Ljubica Dolašević-Čurguz

HOW VIKANA BECAME ONE OF THE PILLARS OF THE SERBIAN COSPLAY SCENE

If you want to understand the local cosplay scene, you have to meet Ljubica or, as many know her, Vikana, whose entry into the world of games and costumes was never planned. It was… fate.

“World of Warcraft was my first big gaming love. And Vikana is my warlock character, which over time became my personal nickname and stage name.”

Ljubica was among the first WoW players, back when the servers crashed more often than they worked and gaming was a ritual, not a habit. At the first festival of Japanese culture, Japanizam, she heard about cosplay for the first time. Although at first she didn’t know exactly what it was, she was intrigued enough to dig deeper into this form of creative expression.

“I found anime cute, but I preferred medieval aesthetics. It took a while for cosplay to win me over, and then to completely take over my life.”

FROM LARP TO THE FIRST COMPETITION

In the beginning, Ljubica made costumes for LARP (Live Action Role-Play), both for herself and for others. That was back around 2010, long before AliExpress and Temu, when everything had to be made by hand and it took a lot of improvising and creative patchwork.

“When I was starting out, I literally didn’t even have the basics. I made everything myself. And made mistakes. But I also learned. Cosplay is a hobby, but it’s also a serious craft. It’s much more complex than an ordinary costume party.”

The word cosplay is a blend of costume and play. People who take up this hobby have to be able to make their own costume, which means mastering a whole range of skills such as sewing, shaping materials, pattern cutting, painting and makeup, followed by acting and stage performance. Because how a cosplayer brings their character to life on stage is just as important as making the costume.

The first awards soon followed. It started at Japanizam, where her small “D.Gray-man” group took second place. From 2010 to 2013, Ljubica competed regularly on the local scene. And then came the call that changed everything. For the first time, Serbia was sending a national team to a European cosplay competition in London.

Ljubica beat the competition in Serbia with her interpretation, and costume, of Sarah Kerrigan from “StarCraft” and went on to the biggest cosplay stage in the world.

LONDON: PRESSURE, PANIC AND AN AWARD TO REMEMBER

The road to London was anything but glamorous. Paperwork, stress, the pressure of representing the country…

“For the first time in my life, I had a serious nervous breakdown. I couldn’t speak for five days. I just nodded and hoped everything would be fine.”

But the moment she landed, everything turned around. The Bulgarian team brought banitsa, and the Brits welcomed her like a best friend they hadn’t seen in a hundred years. The competition itself was exhausting, the judges strict and the rules very rigid. Although she didn’t win first place, she got something just as valuable: the jury award.

“They told me: in our eyes, you won, but because of the strict rules we can’t give you first place. Because of this precedent, the ‘Jury’s Favorite’ award was introduced the following year.”

In London she met the organizers of other European conventions, which opened the door to further guest appearances, talks and judging, especially in Sofia, Zagreb and Vienna.

FROM COMPETITOR TO ORGANIZER: VALINOR IS BORN

Ljubica studied at the Faculty of Philology, but “to pay the bills” she worked on costume making, set design, makeup and a bit of acting in the local film industry. Although she entered the cosplay world as a competitor, she soon realized she wanted, and was able, to contribute to this niche as a producer and organizer.

Together with her best friend, brother-in-law and cosplay partner Bogdan, she founded the Valinor association. Through Valinor, Ljubica and Bogdan have organized festivals, workshops, talks and cosplay programs, and have co-organized many local events, such as Games.con.

“Bogdan is family to me. I don’t know how I’d organize anything without him. We were a crew that was always traveling somewhere: Sofia, Vienna, Zagreb, Budapest… We learned how the big conventions work and applied that knowledge back home.”

GAMES.CON: THE MOST IMPORTANT STAGE OF LOCAL COSPLAY

Today, Ljubica and Bogdan run the cosplay program at Games.con, the biggest gaming and pop-culture festival in the country.

“People think it’s easy to walk on stage and talk into a microphone. But hosting a program takes a lot of preparation. I write my speeches and presentations, and rehearse them, weeks in advance. There’s no improvising, because it matters that every contestant is introduced properly. And that no one is offended or feels they got less attention during the intro. The audience only sees the charm and the ease, but behind it all is detailed direction.”

Games.con has become a kind of yardstick for the growth of the local cosplay scene. The number of contestants grows year after year. For example, since 2019, 15 to 20 new young faces have shown up at the competition every year. Last year, Games.con had over 90 contestants from Serbia alone.

“Compared to conventions in the region, the Serbian scene is small, but immensely talented.”

A CRAFT YOU NEVER GIVE UP

For Ljubica, cosplay is a blend of many crafts: working with foam and later Worbla, modeling and 3D printing, sewing, makeup, wig making, acting…

She always recommends that beginners work with EVA foam because it’s easy to shape, and once they get a bit more skilled they can move on to Worbla, a type of thermoplastic. However, even this material is slowly fading out, as there are modern alternatives that are easier to work with and more durable. On the other hand, the cosplay community is divided over the use of 3D printing. Some are for it, some aren’t, because it’s not easy to prove what is a bought model and what someone modeled themselves.

Sewing costumes is the most basic and most demanding craft of every cosplayer, because besides knowing fabric types and construction, you need patience and a good sewing machine. As for makeup, it is absolutely essential for bringing a character to life.

“Makeup is a miracle. Sometimes all you need is a little contouring to become a completely different character.”

Wig making is an art for some and hell on earth for others, but the new generations of cosplayers are very talented wig makers who build their own wigs from scratch. You also need a basic knowledge of acting and stage performance techniques because…

“The costume is only half the job. The other half is the performance.”

PROFESSIONAL WORK AND THE DISNEY EXPERIENCE

Cosplay is both a hobby and a profession. Most cosplayers “retire” between the ages of 35 and 40, because by then their priorities change and the choice becomes either going “pro” or hanging up the costumes, along with memories of the friendships, travels and adventures from their performances.

For Ljubica, this profession has opened many doors, from television to marketing and marketing campaigns, collaborations with local filmmakers, all the way to working with Disney studios, which she describes as a mix of incredible professionalism and total paranoia due to the absurd levels of secrecy the studio demands from its collaborators.

“Those are projects where you can’t say a word, not even when you’re working with people who have the same contract as you, because the NDA is such that you’re in seriously big trouble if anything accidentally leaks. But the fact is that doing cosplay professionally has been a springboard to a further career for many.”

THE FUTURE: MORE THAN COSTUMES

The scene in Serbia is growing year after year, with rising potential for international collaboration, higher-quality events and bigger competitions across the country. Although she no longer competes, Ljubica has no plans to retire.

“I can’t walk away from this. I love the scene too much, I love the people in it, I love that moment on stage.”

Cosplay has brought Ljubica friends, a career, travel and a world where she can be anything she imagines, and she says what she loves most is when young people send her a photo of their first costume, because she knows that her outspoken passion for this hobby has opened the door to creativity for some young soul.

“Cosplay has given me more than I ever asked for. And that’s why I’d choose it all over again, every time.”