Cultural Identity Politics in the (Post-)Transitional Societies

Cultural Identity Politics in the (Post-)Transitional Societies
starts with the 19th century memory of Ilija Garašanin’s National Programme, then the
memory of Gavrilo Princip (whose memory was kept as a freedom fighter in socialist
Yugoslavia), then focusing on the role of the Academy of Science during Tito’s time (it
lost credibility when it gave Tito an academic title without proper voting) and especially
after his death, when the academy was obsessed with research regarding the status of
Serbs in other republics of Yugoslavia.
Hundreds of “monuments” were created by Mrđan Bajić for the YugoMuseum. The
Rambouillet castle, as a symbol of the absolute incapacity to negotiate on Kosovo and
the lack of foresight as to the consequences of broken talks; Flower, as a symbol of the
kitsch personality of Milošević’s wife – Mirjana Marković; Lathe, the monument to the
working class (a machine which Tito knew how to use), and Poljud meaning solidarity,
friendship, brotherhood and unity. All these monuments showed how quickly society
had passed from “the rule of the working class”, to “the rule of the nation”! But, this
project can also have the title of another Mrđan Bajić art project: I did it! where the
artist took responsibility for all that was happening on the territory of former Yugoslavia
– war crimes, refugees, burned houses, ethnic cleansing and so forth.
The Centre for Contemporary Arts in Sarajevo developed a project called “De/
construction of Monument” (2004-2006) 11 with the aim to create art works which
contribute towards the deconstruction of myths and the de-ideologizing and decoding
of recent and distant history.
The main tools in the project were monuments, symbols and icons, as the three
major forms of representation of different societies and historical periods. By
organizing several debates on crucial issues, such as monuments and memory, and
monuments and violence, they regrouped artists and curators who for a long time
had dealt with the “monumentalization” of public spaces, such as Braco Dimitrijević
(Anti-Monuments, monuments of unknown passers-by), or Sanja Iveković (Lady Rosa
of Luxembourg, provoking the Luxembourg community with her interpretation of the
First World War memorial). But the crucial debate was around artists who are raising
contemporary Balkan issues and confronting major monument narratives, such as
Milica Tomić (the Belgrade group Spomenik/Monument), Siniša Labrović (Croatia),
Sokol Beqiri (Peja, Kosovo), and those who are making sarcastic comments on our
contemporary memory and monument practices, such as the “Bruce Lee Monument
Project” in Mostar, or the Kurt and Plasto project “By the Commssion’s decision:
Everyone to one’s own”, Sarajevo 2001.
Group Spomenik (Monument) includes Milica Tomić, Darinka Pop-Mitić, Nebojša
Milekić, but also theoreticians such as Jasmina Husanović and Branimir Stojanović.
Each participant of the group in their individual artistic or theoretical work is engaged
11
http://www.projekt-relations.de/en/explore/deconstruction/module/overcoming.php
accessed 10 May 2010.
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