The city of Novi Sad has announced a competition for the design of the conceptual solution of the monument to those who died in the fall railway station canopies. The public believes that this decision is inappropriate.
As written in the competition documentation, the monument should be located on the plateau between the railway and bus stations. The goal is for the sculptural-architectural solution, as an authentic work of art in a realistically defined space, to adequately preserve the memory of the tragically lost fellow citizens. This whole job will cost Novi Sad about 3,9 million dinars.
Let us remind you that during the six-month commemoration on May 1st, students in the blockade of Novi Sad faculties placed a memorial plaque to those who died. On it is written the date of the tragedy, the time when the canopy fell, as well as the phrase "Novi Sad remembers". They did this as part of a protest organized six months after the fall of the canopy.
What does Micin say?
The mayor of Novi Sad, Žarko Mićin, then assessed that the manner in which the plaque was placed was an abuse of the accident, and then announced that, in agreement with President Aleksandar Vučić, he would launch "an official initiative to mark the suffering at the railway station with dignity with a memorial erected in accordance with the law and all regulations".
The public reacted to the news about the announcement of the competition.
Contrary to memorial practice
The Independent Cultural Scene of Serbia (NKSS) believes that the competition was announced at a time that "contradicts the basic principles of responsible memorial practice and public interest."
The NKSS reminds that the court proceedings on the circumstances and responsibility for the tragedy are still ongoing, and that, according to international standards, the construction of the memorial must not begin until the facts are fully established and the public is reliably informed about the causes of the suffering.
"Otherwise, there is a risk that the process itself, including the artistic process, will be instrumentalized as a symbolic substitute for the absence of legal clarification," the statement said.
According to them, ignoring these principles is a "deviation from the minimum standards of democratic decision-making and obligations from the international guidelines of UNESCO and ICOMOS".
"This kind of project cannot be initiated in the social circumstances in which Serbia finds itself today, nor by the current representatives of the Government who bear the greatest responsibility for the situation in the country," states the NKSS.
