Alternative culture center “Hero Maričić” is a collective near Kraljevo. Founded on the idea of antifascism, a nonformal collective gathers diverse people as it also hosts unplugged concerts, cooking of benefit dinners for different causes (survivors of floods…), supports local young artists from local high schools providing a gallery space, hosts different lectures, photography workshops, and it is also a place of distribution of clothing for Roma population, but also a space for friendships, chatting, and a stop of many travelers.
Through the support from our program, Special Focus, they staged an interesting and necessary intervention: painting of mural dedicated to the victims regarding 80 years since mass shooting of more than 2500 women from Kraljevo during the Second World War by Wehrmacht.
We spoke with Bojana Minović, an activist and initiator of the action about senselessness of violence, importance of remembrance of interrupted lives and nurturing the spirit of antifascism.
1. “Hero Maričić“ is a strange relation of activism, locality, temporality and spatiality. It seems that you spent significant time reflecting on how to occupy new spaces and how it relates to antifascism. A house where you reside has its own story. How do you see all of this intersected in your work and your successes?
House with a yard is our base, literary. It is a place for encounters and action, a place of escape, consolation and reflection, practical as well as metaphysical, depending on the needs and desire. We are aware of the importance of space and infrastructure for everything we do because we would not be able to receive our guests, to host dogs in care, to prepare food for friends, visitors and us. Given that we suffer from poverty induced by energy sector, like a majority of Serbia, during winters we barely heat the place and we have to close down to only one room out of six. However, we always look forward to spring and summer when we open the doors of our house widely with a view of green garden and apples, flowers, and green bush. Especially, in May and June, the bush of hydrangea blushes next to the steps of the main entrance, and roses bloom with joy and pride with all of us enjoying the space for (ir)regular activities and enjoyment. It is truly a space of freedom and safety, and we try really hard to make it open and alive with all the uniqueness of the house and yard in a neighborhood where investors are building tall new buildings like shadowy phantasms od dark capitalism and profits. And yet, pure yard resists with geese, owls, birds and flowers…Collectives cannot work without minimal space and people see in our example what alternative communities can do. Of course, one can do things differently. In a city, in a village, or in wilderness, it is possible to create spaces that share privileges, resource, solidarity and efficiency. Somebody always pulls more than others, sometimes we have different visions, but all in all, we do truly enjoy the principles of unconventional co-creation of life.
2. What does it mean for all of you to commence such actions in an environment in which not only antifascism is being erased but where victims are relativized and equalized to other unrelated events.
This is exactly the reason why we came up with the idea to place the mural at such a visible site, to leave a mark on the most painful and tragic collective memory of this city. We also wanted to accentuate how important and great, but also alive is the never-ending struggle against fascism.
3. Murals are becoming a new battlefield, and the right-wingers are winning the game, it seems. However, there are other stories that nurture the spirit of antifascism. How did you decide to on this initiative? What made you do it?
The fact that we bear witness to the historical revisionism, erasure of past and also laughter to heroic actions of partisan’s movement has inspired to push back though our sort of guerrilla actions. We resist in all fronts, mostly online, but we also prefer the street. This is how we got the idea to mark parts of the city with murals dedicated to antifascist women who were the victims of the Nazi terror in 1941. We figured that murals have a certain way of communicating with the audience who does not have to be politically well articulated, and also because it makes the environment prettier. So, instead of putting war criminals on wall, that sadly are already on walls of Kraljevo, with the help of our artists we have imprinted the faces of women who have sacrificed their freedom for all of us.
4. What conclusions and lesion did you draw from this experience? Could you please share with use some anecdotes?
We enjoyed it immensely, especially during the process of painting the wall because we hang out, carried brushes and colors, did wall finishing but also cooked for our friends-painters and everybody who took part in it, as moral and inspirational support. Our main base was a nearby mechanic’s store where we got our water, electricity but where we also got coffee from the owners in a friendly atmosphere as well as support for the mural. And so, this mural is an act of all of us who have taken part in the process in various ways.
Interview by Đurđa Trajković
