The In Between City

July 12, 13

We were not quite sure what to expect from Belgrade (pop. 1.6 million) before we arrived, we only knew that it was bombed by the US and NATO forces in 1999 for its aggression towards Kosovo and as a result, Americans are not exactly welcomed warmly.

Belgrade seems to lack a clear identity of its own and is trying to figure out who it is after the dissolution of Yugoslavia, the end of Communism and the collapse of the socialist state --as well as  the trauma left by the last Balkan wars.  It is still quite isolated from the rest of Europe as all Serbs need to apply for visas to travel anywhere, even to go to Italy or Greece which are so close by.

The city is very much in between the past and future, east and west.It seems to be on pause at the moment, but unfortunately, most of the people we have spoken to do not seem to have a lot of hope for its future. A curator we met today at the Museum for Contemporary Art, which has been closed for renovations for the past 2 years, told us that in Belgrade “we cannot expect anything”—because the level of corruption is so high and most of the politicians do not see the value in supporting contemporary art, only sporting events and pop concerts.  According to our architect friend Ivan Kucina, the city lacks any real culture of its own, apart from the “the culture of greed,” referring to the monopolies and organized mafia groups controlling how business is done, often thoughtlessly and hastily without any real concern for the development of an economic/social infrastructure.

For a city that has been continuously inhabited since before Roman times, it is surprising to us that there is so little evidence of these various civilizations in the existing architecture that is left standing—each time the city was occupied the existing architecture and its monuments were demolished and built again. Apart from a core of turn-of-the century grand, neoclassical buildings, the city consists mostly of drab modernist developments from the 50’s and 60’s, a time when the city experienced its most rapid growth under Tito. The few modernist icons still standing (often in ruins) are now being retrofitted to suit the needs of the new neo-liberal entrepreneurs.

The best thing about being here for us has been the opportunity to spend time with Ivan and his partner Barbara (THANKS FOR THE GREAT DINNER), as well as with Biljana Djurdjevic, a hugely talented artist who paints powerful figurative canvases packed with psychological depth and unfliching human suffering.

See http://www.biljanadjurdjevic.com/

Thank you Biljana for our memorable lunch on the river in Zemun, perhaps the most charming part of Belgrade by far.