Today i am staying at the artist residency to plan and research, mainly to plan the logistic…bus routes and timetables, how to go places and get back without getting lost, or where it would be interesting to get lost and photograph.
being here is a good way to learn more about the borders. Novi Sad is in the autonomous province of Vojvodina, and Ljiliana of ArtBox has told me how she declares herself as “from Vojvodina” rather than Serb. Belgrade’s government is pushing to take away the autonomy of this province. This came out in a conversation on politics and the balkan war, which to my surprise both Ljiliana and Dragan were keen to discuss (before coming here I was warned ” do not talk politics!): in Backa Palanka i saw posters in support of e “prisoner of Le Hague” Milosevic, Arkan…names that i remember hearing on tv during the balkan war. As i took photos of the posters a group of man from a nearby cafe started shouting at me and i had to leave. Back at ArtBox I discussed this with Ljiliana and Dragan, who say nationalistic feelings are very strong in certain sector of Serbia society. they pointed out how in this suburb of Novi Sad many houses have been built recently by Serbians who relocated from Bosnia during the war, and how these people are often the most nationalistic. Dragan himself was born in Bosnia, from a Serbia mother and father from Montenegro, when the war started in Bosnia him and his family left Sarajevo and resettled here. He did not share nationalistic feelings and did not want to take part with either sides, so he had to leave. many of his friends also left and relocated either here or to Canada. Ljiliana and Dragan also talk about the bombing of Novi Sad bridges by Nato, and how they tried to keep living life normally and recall going to theatre during an airstrike.
