Mala Cana Clashes With Staff at Bajic Memorial

Mala Cana clashed with staff today at the memorial for her husband, folk singer Andrija Bajic, held on July 10 in Belgrade’s MTS Hall. The incident, we understand unofficially, broke out the moment she was being shown where to sit, and the widow reacted sharply in front of those gathered.

Bajic, one of the best known names in Serbian folk music, died on July 7 at the age of 89. The memorial drew colleagues, friends and family, but instead of a quiet farewell, the hall was gripped by a tension felt from the first moment. Mala Cana was among the first to arrive, dressed in black and barely able to speak, with neighbors from Devojacki Bunar supporting her at the entrance.

What set off the clash in the hall?

By accounts from those present, the spark came over the seating arrangement. The staff handling the organization tried to guide the widow toward a designated spot, and she took it as something she was not willing to accept at such a painful moment. Word by word, the situation escalated in front of everyone who had come to say goodbye to the singer.

The tension, however, was not only between the widow and the organizers. Relations between Mala Cana and Bajic’s daughters have been strained for some time, and the memorial only brought those divisions into the open. Instead of the family standing shoulder to shoulder, each side, as could be noticed, guarded its own share of grief.

Mala Cana has spoken out several times in recent days. In one statement she said that no one had asked her for a single joint photograph with her husband to be displayed at the memorial, which further upset the widow who spent years of her life with Bajic. That detail, seemingly small, says a great deal about how badly relations within the family had frayed even before the hall filled up.

Is this the end of the story or just the beginning?

What began as a farewell to a legend of folk music turned into a talking point across the scene. Footage of the clash quickly began circulating online, and the comments split. Some sided with the widow, who they said had a right to grieve in her own way. Others felt a memorial was no place for scenes like this, however strong the emotions.

Bajic’s death closed a major chapter of Serbian folk music. His voice marked decades, and the songs he left behind are still sung. That makes it all the harder to watch a farewell turn into a story about conflict, rather than a story about the man who left a rich legacy behind him.

For now it is not known whether family members will comment on what happened in the hall, or whether the widow will give a further statement. What is certain is that Andrija Bajic’s final farewell will be talked about for days, and not only for the music he left behind.

How do you view scenes like this at memorials for public figures, should the public be watching them at all, or is grief something that ought to stay behind closed doors?