked awful, but I was so proud. I was so cool to myself. So there are absolutely no regrets. I look really warmly to everything that I experienced back then. But yeah, we had to get creative with cardboard, using my grandma‘s sewing machine to try to make something. It was a really fun process.
And then later on, more and more shops or online possibilities came up. So for others who are also fans of this and who are from Serbia, what advice could you give them? Which shops or which places are there available to get costumes and information?
Yeah, so actually the community in Serbia, we’re really open to talking to each other. So whenever someone needs advice or any help, we’re really open to helping each other. But usually, you know, depending on how much money you have and what you can afford within your budget. I’d say I personally started with Ali-Express and now Timu is also available. And there are some cosplay stores like MiCostumes and Doki Doki. So those are really great options.
You said this is the third edition of this festival. So from the first one, there was already cosplay included.
Yes, that’s correct. We always wanted to include a little bit of cosplay because we do not have many events currently where people can just gather and do this type of hobby in one place. So every opportunity, whenever there’s a festival with something comic-related, manga-related, anime, we love to include a little bit of cosplay here and there.
So with your costume, how much time do you invest or how long does it take to get the whole costume on you?
So it depends. Right now I am cosplayed as Lucifer from Has-been Hotel and he has a full face of makeup and face paint which took me an hour and a half to do but that’s perfectly fine because makeup is one of my favorite things, my favorite pastimes to do and that’s one of my favorite things about cosplay. So it really depends on how demanding your overall, you know, the… the costume, the wig, the accessories, the makeup is. But yeah, for me personally, this took a lot, around two hours to put on all in all. But also funny accidents happen. I cannot tell you the amount of times I was accidentally glued myself to the costume or something. There has been so many safety hazards, but you know, we do it for the love.
Lego Exhibition
Inside the Art Pavilion „Cvijeta Zuzorić“, some organizational things took place and necessary equipment was stored here, but on the second floor there was an interesting exhibition of objects made only from Lego. Some of them were made according to original building plans, but most of them were created by collectors and hobbyists according to their own designs. In addition to a large collection of Transformers and battle robots, there was also a landscape specifically for Star Wars.
INFOTHEK
Festival: TANDARA MANDARA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tandara_mandara_festival
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/tandaramandara
Board Games, Cards & Role Plays: BOTTLE GNOME
Website: https://gnom.rs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BottleGnomeGames
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bottle_gnome
Comic & Manga Publisher: DARKWOOD
Adress: Lomina 5 – Zeleni Venac – Belgrade
Website: https://darkwood.co.rs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/darkwood.srbija
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darkwoodstripovi
Cosplay & Festival Orga: ELION
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/elion.cos
Comic & Manga Publisher: GOLCONDA
Website: https://golconda.rs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/golkonda.publishing
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/golconda.srb
Comic & Manga Collector: KOLEKCIONAR STRIPOVA
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kolekcionar_stripova
Comic & Manga Publisher: MAVERIK
Website: https://maverik.rs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ikmaverik
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ikmaverik
Board Games & Thinking Development: MEDIA PLANET
Website: https://mediaplanet.co.rs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MediaPlanetSrbija
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mediaplanet.srb
Youtube: Game Presentation Playlist
Board Games, Cards & Role Plays: MIPL
Website: https://www.drustveneigre.rs
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MiplNS
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/miplns
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@miplns
LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/miplns
Toy Collector: MUZEJI GRACAKA – MILOS POPOVIC
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/muzejigracaka
Comic & Manga Publisher: ŽIR
Website: https://golconda.rs
Facebook: ŽIR izdavaštvo
Twitter: https://x.com/ZIzdavastvo
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zir-izdava%C5%A1tvo
Of course, there were many more exhibitors, artists and creative people at the festival, but the ones mentioned on this page are just the ones we spoke to and who are shown on the photographs. If there are any missing, please write to us at info@vagabundler.com and we will add them. You can also send us photos of the event if you have any and we will add them to this page here. Waiting for the next edition of the festival in the coming year!
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