These structures were commissioned by former Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito in the 1960s and 70s to commemorate sites where WWII battles took place (like Tjentište, Kozara and Kadinjača), or where concentration camps stood (like Jasenovac and Niš). They were designed by different sculptors (Dušan Džamonja, Vojin Bakić, Miodrag Živković, Jordan and Iskra Grabul, to name a few) and architects (Bogdan Bogdanović, Gradimir Medaković...), conveying powerful visual impact to show the confidence and strength of the Socialist Republic. In the 1980s, these monuments attracted millions of visitors per year, especially young pioneers for their "patriotic education." After the Republic dissolved in early 1990s, they were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings were forever lost.
Interesting. I spent a lot of time in grad school studying soviet rationalism and constructivism during grad school. Many of the best works, esp. from the rationalist school, have already been destroyed. I wasn't aware of this.
bossman, Yugoslavia and Soviet Union broke all relations sometimes in the '50. Yugoslavia went on to form Non-Aligned Movement with India and Egypt in response to Nato v. Eastern Block. It was a very promising movement that saw a number of African countries (among others) reach their peak both culturally and peace-wise sometimes in mid '80's. It would have lasted were it not for US's foreign policy meddling.
All the artists of these monuments were Yugoslavian. Architecture of the period was equally weird, and hasn't aged that well.
I think all of the sculptors are Croatian and Montenegrin. There's no Serbians on this list. Although we could really just shorten this whole conversation if we called them all Austro-Hungarian.
whoa! i also did a double-take at the 'soviet' reference...but to be completely fair, americans and american media have often used the term 'soviet bloc' pretty much interchangeably with 'eastern bloc'...to refer to any country under soviet influence, no matter how great or how small. i kind of understand how it confuses people who aren't familiar with that part of the world...
Abandoned Soviet Monuments
These structures were commissioned by former Yugoslavian president Josip Broz Tito in the 1960s and 70s to commemorate sites where WWII battles took place (like Tjentište, Kozara and Kadinjača), or where concentration camps stood (like Jasenovac and Niš). They were designed by different sculptors (Dušan Džamonja, Vojin Bakić, Miodrag Živković, Jordan and Iskra Grabul, to name a few) and architects (Bogdan Bogdanović, Gradimir Medaković...), conveying powerful visual impact to show the confidence and strength of the Socialist Republic. In the 1980s, these monuments attracted millions of visitors per year, especially young pioneers for their "patriotic education." After the Republic dissolved in early 1990s, they were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings were forever lost.
http://www.cracktwo.com/2011/04/25-abandoned-soviet-monuments-that-look.html
Didn't NATO bomb the shit out all of these monuments back in '99 'cause they 'looked' threatening from outer space?
FAIL on the 'Soviet' part. It's like saying Prime Minister of United States.
Yugoslavia has never been Soviet)
Soviet Union consisted of Russia, Ukraine, Belorussia, Moldavia, Georgia, Armenia, Azherbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzhbekistan, Tatzhikistan, etc
But Yugoslavia and Czehoslovakia were not in USSR!
Interesting. I spent a lot of time in grad school studying soviet rationalism and constructivism during grad school. Many of the best works, esp. from the rationalist school, have already been destroyed. I wasn't aware of this.
Thanks for the clarification. Would these have not been designed by Soviet artists then?
Well, the names of the artsists seem like serbian/ croatian to me
bossman, Yugoslavia and Soviet Union broke all relations sometimes in the '50. Yugoslavia went on to form Non-Aligned Movement with India and Egypt in response to Nato v. Eastern Block. It was a very promising movement that saw a number of African countries (among others) reach their peak both culturally and peace-wise sometimes in mid '80's. It would have lasted were it not for US's foreign policy meddling.
All the artists of these monuments were Yugoslavian. Architecture of the period was equally weird, and hasn't aged that well.
I think all of the sculptors are Croatian and Montenegrin. There's no Serbians on this list. Although we could really just shorten this whole conversation if we called them all Austro-Hungarian.
Except for the architects. You couldn't find names more Serbian than those.
James, you are like the opposite of google. Need complete random misinformation about anything? Ask James!
Oops. I just took the soviet thing from the URL. Guess I should have thought about it first.
whoa! i also did a double-take at the 'soviet' reference...but to be completely fair, americans and american media have often used the term 'soviet bloc' pretty much interchangeably with 'eastern bloc'...to refer to any country under soviet influence, no matter how great or how small. i kind of understand how it confuses people who aren't familiar with that part of the world...
either way the sculptures look heavily influenced by revolutionary russian art & architecture.
wow!
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