monument 2.0 | vukadin

The monument 2.0 documents

On the 28th of August 1991, during the beginning of a cultural transition subsequent to the fall of Yugoslavia, the city that was then known as Titovo Užice (Tito's Užice) decided to remove the monument of the former Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito from the Partisan square, in action renouncing its prefix and entering a new era.

The work/action Spomenik (monument) 2.0 documents the rise, fall, and an epilogue of a paper reconstruction of the original monument. The Spomenik (Monument) was a collaboration with film director Srđan Marković for his documentary "Vreća od papira" (Bag of paper) in 2018. The movie, filmed in the end of August 2018. captures a group of youths on the mission to embody a monumental symbol of the former time, briefly re-opening the public discourse on whether Tito's monument should be returned to the main square. The original was sculpted by Frano Krsinic in 1961 and was the largest and the tallest monument of the former president.

The new monument consisted of four plastic tubes, erected from a base of two wooden pallets, encased in a paper coat, with hands and head constructed from crumbled paper and duct tape - a red star on his forehead.

The remains of the action continue to live thereafter.

In 2020 the head, hands, and an excerpt from a news station covering the action were included in a group exhibition "Hardpressed" curated by Dunja Petković alongside other young Serbian artists in the gallery of KC Magacin in Belgrade.

The ‘scraps of the president’ once again ended up on the news, now covering the exhibition in the midst of Pandemic.

The circle closed.

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News excerpt, September 2018

Frames from news excerpt,

September 2018

Dialogue transcript from the preceding news excerpt (left) and English translation on the right

Headlines from various news outlets following the appearance of the cardboard statue, 2018

''Sensation in Užice: Comrade Tito is back! Monument re-appears in old spot over night!''

''On the 28th of August 1991, a cable was wrapped around the Marshal's neck, and hydrochloric acid was poured into the foundations of the monument to thin out the concrete. As the machines raised it Tito fell. He's been hiding behind the walls of the National museum for almost three decades.''

''Bronze Marshall replaced by a cardboard transformer''

''During the day the imitation has fallen. Was it wind, or another perpetrator? we don't have that information for now.''

''If Tito could see how they've made him from cardboard and brown duct tape he would renounce his city momentarily (VIDEO)''

''The new Tito s assembled from cardboard and brown duct tape, supported by water pipes. A paper coat covers the construction similar to a scaffolding. He was half the size of the original.''