Pianist: The monument to Stefan Nemanja has a sword, so it calls for force

The work that Pianist Andrej Josifovski, on Sunday (April 27) rebuilt the monument to Stefan Nemanja on Sava square in Belgrade, it was removed after one day. Now only articles in the media and social networks testify that the Pianist, for the cross that Nemanja is holding, glued the horizontal slat with adhesive tape, and turned the sword into a cross.

Like the city services, the Ministry of Culture reacted with incredible speed - with a statement.

They assessed that it was a "scandalous incident" and that "the monument to the great prefect Stefan Nemanja was desecrated by an impermissible intervention", and finally appealed "to the competent institutions to take all necessary measures so that those responsible for this desecration are adequately sanctioned in accordance with the law".

They don't know what it is. ready made

The pianist, Andrej Josifovski, tells "Vreme" that he has no comment regarding the mentioned appeal of the Ministry of Culture.

"I didn't desecrate the monument, the adhesive tape I used to attach the slat to Nemanja's sword was easy to remove. The only thing I did was to achieve all this in front of their noses, in broad daylight and in front of security. It hurts them," says Pianista.

"Otherwise, the Ministry showed that it does not know what it is." ready made, what does it mean when you intervene on an already existing building", says Pianista for "Vreme".

He adds that he is "glad that they winked at us that they are alive and well, given that the Ministry is an institution that does nothing. And, therefore, given that everything is fine with them, I would ask them to finally reveal how much that monument cost. Because it is one of the secrets for which it is not clear why it is a secret."

Sword or cross?

Why did he turn the sword into a cross?

"It is a call to return to faith, but not in the sense of the Serbian Orthodox Church, but faith as the foundation of the state - holiness and spirituality. This monument, which they say is a symbol of Serbian identity, has a raised sword, so it calls for force."

Photo: Screenshot

Let us remind you that the author of the monument, the Russian sculptor Aleksandar Yulianovich Rukavishnjkov, predicted that Nemanja would hold a cross, but the local city authorities asked him to replace the cross with a sword. The president of the Committee for erecting the monument was Aleksandar Vučić, and the president of the jury that selected the works was Nikola Selaković, then the general secretary of the President of the Republic. As the author explained, they wanted to portray Nemanja "as a man who created Serbian spirituality. That is what is most important. In this particular case, the sword makes sense, it is more suitable because the silhouette of the monument ends with a blade."

Kosovo

In the statement of the Ministry of Culture regarding the work of Pianista, it is emphasized that "the destruction of the monument represents an attack on the foundations of our identity and reminds us that the erection of this monument bothered many, because it clearly confirmed the Serbian identity of our capital", as well as that "Serbian cultural monuments are threatened today even in the territory of Kosovo and Metohija".

"When they mention Kosovo, why don't they ask President Vučić how he comments on the news that the border between Kosovo and Albania will be opened on May 1, and how it came about?" says Pianista.

He points out that the announcement of the Ministry is proof that his work exists. First, it was removed after a few hours "so few people saw it since people are looking away from this monument" and second "because it confirmed that my work is not AI as first stated."

Namely, the colleagues from N1 who came to record the work of the Pianist, and could not because it had already been removed, were told by the security guards that there was no work at all, that it was all artificial intelligence.

"I guess they wanted to hide what happened despite their security, so they put everything on artificial intelligence. That's why I posted a video on Instagram that shows what really happened."

Previous monuments

The intervention on the monument to Stefan Nemanja is not Pianista's only work on monuments. This March, he made a replica of the "Winner" monument and brought it in front of the Technical Faculties as a sign of support for the students. The plinth read "Mom and the Winner is with us," and he was dressed in a yellow warden's vest, holding a sword in one hand like the original monument, while in the other was a red heart-shaped balloon.

Two years ago, on the monument to Vuk Karadžić, he wrote "Write as it is written, read as you speak", while on the monument in front of the House of National Assembly he wrote "Mom, how is it that horses rode people".

He says that the reality here is inexhaustible with topics for artists. "I don't have to do anything else, I just need to translate into works what they don't do, and they should," says Pianist Andrej Josifovski.