A group of archaeologists uncovered fragments of a giant marble statue of the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius in the town of Sagalassos, Turkey. The head, a right hand and the lower part of the legs are among the pieces recovered. Aurelius is considered one of the "five good emperors" of Roman history. Archaeologists said the statue was lying in the biggest room of the Roman baths in Sagalassos. The head of the statue is very well preserved and is considered one of the best representations of Marcus Aurelius found so far.

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The first statue of reggae legend Bob Marley in Europe was unveiled on Saturday (August 23rd) in Banatski Sokolac, Serbia, which hosted the Rock Village festival in support of peace in the Balkans. The two-day festival, which opened on Friday (August 22nd), featured performances by Serbian and Croatian rock bands.

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The Croatian movie "Buick Riviera" by director Goran Rusinovic won Best Film at the 14th Sarajevo Film Festival, which ended on Saturday (August 23rd). It beat out ten other films from Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, Slovenia and Turkey. This year's Sarajevo Film Festival featured 174 movies and documentaries.

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The second Summer Book Fest and Summer Literary Stage took place in Sarajevo from August 18th through August 28th. The festival promoted 50 short stories from 11 European countries.

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The latest novel by Turkish Nobel laureate Orhan Pamuk, Masumiyet Muzesi (The Museum of Innocence), will be released on Friday (August 29th). The book will also appear in 30 foreign languages.

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Albanian poet Fatos Arapi won the Golden Wreath at the 47th edition of the Struga Poetry Evenings in Macedonia on Sunday (August 24th). More than 150 poets participated in the international competition.

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The 2008 Bejehad, a Jewish cultural event, opened in Opatija, Croatia, on Sunday (August 24th). The seven-day event will bring together representatives of Jewish communities from the former Yugoslavia. The festival aims to strengthen Jewish cultural identity in the region.

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On Monday (August 25th), Bulgarian wooden-flute player Teodosii Spasov opened the Balkan Flute Festival in the cultural centre of Pale, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). The event, which wraps up on Thursday (August 28th), brings together 23 flutists from BiH and Serbia.

(Various sources – 20/08/08-27/08/08)