Abandoned Futuristic Monuments from former Yugoslavia

Written by guest 2 June 2011 5 Comments

I’ll admit it, I’m not much of a monument girl. It’s not that I don’t have an incredible interest for history and context, I do, but my brain has just never been good at absorbing information from nicely typed placards or guided tours. However, when I caught a glimpse of some of photos featured in this article about monuments abandoned and leftover from former Yugoslavia, I couldn’t have been more enthralled.

Besides being from a time period and in a region I couldn’t find more interesting, these monuments were created in a style that is rarely, if not never, used anymore. The title is not lying when it says these “look like they’re from the future.” I view them with the same fascination I look at movies made in the 1970s or 80s made about the upcoming 2000s, featuring hovercars, elaborate computer systems in every home, and overly sleek buildings and machines. Of course besides looking so unfamiliar to our modern eyes, there is a lot to be said about these huge symbolic gestures of the former Yugoslavia and what they meant to the people then and now. Can they still function as valid sculpture today or are they relics of a time and ideas too different or made bitter by social historical fracturing?

Another thing that I find very cool, was that the photographer spent 3 years visiting these monuments, using old maps from 1975. Many of these sites appear seldom visited, if not entirely forgotten and most certainly rarely see foreign tourists. This is exactly the perfect blend of adventure and historical-cultural exploration I would love to include on my next trip!

post by Jackie Clark

Tags: links, monuments, photography, yugoslavia

5 Comments »

tiago said:

nice! but the article you refer on the link is a copy of this one.

# 2 June 2011 at 2:24 am

jaclyn said:

thanks for that tiago! i’ve changed the link because the article you suggested is clearer and has better historical background.

# 2 June 2011 at 5:38 am

Careaux (Carolin Weinkopf) said:

The second picture is the Makedonium in my favourite town in Macedonia: Kruševo. Definately worth a visit (NOT just the monument, though it’s pretty cool). See pictures of the town here: http://careaux.twoday.net/stories/macedonia-krushevo/ Also, Macedonia’s Eurovision winner Toše Proeski (ask any Macedonian about him and they’ll start crying…), who died in a car accident, is from this town. The town’s graveyard is right next to Makedonium, you can visit a crazy shrine for him here with people coming (and crying) all the time.

Kruševo itself is beautiful to visit, Macedonia’s highest town with old, original houses, a lot of “characters” running around and a lovely town restaurant with great food and drinks. There’s a market on sundays gathering all inhabitants and when you follow the road uphill you’ll come to a small church with a AWESOME view and a memorial room for Toše (and a great guy wanting to get married to blonde German girls). A short walk up from there, from a platform, you can see three quarters of the country.

Getting very nostalgic writing about this. You can see pictures of Kruševo at my Macedonia exhibition at Globetrotter in Berlin-Steglitz (http://4-seasons.de/termin/aboutblank-mazedonien) all of July. Kruševo is a big part of it.

# 2 June 2011 at 7:43 am

tiago said:

you are welcome a friend of mine from slovenian sugested one more spot</a..

# 2 June 2011 at 2:24 pm