Inspire

tHe BeAUty oF moVemeNt: Jelena JankovIĆ

Feature photos by Jelena Janković

FiVe croAtiAN ArtiStS yoU wiLL rAreLy See iN A GALLery HiDDeN GemS oF NAtioNAL moNUmeNtS

tHe BeAUty oF moVemeNt: Jelena JankovIĆ

We present Jelena Janković, who reveals the magic of human movement without borders through her photographs, through research of people, situations, sensations, lights, colours and emotions. Jelena explores the aesthetics of dance photography through both contemporary and traditional dance, which through her vision looks completely different from what you expect! Through movement, Jelena captures the emotion of movement, and at the same time offers us sight of the emotions she has and how she experiences each of her projects.

Her photographs have been published in Rolling Stone (DE), Professional Photographer (USA), Digital SLR Photographer Magazine (UK), fotoMAGAZINE (DE), LensCulture, Lürzer’s Archive, GEO (ESP). She has won multiple awards.

You can follow Jelena’s work at www.instagram.com/bitefzena

“For me, photography isn’t just a job, it’s life. Since I’m dyslexic, which I discovered two years ago, photography is the only means of expression and creation behind which I don’t have to hide. This undiagnosed dyslexia caused many problems in my childhood, education, and communication with the world around me. That is why I see photography as something truly intimate and special.”

FiVe croAtiAN ArtiStS yoU wiLL rAreLy See iN A GALLery

Croatia is a great place for galleries; but not all art is made for gallery spaces and not all artists end up being displayed there. here are five Croatian artists whose work forms an essential component of Croatian contemporary culture, but who might not always fit easily into the big institutional collections.

siniša labrović For leading performance artist siniša labrović, an artwork is a one-off event that isn’t always easy to photograph or film. You really have to be there. one of his most famous works involved challenging the then Minister of Culture to a boxing match, even going as far as erecting a ring outside Zagreb’s railway station in order to host the bout – the minister in question politely declined the invitation. his work has frequently featured his own body, whether involving nudity, drinking is own urine or tattooing the words “Private property” on his forehead. Most recently he spent nine days living in a cupboard on a street corner in ljubljana, declaring it to be his ideal holiday.

Photo by Darko Bavoljak

igor hofbauer the work of graphic artist and illustrator igor hofbauer occupies a unique niche in Zagreb’s art scene and it is somewhat baffling to realize that he is so rarely seen in the big museums. Although his work covers everything from murals to comic books he is primarily known for his posters and flyers for alternative rock club Močvara, which not only gave the club a visual identity but also provided the city with a distinctive look. Although gig posters have taken a back seat, hofbauer is still fairly ubiquitous, working most recently on the visual identities of Animateka, ljubljana’s annual festival of animated films; and the human Rights Film Festival, Zagreb’s annual look at sociallyengaged cinema. ivana Armanini ivana Armanini has spent the last twenty years editing and publishing Komikaze, a annual or bi-annual magazine devoted to alternative illustration and comic strips. As an artists herself, Armanini has moved from a punky agitated drawing style to a smooth, meditative, almost abstract approach to illustration that has itself been a major influence on the emerging illustrators and mural painters of today. As a scene-maker, and nurturer of others, she has done an extraordinary amount of good work for the Croatian scene, picking up well-deserved international prizes. her own work is for the time being visible in print – in Komikaze, in her own book Alice in Waterland, or on her own site at https://ivanaarmanini.net

Kulunčić’s current project (and one that, as if to undermine the logic of this article, will be displayed in a gallery) is the video-based project entitled “You betrayed the party when you were supposed to be helping t” and will be on show at Rijeka’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art from February 20 2022. it deals with the experiences and traumas of female inmates on the harsh, brutal prison islands of Goli otok and Grgur, where hard-core stalinist opponents of the tito regime were sent between 1949-1955.

Željko Badurina Siniša Labrović

Andreja Kulunčić Maybe the ambition of the modern artist should be to go viral on social media rather than occupy a prime place on a gallery wall. this is just about what happened with Andreja Kulunčić’s embryo, an interactive video game which invited participants to create their own perfect child. Raising issues of gender, fertility and utopian family dreams, it was much discussed both in the art world and outside it. Kulunčić’s works are frequently intended as social research projects rather than pieces of art and use a variety of non-gallery routes to reach the public: her 2005 work Austrians only involved a guerilla poster campaign; while City Walks (2001) involved a tourist brochure to Zadar filled with not with traditional tourist information but interviews with local people; and enjoy the Beach (2000) involved handing out rubbish bags to tourists complete with instructions on how to dispose of their trash. Željko Badurina Blurring the divisions between art and social media, Zagreb’s Željko Badurina has turned his facebook feed into a constantly evolving work. he belongs to a long tradition of contemporary Croatian art pranksters who have used irony, ambiguity and humour to open up issues of social and political relevance. like a good newspaper cartoonist, he is a chronicler of political and social absurdities, full of references to what is in the news, or what café society is currently arguing about. he’s also making fun of his own profession, and how artists are frequently reduced to treating art as a hobby they do in their spare time. it is often difficult to tell which of Badurina’s facebook posts are intended as art, and which of them are simply shared jokes with friends, but in a way this is his point: with technology at our fingertips and the ability to communicate instantly, we are all conceptual artists now.

HiDDeN GemS oF NAtioNAL moNUmeNtS

one of the aspects of travel in Croatia and other post-Yugoslav republics is the scattering of second World War memorials that commemorate significant spots in the wartime partisan struggle. Despite being covered inadequately by traditional guidebooks, these memorials have exploded into international public attention thanks to social media and the internet. Visiting photographers, both professional and amateur, have become fascinated by these objects, not just because of their stark monumentality and mesmerizing forms, but also because of their poignancy. erected by a socialist country that no longer exists, they have largely lost their ceremonial importance and appear to visitors as melancholy reminders of a past that cannot be rebuilt. the word spomenik (which in Croatian, serbian and Bosnian simply means “monument”), has entered english usage to describe these memorials, and thus named, they have become talismanic entities among travellers and photographers in search of the offbeat, the little-travelled, the unusual.

this touristic interest in memorials has also awakened a renewed appreciation of their artistic value. Most of them were conceived as massive sculptures, and were commissioned from artists who meant something in their day. toward a Concrete utopia, the exhibition devoted to Yugoslav architecture held in new York’s MoMA in 2018, placed special emphasis on war memorials and put them in the cultural context of their time.

one thing that characterized these monuments – or at least those built from 1960s onwards - was their tendency towards abstract forms. Whether angular and geometric or flowing and organic, they were intended to be bold structures that would dominate the landscapes in which they were situated. Many of these monuments were situated in rural regions where partisan battles took place, or in open fields (such as the memorial in the former murder-camp at Jasenovac), rather than in urban environments, hence their frequently overpowering sense of presence. the aim of these monuments was not just to commemorate the anti-fascist past but also to point the way towards the future, which was why brutally avant-garde styles were preferred over more traditional, decorative forms of sculpture. Yugoslav president Josip Broz tito didn’t much like abstract art but nevertheless understood that abstract monuments sent out a powerful message: the future was taking shape and it was his Yugoslavia that was delivering it.

it is important to remember that these memorials, although many are nowadays officially ignored and visited only by the curious, were the products of a living socialist society that held regular commemorations at these sites. Anniversaries were observed, school trips were organized, tourists came to take pictures. the fact that these monuments no longer form part of popular ritual makes them look forlorn and forgotten – and one suspects that this bleakness has become part of their aesthetic appeal. in many cases monuments have become dilapidated through deliberate damage or neglect. the nationalist culture that grew up in the 1990s was blind to the value of these memorials, and saw no point in their upkeep. indeed Vojin Bakić’s Monument to the Victory of the People of slavonia, located in Kamenica and thought to have been the largest abstract sculpture in the world, was blown up in 1992 by hooligan elements belonging, allegedly, to the Croatian armed forces.

those memorials still standing remain bewitchingly attractive, and are also compellingly moving when one considers the human need for commemoration that led to their construction. they certainly represent an exciting challenge to any photographer. What follows is a list of some of the major memorials which can be visited in Croatia. there are of course many more in other ex-Yugoslav republics.

Batina one of the first monuments to be built after World War ii, the Batina Memorial Complex was erected in 1947 to commemorate the 1944 Battle of Batina, when units of the soviet Red Army forced their way across the River Danube faced by fierce German resistance. occupying heights with fantastic views towards the river, the monument very much follows the heroic-realist style of soviet war memorials, with a soaring 26-metre obelisk topped by a female statue symbolizing victory, and an ensemble of advancing-soldier statues at its base. Antun Augustinčić, the Zagorje-born sculptor who also excelled in his portraits of President tito, was in charge of the statues.

Monument to the Revolution of the People of Moslavina Designed by sculptor Dušan Džamonija and unveiled in 1967, this is one of the most striking examples of the abstract-heroic style adopted in the sixties. the memorial stands on a green hill near the village of Podgarić, which served as a key centre of the partisan uprising in north-central Croatia, and was the site of a partisan hospital. standing at the end of a processional alley, Džamonija’s monument consists of a sun-like circle of shiny aluminium plates flanked by huge concrete wings, which boast a total span of twenty metres. Džamonija was a prolific sculptor whose work can be seen at the outdoor Džamonija sculpture Park in Vrsar and also in many public spaces: he designed the fountain outside the Croatian national theatre in Rijeka, and was also responsible for sketching out designs for Rijeka’s fabulous mosque. the stone Flower, Jasenovac one of the monuments most frequently reproduced in photographs is the so-called stone Flower or Kameni cvijet at Jasenovac, site of a concentration and extermination camp where over 80,000 serbs, Jews, Roma and antifascist Croats were murdered by forces of the quisling pseudostate known as the nDh or independent state of Croatia. Completed in 1968, the Flower was designed by the prolific serbian architect Bogdan Bogdanović (1922-2010), who subsequently served as mayor of Belgrade before going into exile in protest at the nationalist policies of slobodan Milošević. the thrusting concrete petals of the Flower are meant to symbolize life and rebirth, and provide some hope for future generations.

Dotrščina one of the few memorial sites within reach of central Zagreb is Dotrščina, a forest park northeast of the centre where political opponents were murdered by forces of the nDh. the sculptor Vojin Bakić was comissoned to create a series of monuments, each of which resembles a large angular crystal made from shiny reflective steel. the largest of these stands at the entrance to the site; further, smaller ones are located in a wooded vale where individual executions were carried out. Wit the leaves and branches of the forest reflected on the surfaces of the sculptures, it’s a beautiful, visually inspiring spot.

Podgorić, Photo by Andrej Jakuš

Podgora, Photo by Višnja Arambašić

Jasenovac, Photo by JUSP Jasenovac

Podhum standing beside the main Zagreb-Rijeka road at Grobnik, just before the highway’s descent into the Kvarner-Gulf city, is this monument to the 108 men and boys shot by italian occupiers on July 14 1942, in retaliation for a partisan attack. taking the form of a club-shaped monolith, the monument was designed by sculptor Šime Vulas in 1970 and has recently been renovated.

Podgora hovering dramatically above the resort of Podgora on the Makarska Riviera is one of the Adriatic coast’s earliest abstract monuments, commissioned in 1962 to commemorate the formation of the first-ever Partisan boat squadron in 1943. Designed by sculptor Rajko Radović, it takes the form of two smoothly-surfaced protuberances that recall the wings of a seagull: an upright wing to symbolize victory, a bent-over wing to commemorate those who died fighting for it.

tabor, Pelješac World War ii saw heavy fighting around Korčula and Pelješac, with partisans liberating the area after the fall of italy, and the Germans subsequently arriving to push the partisans back. Designed by ivan Mitrović and Zlatko Jerić, the monument at tabor above the village of trstenik takes the form of a beautifully sleek and slender 15.5-metre-high obelisk. At its foot there is a bronze relief showing Partisans fighting Germans, and on the reverse side, the names of 395 Pelješac locals who either fell as combatants or who were killed as civilians. the ensemble is set on a ridge-top plateau with amazing views towards trstenik, with the Adriatic sea and distant islands in the background. Petrova Gora Visible for miles as you approach it from the north, the huge monument dominating the ridge of Petrova Gora is one of the most outlandish of all of the World War ii memorials. it was built to commemorate partisan activity in a wooded, impenetrable region on the borders of Croatia and Bosnia-herzegovina, and was entrusted to Vojin Bakić, the abstract sculptor who had already designed monuments at Kamenica and Dotrščina. Bakić’s monument was intended to function as both a monument and a museum combined, with visitors entering the body of the monument and scaling spiral steps to access various display areas. Abandoned in the 1990s, and severely damaged by pillagers removing the metal plates of its exterior, it is now a semi-ruin that would be enormously expensive to restore. As a monument to modern architecture and design, however, it is unique – and continues to draw a steady stream of determined pilgrims. the surrounding area is stunningly beautiful, rewarding the efforts of anyone who succeeds in making it this far.