Skip to main content
  • Sandra Uskokovic is a scholar of modern and contemporary Central and Eastern European Art. She holds a position of Fu... moreedit
The aim of this article is to inquire into global imaginings of the possibilities for the future of the Mediterranean region, i.e. its current and future reconceptualization through political economy of connectivity through the Maritime... more
The aim of this article is to inquire into global imaginings of the possibilities for the future of the Mediterranean region, i.e. its current and future reconceptualization through political economy of connectivity through the Maritime Silk Road (MRS) as part of the OBOR.1 OBOR promises to mediate exchange over distance and bring different people and objects into interaction through its infrastructure. The question is whether OBOR will replace the present politics of domination by the diplomacy of communication, interaction, negotiation, and conversation, where dialogue of civilizations is based on tolerance, recognition, respect, mutual reference, and mutual learning. The article argues that the reconceptualization of the Mediterranean from its current, stereotyped image of the ancient past towards a modern paradigm largely depends on contrasted geopolitical dynanmics of this region.
Research Interests:
The question we are facing today is not only how to restore but also how to revitalize antifascist legacy for the future generations. These monuments are not only the markers of some remote past, but also the bearers of the universal... more
The question we are facing today is not only how to restore but also how to revitalize antifascist legacy for the future generations. These monuments are not only the markers of some remote past, but also the bearers of the universal values that are important today as well. New living context for these monuments can be achieved with social and artistic actions that will attract broader public along with the participation of the local community.
The Urban Hum platform consists of hybrid theatrical, anthropological, urban and social presentations of deliberately chosen urban, public spaces that are presented as a performative game-structure containing the elements of theatre,... more
The Urban Hum platform consists of hybrid theatrical, anthropological, urban and social presentations of deliberately chosen urban, public spaces that are presented as a performative game-structure containing the elements of theatre, dance, musical, stand–up and lecture. Urban Hum emphasizes historically rooted continuities (or discontinuities) of specifi locations, by creating a tool for artists, architects, urban planners, politicians and historians, in their rethinking and reconceptualization of the city as a vibrant, dynamic, and sustainable habitat, while aiming to serve the citizens in proposing and implementing their solutions. Urban Hum is looking for those type of creative solutions that will interlace historical signifi cance of each space, that is the important “urboglyph“ (hypertextual semantic of space) for the local community and contemporary and functional everyday experience. This platform is a continuation of Shadow Casters research in the urbanity, public patterns,...
Eros i imaginacija U knjizi Builtupon Love: Architectural Longingafter Ethicsand Aesthetics kanadski povjesničar i teoretičar arhitekture Alberto Pérez-Gómez razotkriva nam inherentni odnos između erosa i arhitekture, kao i bitnu... more
Eros i imaginacija U knjizi Builtupon Love: Architectural Longingafter Ethicsand Aesthetics kanadski povjesničar i teoretičar arhitekture Alberto Pérez-Gómez razotkriva nam inherentni odnos između erosa i arhitekture, kao i bitnu povezanost između etike i poetike, odnosno arhitektove želje da oblikuje lijepi svijet i imperativa arhitekture da društvu zajamči bolje i ugodnije mjesto. Pérezova je knjiga iznimno važan antidot današnjem prekomjernom intelektualizmu kako same arhitektonske teorije tako i same arhitekture, arhitekture otuđene od života, formalističke i autoreferencijalne. Mitološka i povijesna uloga erosa kao superiorne forme čovječanstva oduvijek je bila presudna u stvaranju i doživljaju arhitekture, očitujući se kao svojevrsna paradigma arhitekta/filozofa. Eros koji su osmislili prvi lirski pjesnici klasične Grčke nevidljiva je snaga pomoću koje kreiramo i razumijemo poetsku sliku. Aristotel je izjednačavao želju (eros) s imaginacijom, budući da se želja otkriva kroz imaginaciju, a imaginacija nas potiče da dosegnemo ono što želimo,koristeći pritom metaforu približavanja onoga što je samo po sebi daleko. Eros nas nadahnjuje snagom umilnosti i ljepote (venustas), no eros je onaj koji uvijek traži, nikad smiren i vazda promjenjiv, nikad potpun, nikad dakle ispunjen u vječnoj želji da dobije ono što je lijepo i dobro. Marsilio Ficino je u erosu prepoznavao i bitan element magije, objašnjavajući renesansnog arhitekta kao maga koji gradi u skladu s nebesima i kojemu erotska manija daje krila demijurga, oduzimajući mu razum. Nažalost, tijekom zadnja dva desetljeća u većini teorijskih razmatranja o arhitekturi, formalna i funkcionalna pitanja su se rigidno odvajala (npr. umjetnost nasuprot inženjerstva ili socijalnog planiranja), a validnost estetske autonomije nasuprot društvenoj relevantnosti reducirala se unutar navedenih antitetičkih okvira. Polaritet između forme i funkcije, kojim je umjetnost suprotstavljena socijalnim interesima, a etika poetskom izrazu, marginalizirao je i gotovo dokinuo krucijalnu povezanost između etičkih i poetskih vrijednosti u arhitektonskoj tradiciji. Poetska arhitektura, za razliku od one formalističke, evocira ono što nedostaje: ona je pokretač imaginacije jer privodi u realnost ono što u njoj nije bilo prisutno, prizivajući ljepotu (venustas) kroz čin igre i zavođenja. O erosu i njegovu doživljaju često sepisalo i raspravljalo, no zapadna kultura ga zapravo nije uspjela shvatiti, budući da je čitavo vrijeme ostala polarizirana između erosa i agape, između običnog zadovoljstva i apstraktnog milosrđa, pornografije i sentimentalnosti. Erotski je prostor podjednako živući prostor kao i estetski prostor, koji se nipošto ne utvrđuje sistemima moći, u cilju postizanja maksimalne učinkovitosti, udobnosti i kontrole. To je ponajprije prostor otkrivanja enigmatske dubine i neizvjesnosti – razotkrivanja nepoznatog u starom i poznatog u novom. Neostvariva, neuhvatljiva težnja erosa bit će na neki način nadomještena u kasnoj modernoj kulturi beskonačnim konzumerizmom.1 U današnjoj modernoj zapadnoj civilizaciji teži se ostvarenju individualne sreće i slobode kao prirodnog prava demokracije, a uloga se arhitekture svodi na osiguranje zadovoljstva pojedinca i otklanjanje bilo kakve boli. U takvoj je hedonističkoj kulturi i dalje dominantna funkcionalistička utopija u kojoj su sve želje ispunjene materijalnim sredstvima, prema maksimalnoj učinkovitosti, ekonomiji, komoditetu ili zabavnoj vrijednosti, bez obzira na " opravdanja " suvremene arhitekture što ih ona iznalazi bilo u vlastitoj ekološkoj odgovornosti ili visokim umjetničkim aspiracijama. Arhitektura kao komunikacija S 18. stoljećem teorija je arhitekture pod utjecajem senzualističke filozofije Davida Humea uvrstila za polazište lingvističku analogiju u elaboraciji arhitektonskog izraza kao kulturološke konstrukcije. Analogija između prostora jezika i prostora arhitekture otvorila je prostor komunikacije unutar kojega jezik i arhitektura spajaju ljudski realiteti gdje jedino pjesnici " oslobađaju " jezik. Pjesnici, naime, odbijaju govoriti jezikom dominantne tehnološke kulture, kao što i svaka kreacija poetske arhitekture odbija konvencionalan način građenja, tehnološki i formalni " jezik " arhitekture. Poetska arhitektura ima boju, ritam, teksturu i jedinstvena je forma komunikacije koja transcendira sam jezik, premda nikad ne prestajući biti samim jezikom. Stoga će arhitektura " biti pjesma tj. poezija " ako izražava nešto više negoli vlastite dijelove, materijale, proces konstrukcije, ideologiju ili identitet njezinih korisnika. Arhitekturu možemo usporediti i s muzikom (formom pjesništva) jer učestalije komunicira emocije nego diskurzivnu misao. K tome, svaki je doživljaj arhitekture ukorijenjen u ritmu – korijenu samog života, a upravo se kroz poetsku sliku naglašava ritam kao bitni nositelj čina zavođenja tj. ostvarenja želje. Arhitekt zato koristi ritam, svjetlo i sjenu, kako bi…
While focusing on Greece and North Macedonia, I will argue that the hegemony of authorized heritage discourse reveals the dominance of Hellenophilia, which has been continuously reinforced since the nineteenth century by archaeological... more
While focusing on Greece and North Macedonia, I will argue that the hegemony of authorized heritage discourse reveals the dominance of Hellenophilia, which has been continuously reinforced since the nineteenth century by archaeological discoveries of the ancient Greeks. The heritage narratives around the Warrior Hero statue in Skopje (2011) and the New Acropolis Museum in Athens (2009) glorify the ancient past and exclude other historical periods and cultural/ethnic influences, which creates a pregnant imaginary for Eurocentrism, while the hegemony of heritage sites is being harnessed for political agendas. Contrary to that, a celebration of shared civilizational heritage is being forged around imaginings of a glorious antiquity of East and West conjoined by the new Silk Road, specifically between China and Greece, emphasizing it via archaeology, heritage sites, and museums related to the Silk Road. This article is an attempt to demystify the domineering force of Eurocentric heritage studies and practice that suppress multi-cultural views, and ask whether heritage narratives constructed around the new Silk Road's identity and shared past that look beyond borders can rebuild a dialogue of transnational heritage.
A good number of authors and theorists dealing with heritage and memory claim that organized oblivion is largely present in the society, so one might conclude accordingly that every society consciously forgets. The carriers or executors... more
A good number of authors and theorists dealing with heritage and memory claim that organized oblivion is largely present in the society, so one might conclude accordingly that every society consciously forgets. The carriers or executors of this project of oblivion often seek to erase the entire memory of an “enemy” by destroying heritage, thus seeking to force those who have inherited and preserved it to forget it. In this article, I have sought to point out that historical artefacts are part of the process of social oblivion, which also raises the following question or topic: can history be constructed and reconstructed from the history of amnesia, rather than the history of memory? The process of “facing loss, that is destruction” is still in its infancy as a heritage practice and policy, and often limited to acknowledging the problem rather than responding to it. The salvage paradigm that permeates the heritage discourse is fundamentally based on a system that implies, at the sam...
This paper will elaborate upon how agencies of power affected art history during the 1990s conflict in the former Yugoslavia and how art history "collaborated" with the silence after the trauma. Since this time, a new historical... more
This paper will elaborate upon how agencies of power affected art history during the 1990s conflict in the former Yugoslavia and how art history "collaborated" with the silence after the trauma. Since this time, a new historical perspective has sustained and encouraged the denial of postwar antifascist heritage, in some cases even promoting its destruction. After the collapse of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, antifascist monuments were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings suppressed and obliterated. Modes of public commemoration of post-World War II heritage have changed drastically and new ways of publicly dealing with the old memorials have tended to de-ideologize them, thus attempting as well to erase the collective memory of the post-World War II period as an explicit manifestation of the former political system and ideology. During the period 1990–2000 almost half of all antifascist monuments were destroyed.
After the colapse of Yugoslavia in early 1990s, antifascist monuments were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings suppressed and obliterated. Modes of public commemoration towards post WWII heritage have changed drastically and... more
After the colapse of Yugoslavia in early 1990s, antifascist monuments were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings suppressed and obliterated. Modes of public commemoration towards post WWII heritage have changed drastically and new ways to publicly deal with the old memorials tended to de-ideologize them, thus trying as well to erase the collective memory of post WWII period as explicit manifestation of the former political system and ideology. During the period between 1990 - 2000 almost the half of the total number of antifascist monuments were destroyed. However, during the recent decade a slow process of antifascist monument renovation started but only around 100 monuments have been restored, i.e. 3% of the total number. However, the existing inventory list of antifascist monuments has been made without clearly defined criteria of valorisation and many of these monuments are still not listed.
Research Interests:
Eros i imaginacija U knjizi Builtupon Love: Architectural Longingafter Ethicsand Aesthetics kanadski povjesničar i teoretičar arhitekture Alberto Pérez-Gómez razotkriva nam inherentni odnos između erosa i arhitekture, kao i bitnu... more
Eros i imaginacija U knjizi Builtupon Love: Architectural Longingafter Ethicsand Aesthetics kanadski povjesničar i teoretičar arhitekture Alberto Pérez-Gómez razotkriva nam inherentni odnos između erosa i arhitekture, kao i bitnu povezanost između etike i poetike, odnosno arhitektove želje da oblikuje lijepi svijet i imperativa arhitekture da društvu zajamči bolje i ugodnije mjesto. Pérezova je knjiga iznimno važan antidot današnjem prekomjernom intelektualizmu kako same arhitektonske teorije tako i same arhitekture, arhitekture otuđene od života, formalističke i autoreferencijalne. Mitološka i povijesna uloga erosa kao superiorne forme čovječanstva oduvijek je bila presudna u stvaranju i doživljaju arhitekture, očitujući se kao svojevrsna paradigma arhitekta/filozofa. Eros koji su osmislili prvi lirski pjesnici klasične Grčke nevidljiva je snaga pomoću koje kreiramo i razumijemo poetsku sliku. Aristotel je izjednačavao želju (eros) s imaginacijom, budući da se želja otkriva kroz imaginaciju, a imaginacija nas potiče da dosegnemo ono što želimo,koristeći pritom metaforu približavanja onoga što je samo po sebi daleko. Eros nas nadahnjuje snagom umilnosti i ljepote (venustas), no eros je onaj koji uvijek traži, nikad smiren i vazda promjenjiv, nikad potpun, nikad dakle ispunjen u vječnoj želji da dobije ono što je lijepo i dobro. Marsilio Ficino je u erosu prepoznavao i bitan element magije, objašnjavajući renesansnog arhitekta kao maga koji gradi u skladu s nebesima i kojemu erotska manija daje krila demijurga, oduzimajući mu razum. Nažalost, tijekom zadnja dva desetljeća u većini teorijskih razmatranja o arhitekturi, formalna i funkcionalna pitanja su se rigidno odvajala (npr. umjetnost nasuprot inženjerstva ili socijalnog planiranja), a validnost estetske autonomije nasuprot društvenoj relevantnosti reducirala se unutar navedenih antitetičkih okvira. Polaritet između forme i funkcije, kojim je umjetnost suprotstavljena socijalnim interesima, a etika poetskom izrazu, marginalizirao je i gotovo dokinuo krucijalnu povezanost između etičkih i poetskih vrijednosti u arhitektonskoj tradiciji. Poetska arhitektura, za razliku od one formalističke, evocira ono što nedostaje: ona je pokretač imaginacije jer privodi u realnost ono što u njoj nije bilo prisutno, prizivajući ljepotu (venustas) kroz čin igre i zavođenja. O erosu i njegovu doživljaju često sepisalo i raspravljalo, no zapadna kultura ga zapravo nije uspjela shvatiti, budući da je čitavo vrijeme ostala polarizirana između erosa i agape, između običnog zadovoljstva i apstraktnog milosrđa, pornografije i sentimentalnosti. Erotski je prostor podjednako živući prostor kao i estetski prostor, koji se nipošto ne utvrđuje sistemima moći, u cilju postizanja maksimalne učinkovitosti, udobnosti i kontrole. To je ponajprije prostor otkrivanja enigmatske dubine i neizvjesnosti – razotkrivanja nepoznatog u starom i poznatog u novom. Neostvariva, neuhvatljiva težnja erosa bit će na neki način nadomještena u kasnoj modernoj kulturi beskonačnim konzumerizmom.1 U današnjoj modernoj zapadnoj civilizaciji teži se ostvarenju individualne sreće i slobode kao prirodnog prava demokracije, a uloga se arhitekture svodi na osiguranje zadovoljstva pojedinca i otklanjanje bilo kakve boli. U takvoj je hedonističkoj kulturi i dalje dominantna funkcionalistička utopija u kojoj su sve želje ispunjene materijalnim sredstvima, prema maksimalnoj učinkovitosti, ekonomiji, komoditetu ili zabavnoj vrijednosti, bez obzira na " opravdanja " suvremene arhitekture što ih ona iznalazi bilo u vlastitoj ekološkoj odgovornosti ili visokim umjetničkim aspiracijama. Arhitektura kao komunikacija S 18. stoljećem teorija je arhitekture pod utjecajem senzualističke filozofije Davida Humea uvrstila za polazište lingvističku analogiju u elaboraciji arhitektonskog izraza kao kulturološke konstrukcije. Analogija između prostora jezika i prostora arhitekture otvorila je prostor komunikacije unutar kojega jezik i arhitektura spajaju ljudski realiteti gdje jedino pjesnici " oslobađaju " jezik. Pjesnici, naime, odbijaju govoriti jezikom dominantne tehnološke kulture, kao što i svaka kreacija poetske arhitekture odbija konvencionalan način građenja, tehnološki i formalni " jezik " arhitekture. Poetska arhitektura ima boju, ritam, teksturu i jedinstvena je forma komunikacije koja transcendira sam jezik, premda nikad ne prestajući biti samim jezikom. Stoga će arhitektura " biti pjesma tj. poezija " ako izražava nešto više negoli vlastite dijelove, materijale, proces konstrukcije, ideologiju ili identitet njezinih korisnika. Arhitekturu možemo usporediti i s muzikom (formom pjesništva) jer učestalije komunicira emocije nego diskurzivnu misao. K tome, svaki je doživljaj arhitekture ukorijenjen u ritmu – korijenu samog života, a upravo se kroz poetsku sliku naglašava ritam kao bitni nositelj čina zavođenja tj. ostvarenja želje. Arhitekt zato koristi ritam, svjetlo i sjenu, kako bi rekreirao naš prvi susret s " dubinom " ljudske građevine. Primjerice, kada je Vitruvije pisao o prirodi arhitektonskog reda, prizivao je upravo euritmiju muzike.2 Uostalom, poetska slika arhitekture nikad ne počiva na reprezentacijskom sustavu, radnim crtežima ili građevnom materijalu, jer se ne može isključivo reducirati na objekt koji je sačinjava. Arhitektura nije prepisivanje, arhitektura je
Research Interests:
The question we are facing today is not only how to restore but also how to revitalize antifascist legacy for the future generations. These monuments are not only the markers of some remote past, but also the bearers of the universal... more
The question we are facing today is not only how to restore but also how to revitalize antifascist legacy for the future generations. These monuments are not only the markers of some remote past, but also the bearers of the universal values that are important today as well. New living context for these monuments can be achieved with social and artistic actions that will attract broader public along with the participation of the local community.
Research Interests:
Man is Space: Vitić Dances is a multiyear community art project on a 10-storey condominium building in Zagreb (Croatia) built by the architect Ivo Vitić – a masterpiece of modern architecture, registered as a national monument - that is... more
Man is Space: Vitić Dances is a multiyear community art project on a 10-storey condominium building in Zagreb (Croatia) built by the architect Ivo Vitić – a masterpiece of modern architecture, registered as a national monument - that is in a deteriorating state, and threatens the lives of its 256 inhabitants.1 The project started in 2003 when Croatian artist Boris Bakal (Shadow Casters) moved into the building and became deeply acquainted with its history, its tenants and their everyday hardship; while starting a complex interdisciplinary endeavour that combined permanent artistic and social interventions and programmes, in and around the building, aimed to raise the awareness of its tenants and local community to restore this iconic building.
This ‘artivism’ project re-created and socialized a commonly shared space through intensive artistic presence by unifying tenants to collaborate for its preservation. It allowed us to move away from a notion of the building as a whole to a notion of the building as multiplicity, from the study of the urban neighbourhood to the study of urban choreographies of architecture. Vitic Dances has also secured funds for the restoration of the building's facade and for the recording of the documentary film about this project and the building. Restoration of this building that started in February 2016 will be a major investment (funded by co-owners and the City of Zagreb) in residential housing in Croatia.
The Urban Hum platform consists of hybrid theatrical, anthropological, urban and social presentations of deliberately chosen urban, public spaces that are present- ed as a performative game-structure containing the elements of theatre,... more
The Urban Hum platform consists of hybrid theatrical, anthropological, urban and social presentations of deliberately chosen urban, public spaces that are present- ed as a performative game-structure containing the elements of theatre, dance, musical, stand–up and lecture. Urban Hum emphasizes historically rooted continu- ities (or discontinuities) of speci c locations, by creating a tool for artists, archi- tects, urban planners, politicians and historians, in their rethinking and reconcep- tualization of the city as a vibrant, dynamic, and sustainable habitat, while aiming to serve the citizens in proposing and implementing their solutions. Urban Hum
is looking for those type of creative solutions that will interlace historical signi - cance of each space, that is the important “urboglyph“ (hypertextual semantic of space) for the local community and contemporary and functional everyday expe- rience. This platform is a continuation of Shadow Casters research in the urbanity, public patterns, dynamics and habits of coexistence, and presents innovative ap- proach towards the urban dramaturgy/choreography, by  nding creative solution to urban challenges and partnerships. Shadow Casters is an artistic project that unites various media and a diversity of methods in a speci c creative exploration of different cities in the world.
Research Interests:
Statistika bibliografskih podataka o projektima, znanstvenicima i znantsvenim institucijama.
Pregled bibliografske jedinice broj: 358686. Časopis. Autori: Uskoković, Sandra. Naslov: Tokio – grad snova za poklonike arhitekture i dizajna ( Tokyo - dream city of architecture ). Izvornik: "Zarez"-dvotjednik za... more
Pregled bibliografske jedinice broj: 358686. Časopis. Autori: Uskoković, Sandra. Naslov: Tokio – grad snova za poklonike arhitekture i dizajna ( Tokyo - dream city of architecture ). Izvornik: "Zarez"-dvotjednik za kulturu i društvena zbivanja (1331-7970) IX (2007), 212-213; 22-23. ...
Statistika bibliografskih podataka o projektima, znanstvenicima i znantsvenim institucijama.
Pregled bibliografske jedinice broj: 419199. Zbornik radova. Autori: Uskoković, Sandra. Naslov: Hylectics of Modernity. Izvornik: Dio CC časopisa: NE. Skup: Converging Values, Conflicting Forces. Mjesto i datum: Singapore, 8-10.01.2009. ...
Statistika bibliografskih podataka o projektima, znanstvenicima i znantsvenim institucijama.
Odnos tradicije i moderniteta jedan je od trajnih biljega vizualnog identiteta Dubrovnika kako u starijoj, tako iu novijoj povijesti. Ovaj rad nastoji objasniti prirodu tog odnosa kroz dubrovačku modernu arhitekturu kako bi se utvrdilo...
The relationship between tradition and modernity is one of the permanent attributes of visual identity in the ancient and modern history of Dubrovnik. This article is an attempt to highlight the real nature of this relationship on the...
Statistika bibliografskih podataka o projektima, znanstvenicima i znantsvenim institucijama.
Pregled bibliografske jedinice broj: 358678. Časopis. Autori: Uskoković, Sandra. Naslov: Obiteljska kuća kao silos za žito ( Heritage at Risk ). Izvornik: "Zarez"- dvodjetnik za kulturu i društvena zbivanja (1331-7970)... more
Pregled bibliografske jedinice broj: 358678. Časopis. Autori: Uskoković, Sandra. Naslov: Obiteljska kuća kao silos za žito ( Heritage at Risk ). Izvornik: "Zarez"- dvodjetnik za kulturu i društvena zbivanja (1331-7970) IX (2007), 217; 17-17. Vrsta rada: članak. ...
Vila Naprstek, djelo Nikole Dobrovića, sagrađena u duhu moderne, interpretacija je ladanjske arhitekture na suvremen način. Izgradnjom jadranske magistrale neposredno uz vilu, iu graditeljskoj euforiji proteklih desetljeća izrasla...
Statistika bibliografskih podataka o projektima, znanstvenicima i znantsvenim institucijama.
Lovro Perković from Split belongs to the middle generation of Croatian architects who managed to successfully bring together modernity and tradition, to appreciate function in architecture, but also to express sensibility to historical...
Statistika bibliografskih podataka o projektima, znanstvenicima i znantsvenim institucijama.
Statistika bibliografskih podataka o projektima, znanstvenicima i znantsvenim institucijama.
Pregled bibliografske jedinice broj: 358244. Zbornik radova. Autori: Uskoković, Sandra. Naslov: Preservation of values or things? Izvornik: Dio CC časopisa: NE. Skup: Identification, Advocacy, and Protection of Post-World War II Heritage.... more
Pregled bibliografske jedinice broj: 358244. Zbornik radova. Autori: Uskoković, Sandra. Naslov: Preservation of values or things? Izvornik: Dio CC časopisa: NE. Skup: Identification, Advocacy, and Protection of Post-World War II Heritage. ...
Statistika bibliografskih podataka o projektima, znanstvenicima i znantsvenim institucijama.
The relationship between tradition and modernity is one of the permanent attributes of visual identity in the ancient and modern history of Dubrovnik. This article is an attempt to highlight the real nature of this relationship on the...

And 7 more

Antique term anamnesis denotes recollection or remembrance, to gather something that was lost, forgotten or erased. We are talking about something very old and archaic that made us the way we are now. But anamnesis also denotes a work... more
Antique term anamnesis denotes recollection or remembrance, to gather something that was lost, forgotten or erased. We are talking about something very old and archaic that made us the way we are now. But anamnesis also denotes a work that transforms its subject to produce always something new. The task of anamnesis is to recollect the old and to produce the new.
The book Anamneses: Dialogues of Art in Public Spaces, synthesizes current urban culture starting with an agonistic society characterized by an inquiry of existing consensus and by disagreement between past and present, in order to be used as a heuristic tool for better understanding of the role of cultural particularization as opposed to globalization and other transnational processes connected with urban culture.   
The book is divided into nine chapters covering theoretical, investigatory and practical approaches to documenting and acting in public spaces and city, using various art formats. 

Logic of selected works doesn't always reflect a quality of works or a place of their positioning, but also the way those works and the place (location) itself interact with each other in a new and novel way. Selected artists managed to avoid not only restrictions of art conventions, but also restrictions of traditional and institutional spaces and their products such as museums and galleries. This art insists on relocation of the center of gravity from universal tendencies of modernists' abstraction to the reality of "ordinary" people and their "common" experiences in public spaces.
The book Anamneses: Dialogues of Art in Public Spaces is a critical inquiry of the culture of space and of economic exploitation of public spaces in order to show a wide span of art practices that enable citizens to become co-creators of public spaces. Illustrated with selected examples in this book, contemporary art in public spaces creates a particular point of view on collective culture and its affirmation in urban life. The book explores ways in which art interventions and practices transform and symbolically shape public spaces, that is to say ways in which they participate and change the meaning of public spaces, where users could feel in a different way experimental character of sensory experience.
Naslov knjige Lovro Perković: Estetika prostora i senzibilitet konteksta proizlazi iz slojevitog pristupa arhitekta njegovim djelima. Arhitektonska djela Lovre Perkovića ne predstavljaju samo imaginativne metamorfoze (tadašnjeg) svijeta,... more
Naslov knjige Lovro Perković: Estetika prostora i senzibilitet konteksta proizlazi iz slojevitog pristupa arhitekta njegovim djelima. Arhitektonska djela Lovre Perkovića ne predstavljaju samo imaginativne metamorfoze (tadašnjeg) svijeta, nego i osobiti odaziv na društvene, praktične, tehničke, ekspresivne i simboličke probleme. Ova knjiga je pokušaj da se Perković sagleda ne samo kao arhitekt, već i kao i urbanist, teoretičar, inženjer, kako bi se približili njegovom umjetničkom duhu i umu, namjerama u pozadini pojedinačnog djela, ali i tenzijama između idealne vizije i ograničavajuće realnosti. Perkovićeva arhitektura ne bi postigla svoje puno značenje da nije prekoračila društveni sadržaj, budući da Perković nije bio ni ideolog ni estetičar: njegove ideje su poticale oblike, a oblici ideje. Perković je bio kako tradicionalist tako i modernist. Iz tradicije je nastojao apstrahirati glavne principe i sažeti ih u formalni sustav vlastitih pravila prikladnosti. Pripadnost kritičkom regionalizmu, podržana njegovim senzibilitetom prema regionalnim obilježjima, unijela je progresivne i idealističke obrasce u Perkovićev autentični izraz. Opisujući i obrađujući arhitektovu biografiju, građevne tipove, vremenska razdoblja , knjiga nudi čitatelju polazište za upoznavanje jednog aspekta bogate i specifične povijesti moderne arhitekture u Dalmaciji, istražene i opisane kroz djela Lovre Perkovića. Pri tome je autorica nastojala Perkovićeva djela objasniti kao kritičke argumente, a ne samo kao preodređene paradigme, polazeći od toga da je svaka arhitektura svojevrsni argument izražen u materijalu.
Ova knjiga opisuje i tumači utjecaj suvremenih arhitektonskih kretanja na postojeće, povijesne i tradicionalne urbane oblike, kao i njihov učinak na postojeće estetske i arhitektonske vrijednosti u povijesnim, urbanim područjima. Moja je... more
Ova knjiga opisuje i tumači utjecaj suvremenih arhitektonskih kretanja na postojeće, povijesne i tradicionalne urbane oblike, kao i njihov učinak na postojeće estetske i arhitektonske vrijednosti u povijesnim, urbanim područjima. Moja je namjera da oovom knjigom potaknem potaknuti jaču, vizualnu i etičku osviještenost o glavnim pitanjima i temama iz navedene problematike. Prirodi suvremene arhitekture nije svojstvena prilagodba tradicionalnom kontekstu i arhitekturi bez obzira na to o kojem je povijesnom razdoblju riječ, a svjedoci smo da suvremene građevine često i " namjerno " ignoriraju vlastiti kontekst. To ne znači da su suvremene građevine koje ignoriraju tradicionalne kontekste nužno ružne, ili da u nekim slučajevima nisu važnije od konteksta koje ignoriraju, već to prije svega ukazuje na " egoistični " i " nedruštveni " karakter suvremene arhitekture. Ova ravnodušnost, tj. " neprijateljstvo " prema povijesnom i harmoničnom kontinuitetu konteksta ima svoje korijene u modernističkoj etici koja je osudila i odbacila sve povijesne oblike, ali i čitavu povijest kao naslijeđe. Brojne generacije modernih arhitekata su gotovo su " slijepo " slijedile navedene principe modernističke etike, te nisu osjećale potrebu da prilagodeiti svoja djela prema starijoj, " teoretski istrošenoj " arhitekturi konteksta, već su kroz
The entire work and professional activities of architect Lovro Perković are interpreted and analyzed in a form of monography, where I have emphasized his important role in the history of croatian modern architecture and urban planning,... more
The entire work and professional activities of architect Lovro Perković are interpreted and analyzed in a form of monography, where I have emphasized his important role in the history of croatian modern architecture and urban planning, and his contribution in formulation of the postwar architecture in Dalmatia, that was so far minorized and unsufficiently presented.
The first chapter describes and analyses his student period in Prague, his return and stay in native Split up to 1940, departure to Dubrovnik during war time, and then again his return to Split by mid 1950s' where he worked until his death.
The beginning of second chapter addresses architect' bibliography that elaborates the following theoretical themes: cost-effective architecture, industrialisation, the role of the architect in modern society, and research and achievements in modern engineering. Second chapter furthermore circumvents architectural and social scene in Croatia and Czech Republic that overlaps with architect' Perkovic profesional engagement. A special emphasis was given to the interwar and postwar period of mediteraneean cities Split and Dubrovnik, where Perkovic spent most of his life, thus absorbing the local influences and conditions, that he entailed into his own specific architectural language. 
Third chapter presents historic and architectural analysis of the entire Perkovic' work. His work is classified according to architectural typology, along with the description and analysis of each work, that is explained along with its historic and social context. 
The fourth and the last chapter compares entire Perkovic' work with respect to the chronologically parallel and relevant national, european and worlwide movements in architecture, in order to place and evaluate his work in a broader context. The critical analysis with respect to the historical perspective has proven that Lovro Perkovic' architecture has been anthropocentric, modest in form' articulation, functional but intimate. The idiosyncratic work of this architect evidences the versatility of architectural creation and conceptualisation of modern and contemporary architecture, in which he managed to combine tradition and avantgarde, art and technology, economics and aesthetics, and individuality and collectiveness, as the main contributing factors for modern life and society. Lovro Perkovic was a truly contemporary architect, who had recognized the importance of contextual architecture and envisioned space as aesthetic phenomenon. Through his entire professional life he was looking for the balance between economics and aesthetics in architecture, thus defining the isue of aesthetics, as the one, but not the only, sole aspect of the architecture.
Key words: modernism, functionalism, traditional Mediteraneean architecture, collective type buildings, urbanism, avangarde, economical and rational building, technology, contextualism.
Research Interests:
This paper will elaborate upon how agencies of power affected art history during the 1990s conflict in the former Yugoslavia and how art history "collaborated" with the silence after the trauma. Since this time, a new historical... more
This paper will elaborate upon how agencies of power affected art history during the 1990s conflict in the former Yugoslavia and how art history "collaborated" with the silence after the trauma. Since this time, a new historical perspective has sustained and encouraged the denial of postwar antifascist heritage, in some cases even promoting its destruction. After the collapse of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, antifascist monuments were completely abandoned, and their symbolic meanings suppressed and obliterated. Modes of public commemoration of post-World War II heritage have changed drastically and new ways of publicly dealing with the old memorials have tended to de-ideologize them, thus attempting as well to erase the collective memory of the post-World War II period as an explicit manifestation of the former political system and ideology. During the period 1990–2000 almost half of all antifascist monuments were destroyed. 1 After the recent Homeland War (1991–96), the emphasis was on nationalized, romanticized, early medieval art (of Croat origin) that served to conceal official history (from 1945 to 1991) and enhance this newly branded national identity where new mythologies were created. 2 The " new life " was basically marked by a few distinctive sociopolitical, economic, cultural, and aesthetic processes: return to national values, ethnic roots, and reaffirming the romantic idea of nation. Heritage has become the material embodiment of the spirit of the nation, a collective representation of the Croatian version of tradition, a concept pivotal to the lexicon of Croatian virtues. This emphasis on sites from Roman and medieval periods demonstrated a clear attempt to develop a national story that highlights periods of Croatian autonomy and resistance to outsiders despite the very recent origins of the present Croatian sovereign state. 3
Research Interests:
Pitanje memorije je više nego aktualno u sveopćoj preplavljenosti industrijom memorije koja je odgovor na opću neizvjesnost Zapada uočljivu u politikama post-modernog identiteta; novim informacijskim sustavima i kontrolama praćenja,... more
Pitanje memorije je više nego aktualno u sveopćoj preplavljenosti industrijom memorije koja je odgovor na opću neizvjesnost Zapada uočljivu u politikama post-modernog identiteta; novim informacijskim sustavima i kontrolama praćenja, starenju generacija preživjelih u Holokaustu; političkim traumama i ekonomskim promjenama u današnjem postkolonijalnom, postindustrijskom i post-hladno-ratovskom razdoblju. Za razliku od ograničenja zapadnjačkog shvaćanja memorije, pogotovo Aristotelovog modela koji objašnjava memorijska mjesta kao pasivne površine ili objekte utisnute u prošlost gdje memorija zadobiva značenje palimpsesta, suvremena umjetnost i aktivizam animiraju višestrukost prostora i vremena u memoriji, a memorija se otkriva kroz proces stvaranja, transformiranja, izražavanja i prenošenja prošlosti u sadašnjost. Prakse memorije su prisno vezane sa stvaranjem, narativom i pisanjem tj. kreativnim činom. One su dinamične i promjenjive, rezultat aktivnog procesa memorije kroz djelovanje sjećanja. Umjetnost stvara, ali i određuje memoriju. Naime, memorija je performativna (a ne isključivo reproduktivna) jer je riječ o odnosu prema prošlosti iz određene točke u sadašnjosti, a ne samo o očuvanju I iznalaženju priča iz prošlosti. Memorija je stoga aktivnost, nešto što se odvija u prostoru i vremenu, i kao takva nije statična. Kao što Gilles Deleuze u svojoj knjizi o Proustu piše: " stvarati znači sjećati se, ali nadasve, sjećati se znači stvarati ". Radovi na izložbi " D(r)ugo Sjećanje " istražuju kreativni potencijal vremena i mjesta, memorije i zaborava. Ovi oblici vizualne komunikacije propituju dominantne režime memorije kroz stvaranje prostora unutar kojeg analiziraju povijesno-društvene odnose ali i zamišljaju nove budućnosti i zajednice. Prizivajući u fokus unutarnje i vanjsko kretanje memorije kroz plakate, medije oglašavanja i javne intervencije, autori nam otkrivaju nedovoljno istraženi odnos između utjelovljene i zajedničke memorije u kojem " ranjena mjesta " postaju mobilna, porozna, i utjelovljena kroz kontekst iskustva, ali istovremeno i povezana sa sadašnjim mjestima, vremenom i ljudima. 1 Pokušaj razumijevanja I predstavljanja memorije kao utjelovljene i lokalizirane prakse možemo pratiti od lingvističkog do performativnog obrata u izloženim radovima. Razlika nije samo u fokusu, izmještanju pažnje, i to od tragova memorije pa do njene same izvedbe, već u ontološkom obratu od memorije kao traga nečega što je nekad bilo, do memorije kao prošlo(g)-sadašnjeg trenutka. Ovo izmještanje fokusa na kreativni aspekt kako bi se reprezentacija memorije pomakla izvan svojih granica (jer ne predstavlja više samo značenje) ujedno označava i povezivanje produktivnog značenja memorije prema multidimenzionalnoj peformativnosti. Stoga se radovi ne bave samo povijesnim, nostalgijskim ili " prezentističkim " aspektima kulturne memorije, već i njenim " utopijskim " aspektima.  Performativnost memorije ovdje prevazilazi nadmoć teksta i narativa budući da transponira vizualnu kulturu kao oblik znanja.
Research Interests:
The conference examined the concept of the 20th century heritage in three different aspects: urban heritage & architecture, fine arts, photography & audiovisual heritage. The speakers offered views on how fundamental qualities of modern... more
The conference examined the concept of the 20th century heritage in three different aspects: urban heritage & architecture, fine arts, photography & audiovisual heritage. The speakers offered views on how fundamental qualities of modern heritage can be preserved and what they have to offer to the contemporary life and its future sustainability.
Research Interests: