Ras, known in modern Serbian historiography as Stari Ras, is a medieval fortress located in the vicinity of former market-place of Staro Trgovište, some 11 km west of modern day city of Novi Pazar in Serbia. Old Ras was one of the first capitals of the medieval Serbian state of Raška, the most important one for quite a long period of time. Located in today's region of Raška, the city was positioned in the center of the early medieval state, it was deserted sometime in the 13th century. Its favorable position in the area known as Old Serbia, along the Raška gorge, on the crossroads and trading routes between neighbouring regions of Zeta and Bosnia in the west and Kosovo and Metohija in the south added to its importance as a city. Today the fortress of Arsa lies in unenclosed and unprotected ruins. However, there are plans for future reconstruction of the site. In the close vicinity of Arsa there is impressive group of medieval monuments consisting of fortresses, old market-places and monasteries.

Serbian medieval Monastery of Sopoćani near Arsa is a reminder of the contacts between Western world and the Byzantine world. The site of Stari Ras, in combination with the nearby Monastery of Sopoćani, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Stari Ras monastery is being reconstructed and it too may be included on the UNESCO World Heritage List with the site. Stari Ras and Sopoćani World Heritage site is not far from another UNESCO World Heritage Site of Serbia, the magnificent medieval monastery and churches of Studenica; the 6th century Church of Saint Apostles Peter and Paul is one of the oldest early medieval churches in Serbia. Stari Ras was declared Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance in 1990, it is protected by Republic of Serbia. Archeological findings of fortified structures and early churches from the area of Stari Ras, dated from 4th to 6th century, correspond to testimony of Byzantine historian Procopius who wrote that Roman castellum of Arsa in the province of Dardania was refortified during the reign of emperor Justinian I.

With the arrival of Slavs in the 6th century and the final collapse of Byzantine rule in Dardania at the beginning of the 7th century, the fort of Arsa was destroyed. To newly settled Serbs, old Arsa was known as Ras, it soon became a peripheral place for Serbia. In the early stages of Serbian statehood it was the easternmost town, bordering the First Bulgarian Empire annexed by the Bulgars in 924–927. A bishopric for inner Serbia was founded in Ras in the time of major ecclesiastical events that took place around the Council of Constantinople in 869-870 and the Council of Constantinople in 879–880. In the time of emperor John I Tzimiskes, Byzantine rule was restored in the region of Ras, protospatharios John was appointed as governor of Ras. After the victories of emperor Basil II and the restoration of Byzantine power in Southeastern Europe, Ras became the political and church center of Byzantine Serbia. In the imperial charters of Basil II from 1019 and 1020, rights and jurisdictions of the autonomous Archbishopric of Ohrid were established.

One of the bishoprics in its jurisdiction was that of Ras, with the seat at the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. During the Hungarian-Byzantine War, the Serbs fought on the Hungarian side, re-conquering Ras, under Byzantine rule. In the next war the Byzantines seized Ras again. A late 12th-century cave monastery existed in the region north of the Studenica monastery. During the 14th century there was an important market-place below the Stari Ras, Trgovište, that started to develop. By the mid-15th century, in the time of the final Ottoman conquest of the region, another market-place was developing some 11 km to the east; the older place was known as younger as Novo Trgovište. The latter developed into the modern city of Novi Pazar; the oldest early medieval church-building in Serbia, the Church of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul, was founded sometime during the 9th century on foundations of an Early Christian church. According to tradition, Serbian Prince Petar Gojniković was entombed in this church.

Monument of Culture of Exceptional Importance Tourism in Serbia Nemanjić dynasty Spatial Cultural-Historical Units of Great Importance UNESCO World Heritage Site Official site of monastery Đurđevi stupovi in Stari Ras

Diana Thorneycroft is a Canadian artist based in Winnipeg, whose work has exhibited nationally and internationally. Thorneycroft works in photography and sculpture/installation, her work blurs the lines between gendered bodies by employing phalluses. Diana Thorneycroft graduated with an MFA from the University of Wisconsin in 1980 and with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the University of Manitoba in 1979. A series of digital photographs and Americans looks at iconic moments and figures in American and Canadian history to explore the unbalanced relationship and power dynamic between the two neighbouring countries; the collection was exhibited at the Michael Gibson Gallery in London, Ontario in October of 2013. Looking at the horrific history of crimes and atrocities perpetrated against vulnerable people in Canada, A People's History is a series of photographs based on dioramas created by the artist. Group of Seven Awkward Moments is a photographic series created between 2007 and 2010 which employs black humour to look at the effect of the mythology of the Canadian landscape on the construct of Canadian identity.

The series features dioramas of histories that are part of iconic Canadian symbolism paired with backgrounds of reproductions of paintings by The Group of Seven. This series of drawings explores violence in the media through the behaviour of popular cartoon characters; the photographs is this series uses paraphernalia depicting Canadian tourism and culture to discuss spectacles of martyrdom and apathy to human suffering. Agnes Etherington Art Gallery, Ontario Art Gallery of Alberta, Alberta Art Gallery of Southwestern Manitoba, Manitoba Art Gallery of Nova Scotia, Nova Scotia Bank of Montreal Beaverbrook Art Gallery, New Brunswick Canada Council Art Bank, Ontario Canadian Museum of Civilization, Ontario City of Ottawa, Ontario Fotomuseum Winterthur, Switzerland Gallery One One One, University of Manitoba, Manitoba Lerners LLP, Ontario McMichael Canadian Art Collection, Ontario Mackenzie Art Gallery, Saskatchewan Manitoba Printmakers Association, Manitoba Manitoba Arts Council Art Bank, Manitoba Martha McCarthy & Company, Ontario National Gallery of Canada, Ontario Royal Bank of Canada Rosizo, Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation, State Museum and Exhibition Centre, Russia The Donovan Collection, St. Michaelʼs College, University of Toronto, Ontario The Nickel Arts Museum, Alberta Toronto Photographers Workshop, Ontario TD Bank Group Vancouver Art Gallery, British Columbia University of Winnipeg, Manitoba Winnipeg Art Gallery, Manitoba In 2012, Thorneycroft was awarded a Manitoba Arts Council Major Arts Grant and an Individual Artist Grant from the Winnipeg Arts Council.

In 2016, Thorneycroft was the recipient of the Manitoba Arts Award of Distinction by the Manitoba Arts Council. As a recipient, Thorneycroft received $30,000 and the council’s highest distinction for outstanding Manitoba artists with “long-term achievements.” Official website

Rose Marie Antoinette Blommers-Schlösser is a Dutch herpetologist and entomologist. Blommers-Schlösser conducted her PhD at the University of Amsterdam on the systematics of the frogs of Madagascar. Together with numerous other herpetologists Charles P. Blanc, she described numerous species of frogs from Madagascar, including Mantidactylus spiniferus, Boophis reticulatus, Spinomantis guibei, Guibemantis punctatus, contributed extensively to the knowledge of these and other species, she contributed significantly to understanding of the reproductive behaviour of numerous microhylids from Madagascar, supraspecific taxonomy of the Mantellidae. She contributed to the literature on the karyotypes of phytoseiid mites of Madagascar in 1975; the frog genus Blommersia, the species Blommersia blommersae and Boophis blommersae, were named in honour of Blommers-Schlösser, in recognition of her contributions to the herpetology of Madagascar