19:15
vlidi: Another street, another cordon. This was the next logical approach from the city center, trough Jevremova Street. Alongside the way I tried to talk with my colleague Vladan Jeremic, who was at the gallery itself, and understood that something is happening there, but because of the noise and a short time we had for conversation, it wasn't exactly clear what is the extent of the mess. Called Jelena who was about to show up soon to say that this way to the gallery is cut off. At this corner there was nobody to protest besides a friend, who I caught trying to persuade the officer to let him trough because his car was parked somewhere in the blocked area. Seldom citizens were silently passing by, apparently not really interested in what's going on. Police was not in a mood to discuss about anything, including the car problem, so Nemanja and I went for a third way, from below Kapetan Misina St.
There, more of a vivid situation again. This police cordon was faced with both this surreal small group of chetnicks -like masked people and angry moms who wanted to "see the exhibition with their kids". Moms really trying to talk their way trough, and officer-in-charge arguing that they should try to find another way then, as this one is "sealed". A silent wall of helmets and shields behind gave a lot of firm ground for this sort of statement. About the moms-with-kids, it is hard to say if they were from the kind of "democratic citizen exercising their right for free passage and to attend the cultural event", which would mean they support the exhibition in some way, or they were of "I brought my kids to show them the face of Serbian enemies, and how we deal with them" orientation. Now, back to the masked men... They seemed not to be the members of Obraz, the clerical-fascist organization, recognized as such by the classification of the Serbian Interior Ministry from 2005, the one which issued the official call for storming the exhibition, and which tends to act more in the realm of "salon fascism". The masked men really looked like some actors in partizan movies between 50's and 80's who were given the role of stereotypical chetnick paramilitaries. All of the imagery was there - an old uniform (some even claimed they saw "kama" knives flashing out from high leather boots), "shubara" - supersized funny looking furry hat, with "kokarda" on top, a traditional chetnick emblem, carrying flags like this one, which says "with the faith in God, freedom or death". There was something about their appearance which was somewhat spooky, not just because the way they dress and the fact that they wore very long and neglected hair and beards, not even because of what they think they represent here, but mainly it was the way they were standing there, pretty much lost and unresolved, with an empty gaze displaying if not almost a fear then definitely a big confusion. Those seemed not to be too aggressive, as opposed to the trainers and leather jackets from upstreet - they were just standing there, as if wearing that kind of clothes and insignia at this place and time was the only possible thing they could and should do. Their eyes said that they would much rather be somewhere else. They did not expect this, looks like. What they did expect is hard to say. And hardly possible that they came from wherever they came masked like this - for sure they had to change the costume somewhere nearby... But another miss for me, I couldn't go trough.
jelena: I'm checking my emails before getting out. Alenka Gregorcic from SKUC, Ljubljana, writes that she is coming to Belgrade the dayaftertomorrow. We should have a meeting regarding the project that Prelom is doing for SKUC. Prelom prepares a small documentary exhibition about the alternative culture inside a Socialist state, about students protests of '68 and conceptual art scene in Belgrade, called 'SKC in SKUC' [acronym of students cultural centre both in Serbian and Slovenian]. I texted my colleagues from Prelom about the meeting with Alenka. Vlidi calls to report about 'the situation'. I'm honestly surprised. This is almost like a time-machine experience. It seems that we are again surrounded by political folklore of 90's and captured in the clashes between the popular bipartisan/bicultural non-options: nationalist vs. democrats, conservatives vs. liberals, balkan-orientalists vs. pro-europeans ... the 'first' vs. 'second' Serbia. The dangerous perspective of the art scene in such a situation is to become appropriated for the political goals of the current regime on power. We'll see what would happen ...
I'm reporting briefly on what's going on here to Alenka. I cannot resist to think about the perverse situation in which we are impersonating our states [as symbolical 'ambassadors of culture'] and I'm right now presenting Serbia in the diligent, politically correct light to the presidential EU country of Slovenia.
I'm leaving the house with this ironic thought.
Meanwhile, in the gallery was happening this,
and, in front of it, this.
19:30
vlidi: At the last unchecked approach to the gallery I found a police cordon, of course, but also a large group of people I know, all of them "cultural workers", to say - deputy minister of culture, graphic editor of the biggest national daily, smaller and bigger current and previous employees of different cultural institutions, artists, activists, curious "city faces" - they all were standing at the hands reach of the line of riot police, discussing, doing things with their mobiles (talking, texting, taking pictures, or just holding the things), some of them squeezed under the scarce umbrellas (it was slightly rainy all the time. My flu, dragging for days, was getting happier and more active as the time went by. I almost got to like the state of dreaminess and zero-gravity it puts you at). And somehow you can't escape into being surprised or estranged, as one could do before. This is it, now. A "democratic society", with all of its deadloops and contradictions. The cordon tries to act like a neutral, non-living and non-willing tool in the service of "command from the center in charge for the general security of citizen". Like there was no ideology whatsoever behind robocop helmets. Like they are only "doing their job" - well, apparently not in the gallery, as we heard the report that there are unrests inside, and that at least one work is being damaged or destroyed.
Artist Milica Tomic pestered the police all the time by asking to pass trough, about what is happening back there and why we are being stopped here, when exactly we will be granted the right to approach the gallery. As for a difference from 90's, robocops were not enthusiastically using their clubs and yelling curses and threats, but mainly dully and reluctantly answered in the manner of "we don't know, it is the current order, the streets are closed for your own safety, it is like that until further orders" and alike. I phoned Jelena the new location of "where the party is", and started to think about the very occasion able to gather this merry crowd of art people, police and fascist in one rainy evening...
I never contemplated that further, as my wayback machine moment was interrupted by the arrival of the news brought by Milena Dragicevic-Sesic, who just emerged at our side of the cordon, straight from the gallery. Now the story was confirmed, somebody did damage the work in which the image of Adem Jashari was shown (if you want to know what was a predominant opinion about Jashari among Serbs, go here and scroll to "Profile of a terrorist" chapter; Kosovo Albanians thought this of him; and about why he deserved this kind of attention at all, the most user-friendly version I found here), and that the opening talk was aggressively interrupted by some people led by a man presenting himself as Zoran Calija, a painter from Kosovo and a member of Association of fine artists of Serbia (ULUS, the association notorious for it's persisting and serious need to be reformed. Or dismissed...). Nobody is injured, but the vandals were not arrested or apparently even identified, and looks like the fascists succeeded in their attempt to actually stop the exhibition, as the police is claiming the gallery closed...
jelena: I caught a Lux taxi, a good vehicle with leather seats, very comfortable. This is a taxi company which at its start aimed to be something like exclusive service and gathered drivers with a bit better cars, but at the end it ended up as the peoples-taxi, and even had the cheapest prices for years.
I had an interesting conversation with taxi driver:
Taxi driver: Where do we go miss?
me: At the corner of Jevremova and Kapetan Misina streets, somewhere nearby there.
Taxi driver: How do you mean nearby, miss, I can drive you exactly to the place you go?
me: You cannot mister, the streets are blocked there, I'll tell you where to stop, ok?
Taxi driver: Blocked?
me: Yes, the police cordons are around, because of nazis gathering there.
Taxi driver: Nazis, what nazis?
me: Organisation Obraz. They gathered because of the exhibition of young artists from Kosovo.
Taxi driver: Aha. Interesting. I'm not informed that Obraz are nazis, “Nacionalni stroj” are nazis, they are inspired by Hitler and so on, and Obraz is a Serbian organization, a nationalist Serbian organization, they are extreme nationalists, but not nazist.
me: Yes you are right, Nacionalni stroj are nazis and Obraz are clero-fashists, to be fully precise, but in general I don't make a difference between them nazis, fascists, extreme nationalists - this is all the same for me.
Taxi driver: Ha, my dear miss ... we all wanted to be Europe, right? Yes, we wanted to be Europeans, and now we have to respect and tolerate all the differences, the rights on political opinion, all kinds of extreme movements: and liberals and communists and nazis and clero-fascists and gays and lesbians and family-oriented people. All that is Europe today. To tolerate and respect differences. This is democracy... Yes, we are close to your gallery. Shall I stop here?
me: Yes, please.
Taxi driver: 250 dinars please
me: Ok, I'm giving you 250 + some more because you understand European democracy. But we should think further that that. Cheers!
Taxi driver: Cheers!
LabforCulture jest inicjatywą partnerską Europejskiej Fundacji Kultury. LabforCulture jest wdzięczna swoim fundatorom za wsparcie
