How it all began
In 2018, I visited the exhibition Toward a Concrete Utopia, Architecture in Yugoslavia, 1948-1980 in the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art of New York. It blew my mind! How fascinating it was to discover what was built in this country during the Cold War. Since then, I started thinking about doing a project there, but it was not until 2024 that inspiration came true and I shot Memory and Hope.
World War II Memorials in former Yugoslavia exist thanks to the politics of Josip Broz Tito, president from 1953 to 1980, who wanted to establish a distinctive style in the construction of memorias than the one practiced by the Soviet Union, basically based in a straight objective socialist realism. Architects and sculptors in Yugoslavia were able to build a legacy of artistic memorials with a deeper significance, abstract and poetic.
Slobodište (Freedom) Memorial Complex
Located in Kruševac, Serbia and completed in1965. Designed by the architect Bogdan Bogdanović, this memorial site commemorates the hundreds of Partisan soldiers and civilians that were executed in the city between 1941 and 1944 during the German occupation.
With a temperature of 38°Celsius, I spent several hours shooting in this lonely memorial with the company of birds, bees and butterflies. I could feel the flow of transcendence from life to death through the flight of the valley's beautiful, winged sculptures.
" I feel freedom, sunny summer landscapes stay calm and quiet below my spread wings and open eyes.
Death is a transcendental voyage".
Hrib Svobode (Freedom Hill) Memorial
Located in lirisca Bistrika, Slovenia and completed in 1965. Designed by the sculptor Janez Lenazi and the architect Živa Baraga-Moškon, this memorial is dedicated to the fighters of the 4th Yugoslavian Army who liberated this area from the Germans during WWII and honors the partisans from the overseas brigades who battled in foreign lands.
This memorial fascinated me because of the way its creators integrated curved shapes within a cubic structure. While they allude to the underground caves of this region, they made me feel a dimension of time and space beyond the rough materials and textured forms.
"I hear deep silent echoes: past, present and future beating at the same time. Death is endless peace".
Popina Memorial Park
Popina is located in Serbia and the memorial was completed in 1981. Designed by the architect Bogdan Bogdanović, it commemorates the spot where the first full frontal confrontation between Partisans and occupying German forces took place.
This imposing solid geometrical sculptures stands atop a hill, surrounded by trees whose leaves rustle vigorously in the wind.
Sometimes I felt peace, sometimes fear, which vanished with the touch of a butterfly.
I travel across portals of light and shadows. The wind whispers ancient memories and sings songs of joy. Death is transmutation".
Flower Monument
Located in Jasenovac, Croatia and completed in 1966. Designed by Bogdan Bogdanović, this memorial site was built in the place where a forced labor and extermination camp existed. It honors the hundreds of thousands of Serbian victims who were executed there by the extremist Independent State of Croatia (NDH) and administered by the fascist Ustaše forces who received support from the Nazis.
Under the intense summer heat, the desolation I felt here was immense. It was fortunate to witness a woman praying, meditating in silence, without even noticing my presence or looking at me. Through her, I understood the meaning of the entire place.