Collection: Marija (Razbojnik)

His testimony

"During my early childhood, during the winter months, a room in my aunt Dragoslava's house in the village of Krivelj near Bor was transformed into a veritable weaving workshop. My uncle Aleksa would set up a large loom there, which occupied at least half the room, and my aunt would weave the bags, tarpaulins, and blankets she needed for the winter. She would prepare the wool during the summer."

The magic room

Marija continues to tell us about her childhood and speaks of secret visits to a magical room:

With a distaff in hand, she would go to the field behind the house and, while tending the cows grazing in the afternoon, she would spin the wool that she would turn into fabric in the winter. During the winter holidays, I spent at least a few days with her. I still fondly remember my secret visits to that magical room where, hidden from view, I would thread the skein through the black warp threads, imitating my aunt whom I watched weaving. Seeing my interest, she taught me the basics of weaving, and my happiness was boundless, for she sometimes let me weave a centimeter myself.

The turnaround

Forty years later, here I am at my loom, different from the one of my childhood, but with the same function: to create a magnificent fabric from a multitude of threads. After twenty-five years in the media, where I expressed my creativity by designing original cultural programs and interacting with various people, I felt exhausted and wanted a change.

Marija's loom

The duty to pass on

Marija is not only interested in satisfying her love of weaving and that funny machine that assembles threads to create magnificent patterns.
She wants to pass it on and explain its significance in a modern world:

So here I am, facing a new challenge that allows me, once again, to express my creativity, but in a different way. A few months before leaving this world forever, my aunt gave me a bedspread. She had bought it in a Chinese shop, delighted, she said, by its beauty. She told me, "Look how beautiful it is, unlike what I crudely made with wool."
She created beauty without understanding its value: it was common in eastern Serbia for women to spin and weave their own wool, and she appreciated what the new era brought: mass production. That is why I consider it my duty, and that of all those who practice weaving today, to make new generations understand the importance of this craft and other ancestral techniques, because industrial production cannot replace what a handmade object offers us: a form of personal energy.

The workshop was created in 2017

Marija further solidified her change of direction and her desire to pass on her knowledge, creating her workshop as well as "Razbonjnik," the name of the product line she produces.

As for me, through weaving, I perpetuate the memory of my aunt and those I loved. The creation of the "Razbojnik" weaving workshop in 2017 is a continuation of my desire to preserve this ancient craft today, and I hope for the future. To make it easier to remember, I chose a playful name which, at first glance, has another meaning*, but which one quickly understands is simply my main "tool" of the trade.

A certificate in 2020

Since 2020, I have held the "Otvorena Šaka" certificate, which literally means "open hand," officially recognizing my work as a traditional craft. Razbojnik primarily creates accessories inspired by traditional Serbian fabrics. I use natural materials like cotton and wool to translate traditional patterns into contemporary handcrafted creations, produced in small batches, which gives them added value: their unique character. Marija

• "Razboj" means "loom"; "razbojnik" means "brigand".

- Personal note -

Shortly after the start of the Ethno Slava project, I was able to meet Marija in Belgrade in July 2025. We met at a café near Saint Sava Cathedral, and the weather was beautiful. Moreover, the temperature wasn't too high.
Marija is a vibrant and intelligent woman. She exudes a genuine ability to motivate others, the confidence of someone who has already led teams.
And yet, everything about her expresses, with a contagious joy, the profound happiness that manual work on her loom brings her.
We talked about her, her projects - and mine - but especially about the bracelets she weaves according to her inspirations!
Marija is very sunny, she has a real presence. A beautiful person.