The “Third Way” of Yugoslavia in Striving to Modernity on the Example of Spomenik in Podgarić

Abstract

The main purpose of this article was to present the process of Yugoslavia’s striving for modernity after World War II. The presentation of the broader cultural context and situation in the country made it possible to look at various ways of modernizing a country composed of many nationalities and cultural identities. One of them was creating war memorials of unusual forms and artistic expression. In the article the author try to answer the questions in which direction Yugoslavia was heading in order to become modern and manifest its identity and sovereignty? What was the aesthetics after World War II in the Balkans? What is the meaning of spomeniks? What does the Monument to the Revolution of the People of Moslavina represent and symbolize? Were the abstract form, appearance and used materials unique at the time? What influence did artists have on modernizing the country? The author focused her attention on one of the most representative examples of Yugoslav monuments – Monument to the Revolution of the People of Moslavina in Podgarić in Croatia. The author presented the history of its creation, described the form, materials and technique used, referred to the designer Dušan Džamonja, presenting the artist’s profile and characterizing his work. The monumental Yugoslav monument, or spomenik, is a subject worth of interest to a wider audience, not only for the Balkan citizens. Spomeniks are a kind of phenomenon, signum temporis of Yugoslavia. Only there, on such a scale and with great creative freedom, such monuments were designed.