Sounding Spomenik
Unheard Stories: Sonic Aspects of Yugoslavia's Brutalist Monuments
If one were to encapsulate the philosophical, cultural, and ideological essence of Yugoslav monuments in a single quotation, then the most fitting choice in my opinion would be the one from Bogdan Bogdanović – his statement to the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, on the work done so far in year 1972:
“In my search for a way out of the world of modern architecture, which is strange and unfamiliar to me, I came across a special area of architecture where there is neither modern nor not modern, in which there is only the ETERNAL.”
Spomeniks are a series of memorials built from the late 1950s –1990s in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia to commemorate the antifascist resistance during the People’s Liberation Struggle (1941–1945) against Axis occupation and oppression forces.
What is very important to me is to emphasize that the Yugoslav Spomenik sites are, in almost every single case, mass graves.
Yugoslav Spomeniks can be percieved as the extreme forms of what Foucault defined as Heterotropia: these are different places, distinct places, places that are experienced as different from the rest of spatial and temporal reality. Their otherworldly architectural forms allow for interpretive flexibility that extends beyond the confines of official narratives, enabling associations with distant stars, or a parallel universe. By evoking a utopian moment, these monuments translate the promise of the future into a universal gesture.
Most of these monuments were built on the locations of historic battles of World War II, in open spaces that can be very far from urban areas. When we look at the map of their locations, they sort of form “an invisible network of symbolic places” (Gal Kirn).
The Yugoslav Spomeniks are not meant to represent struggle and death – instead, they symbolize life, resistance and the vibrant energy of a progressive society of which they are the product – they are forward-looking and mark the emergence of a new progressive society of which they are the product.
Belma Bešlić-Gál: Unheard Stories – Sonic Aspects of Yugoslavia’s Brutalist Monuments [2023]
19:00 Uhr: Exhibition Opening
Photo Exhibition “Concrete Lines”
Video installation “Stands Still, the Monument” by Janez Lenassi
“Unheard Stories: Sonic Aspects of Yugoslavia’s Brutalist Monuments” – lecture by Belma Bešlić-Gál
“From Planning To Execution” – talk with sound engineer Jernej Babnik Romaniuk and producer László Juhász, moderated by Belma Bešlić-Gál
20:30 Uhr: Performances
“Ilirska Bistrica” – solo cello performance by Tadeja Žele, multi-channel sound distribution and live visualization by Patrick K.-H. (inspired by the August 2021 recording session at Janez Lenassi’s monument in Ilirska Bistrica, Slovenia)
“Dražgoše” – solo saxophone performance by Vida Vatovec, multi-channel sound distribution and live visualization by Patrick K.-H. (based on the August 2021 recording at architect Boris Kobe and sculptor Stojan Batič’s memorial complex in Dražgoše)
Sounding Spomenik Project, Wien Modern 2023
Photos: Markus Sepperer
- 01.12.2023Premiere — Wien Modern 2023 | INEXHAUSTIBLE EDITIONS | echoraum Wien
Original Drone Video Footage: balkan.stories
Video Art: Belma Bešlić-Gál
Composition: Snæfellsnes (2012) by Belma Bešlić-Gál
Tadeja Žele: Violoncello
Vida Vatovec: Alto Saxophone
Anton Iakhontov a.k.a. Patrick K.-H.: multi-channel sound projection, live visuals
László Juhász: Curator, Project Management
Jernej Babnik Romaniuk: Field Recordings
Belma Bešlić-Gál: Lecture, Artist Talk
Produced by echoraum in co-production with Wien Modern, in cooperation with KUD Mreža and ON Rizom · Inexhaustible Editions · SKICA