What are these monuments used in the designs?
What are the meanings behind them?
Where does their distinct style come from?
Commonly referred to in English as 'Spomenik' (the Serbo-Croatian/Slovenian word for 'monument') they are a series of memorials built from the 1950s-1990s during Tito's Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, whose primary intent was to honour its people's resistance struggle during the People's Liberation Struggle (1941-1945) (aka WWII) against Axis occupation and oppression. They commemorate not only the crimes that occurred during the region's brutal occupation but also celebrate the 'Revolution' which defeated them.
These monuments operate not only as surreal and abstract structures memorializing a horrific past and arduous victory against fascism but additionally, they function as political tools meant to articulate the country's vision of a new tomorrow.
Unusual for the current times, strong historical and political reasons exist behind the abstract forms. Through this shift from the socialist realism style to a more decontextualized abstract style of monument building, political elites hoped that Yugoslavia could create a shared language of universalism between conflicting groups, acting as spaces of solace, reflection, and forgiveness for all viewers. Objects for the victims could stand as a testament to the crimes of the perpetrators, yet without creating resentment and bitterness within those who may have been part of atrocities during the war.
In Yugoslavia, trauma-inducing monuments such as the ones made in the more traditional socialist styles at the time which depicted tragedy realistically, could not only incite furious ethnic tensions among the recently defeated Yugoslav Axis collaborators, but also it was feared a more traditional style could invoke ethnic, religious, or regional nationalism, which would hinder unity and cultural cooperation.
Monument I:
The Battle of Sutjeska at Tjentište - Bosnia and Herzegovina
Architects: Miodrag Živković & Ranko Radovic
Wings of Victory were built in memory of the Battle of Sutjeska, which was one of the most difficult and bloodiest battles of World War II. Fought in Yugoslavia, Partisan forces engaged against joint German-Italian and quisling troops. More than 120,000 soldiers of the Axis Powers surrounded five times weaker partisan units. The complete destruction, as the goal of Operation “Schwarz” (Case Black), failed. After the breakthrough of the enemy encirclement, the main forces of the People’s Liberation Army broke through to the free territory. Even though they won, Partisans suffered a terrible death toll as they were breaking out of the enemy encirclement in the 5th Nazi offensive in 1943. The monument was erected in 1972 in memory of the fighters who were killed in the battle.
https://architectuul.com/architecture/memorial-complex-to-the-battle-of-sutjeska
Monument II:
Architects: Miodrag Živković and Svetislav Licina
Courage – A Monument to the Fallen Soldiers
of the Cacak Partisan Detachment – Serbia
The 10m tall and 17m long aluminum monolith seemingly bursts out of the ground. The monolith is texturized with fractal motifs and hyper-stylized human faces, a design approach seen in many works by Živković. At the entrance to the complex, there is a small triangular concrete with inset-raised text relating the story of the 1944 battle.
Only a few days after the initial July 7th, 1941 uprising in Serbia defending against Axis occupation and aggression was formed on Jelica Mountain, just outside Čačak. Formed by a group of anti-fascist communists and Serbian nationalists (Chetniks) hoping to take back their homeland from these invading Axis aggressors, this Partisan Detachment was among the first armed and organized resistance units in all of Serbia.
Out of this brief liberation of the nearby Serbian towns of Čačak and Užice, which was one of the first areas liberated from Axis occupation in all of Europe, the free state of the Republic of Užice was created. However, within 5 weeks, Germans re-took the territory of the Užice Republic, while the defeated Partisan detachments retreated into neighbouring Bosnia and the Sandžak region.
A series of bronze plate relief plates explain the significance and meaning behind this monument. “During the liberation war of 1941-1945, the Čačak Partisan Detachment was dying but was reborn, and it testifies that freedom may lose some battles, but it will never lose the war."
https://www.spomenikdatabase.org/ostra
Photographed by © Sylvain Heraud
https://sylvainheraud.fr/
Monument III:
Monument to the Fallen Soldiers of the Kosmaj Detachment – Serbia
Designer: sculptor Vojin Stojić & architect Gradimir Medaković
“The sculpture is so composed that its dynamic movement of mass expresses itself, combining, unifying, then, immediately afterwards, a violent surge, striving upwards and downwards, a radiating and far-reaching action.”
Dubbed with the nickname "The Spark of Freedom" (Slobodarska iskra), the sculpture consists of five separate 30m tall concrete double-pointed fins organized in a circular radiating pattern, which all come together to make a shape that resembles a shining star.
When speaking about the symbolism and representational meaning behind the monument at Kosmaj in his own words, Vojin Stojić made the following statements during a newspaper interview.
"Fighters of the People's Liberation Struggle had five-pointed stars on their hats and perhaps this can be taken as a literal symbol... because the monument is composed of five petals like a flower. And here, at Kosmaj, these fighters gathered and created a detachment and a company, at which point they went to the villages, to the people, to gather new forces and raise the people to revolt. The people accepted them, the uprising spread, everything is in motion and in flight, it strives for the heights of freedom, which is more precious and magnificent than anything."
https://www.spomenikdatabase.org/kosmaj
Read more on:
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/article/former-yugoslavia-monuments
https://www.kathmanduandbeyond.com/photos-best-spomeniks-balkans/
https://www.spomenikdatabase.org/