Milica Božić Marojević
Back to the Future or
How to Make Peace with The Past in Order to Create a Better Tomorrow Together
Public spaces and their visual culture are active participants in creating of public knowledge. That knowledge is primarily represented and recognized through monuments and/or different memorialization practices. However, how that space looks like and what politics and policies represents is never accidental. It is something that is always decided by the ruling elite. Even though that does not necessarily mean that the ruling elites are going to have a negative attitude towards the previous regime or representatives of minorities in general, in the Western Balkans region it is a rule. Changes in the domain of political climate here are very common and they can easily be traced in the public space appearance too. In those circumstances, (cultural) heritage seems to be another victim. It suffers not just for the sake of new ideology, but also in order people to forget their past. When it comes to the so-called difficult places and spaces, the situation in the domain of collective memory is even worse. It looks like we are in a vicious circle of the permanent present built on the remnants of nationalist and exclusive accounts of the past. Because of that, a progressive vision on future is missing. Silenced and marginalized memories, as well as contested histories, seem to be the dominant narratives in everyday life. The roles of certain public figures are being re-examined, the culture of cancellation is stronger; we are afraid of refugees, we blame them for diseases, the increase in unemployment, religious fanaticism. Although experts insist that culture and arts unite us, how does it happen that they actually separate us?
The basic research direction is motivated by a long-term search for an answer to the question: how can Serbs and Albanians live together again after everything that happened in Kosovo? This led to further doubts – what are our points of similarities; what kind of culture of memory do we want to cherish, whether and how heritage, that is, the past can help us in building a better future; what is the role of education in this? The focus of the research is directed at young people in Belgrade, i.e. at those who do not remember the controversial events at first hand, but formed their views about them through family stories, education, and memory policies promoted by the ruling elites. Although the problems of young people are similar in Belgrade, Kosovska Mitrovica and Priština, they do not think about how to get to know each other better and how to cooperate, or how together they can create democratic, multi-ethnic, multi-confessional, open, plural, and inclusive societies.
Considering heritage as a source for knowledge seems obvious, but the aim of this project is to invite us to question it critically. My idea is to highlight specific problematic issues, but also potentials for representation involved in such difficult heritage, and to identify and analyse ways in which they can contribute to social reflection. I would also like to inspire analytical reflection on heritage and the values and power dynamics attached to it, and to facilitate dialogue about the uses of the past in the present. Cultivating a culture based on facts is indispensable. Yet, equally important is to formulate and foster a “culture of a shared future” in the region – bringing forward narratives, evidence, and politics to replace a culture of hostility with a common vision of a joint future. In that sense, this research is part of a long-standing effort to show that heritage is here to bring us together.
