ART&RESEARCH

There was once a plan to build a Museum of Revolution in the Park of Friendship in Belgrade: but only the foundations were ever laid. The Museum of Revolution in New Belgrade was founded as an institution in 1959. The Yugoslav architectural competition for its new building in New Belgrade was held in 1961. No first prize was awarded, but Croatian architect Vjenceslav Richter, who received second prize ex aequo, was chosen to realize the museum.

Few know about revolution , its causes and its consequences. It has become a print on T-shirts , icons have become fashion . Is there a new type of revolution in the Gaps of society? With new rules, new presences?

Today, New Belgrade is changing rapidly. Capital is moving in. Banks are being built, prices of real estate are rising tremendously, and Casino Austria recently opened its doors in the empty Hotel Yugoslavia. Seen in the scope of history, New Belgrade is, like many other cities in Central and East Europe, undergoing a major turnover. Is this what we should understand today as ‘revolution’? Or is there a way to re-think the understanding of revolution without getting into false notions of nostalgia?

The park is full of historic moments . Initially, the plan was to locate the museum in the complex of cultural institutions near the Sava River, but later it was moved to block 13 in the Park of Friendship, between the buildings of the former Palace of the Federation (now empty) and the Central Committee of the Communist Party (now a bank). Its main entrance was planned on the Boulevard of Lenin (now Mihaljo Pupin).

The first Conference of the Non-Alligned Movement , of which former Yugoslavian President Tito was one of the initiators and at which 25 countries were represented, was convened in Belgrade in September 1961. On the occasion of this first summit, each of the leaders who were present planted a tree in the Park of Friendship, marked by a stone with their name engraved on it. Since then, this has become a tradition. Today there are more than 150 of these stones with a tree accompanying them in the park. Hotel Yugoslavia, situated at the edge of the park and once the most luxurious hotel in Serbia, where celebrities and high officials visiting Belgrade stayed, stood empty for many years. The hotel was heavily damaged during the NATO bombing that also hit the Chinese Embassy.

The Museum of Revolution was supposed to open in 1981, but only the foundations were laid. The construction was stopped in the late1970s and since then left unchanged. All that can be seen today is a huge concrete platform with iron poles sticking out of it.

Action

At noon, trucks with film equipment arrive. 25 KW of lighting, spotlights, tripods, dolly and cherry pickers are unloaded and installed, cables are unreeled and connected. Catering and toilet services arrive. Yellow ribbons mark the scene. Four camera teams prepare themselves to record all actions. Soundmen install the microphones and audio-recording equipment. Passers-by with or without dogs and others come and go and become part of the action.

The event – starting from nothing, ending in nothing – slowly reaches its end when the sun sets and it becomes dark. Something happened here.

As part of the Differentiated Neighbourhoods project, initiated by Zoran Eric, curator of the Centre of Visual Culture of the Museum of Modern Art in Belgrade, Bik Van der Pol developed a film scenario for this area that imbues the location with meaning and questions art, the museum, revolution, the public and the way the media work. On December 1, 2007, the artists organized a public event at this location in collaboration with four film crews, consisting of a cameraman, soundman and an assistant; an unknown amount of people and passers-by; some dogs; the catering girl; the lavatory attendant; the guards; the cherry picker guys; the technicians; local and international artists and critics, a filmmaker and a few architects; curators of the Museum of Contemporary Art; two police officers; photographers, and press, exploring the potential of a temporary community, in relation to the initial intention of this location. The role and acting of the public – is it large, or not? – the continuous shift between the role of actor, of participant, of observer, expresses and questions the ambiguity of the event.