Subjective mapping of Serbia
Autumn 2008 — Autumn 2009
The Subjective Atlas of Serbia is an initiative of Dom Omladine (Milan Lucic) in Belgrade and De Balie (Ellen Walraven) in Amsterdam, who invited Subjective Editions to map post-war Serbia through the eyes of the young generation. Most of the work was done during a workshop held at Magacin in November 2008. More than thirty Serbian designers, artists, architects and students contributed to the project.
Workshop at Magacin (Belgrade), by Maria Miković & Annelys de Vet, November 2008
For several years Belgrade was regarded as the epicenter of war and aggression. It was a war nobody wanted, but one with which every citizen was forced to deal with then, and continues to deal with today. Subjective Editions visited this loaded ground in 2008 to make a ‘Subjective Atlas of Serbia’ with Serbian based artists and designers. They were invited to map their country in their own way. Personal involvement was a starting point and the aim was to produce human, unconventional and honest images.
Annelys de Vet: “The conversations I had about the artists’ work, I felt, touched the soul of society. This experience was a crash course in Serbian culture which was far more complex than I could have imagined. Each person unveiled a deep felt political awareness, with no room for egotism or individualism. When asked what his contribution to the atlas could be, particpating designer Milan Vukelic answered: ‘I don’t know yet. I don’t know what personal is, what I am, who I am, what Serbia is. All borders change continually, everything changes from day to day. Nationality, identity; I don’t know, I don’t know what it is…’. It almost appeared that most people were ashamed of their own culture, or at least could not or did not want to identify with it. National identity showed its dangerous face. ‘That’s what started wars’, a journalist told me, ‘isn’t it a very dangerous project you’re doing?’”
Exhibition, Magacin (Belgrade), November 2008
More than thirty designers and artists contributed to the ‘Subjective Atlas of Serbia’ with very touching, sometimes cynical and critical and at other times very personal and vulnerable stories that deal not with politics, but with people. The contributions take an entirely different view of a nation whose identity is split. They do not relate opinions, but show human observations. In mapping cultural identity this way the publication became a tool to reflect on contemporary society at this time, in this place, at this moment.
Subjective Evening and book launch at De Balie, Amsterdam, April 17 2009, with journalist Richard de Boer, Annelys de Vet and presentations by prominent young Serbian artists and designers Vuk Kuzmanovic, Maria Miković, Miroslav Milović, Iva Spasojević and Milena Maksimović. Photography: Ivar Hoekstra
Acknowledgements
The workshop was prior to and part of ROUGH GUIDE TO AMSTERDAM, a three day manifestation in Serbia’s capital Belgrade, initiated by Dom Omladine and De Balie, centre for politics and arts, in Amsterdam, November 28–30. Its publication was made possible thanks to the financial support of the Netherlands Foundation for Visual Arts, Design and Architecture.
