About the Book:
Culture and the Art of Resistance has been published in the edition Culture-Art-Media by the Faculty of Drama Arts, in cooperation with Clio Publishing Company. The book represents an organic continuation of research Milena Dragićević Šešić has been doing for years, which was presented in one of her earlier studies Art and Alternative (1992/2012). The book contains six chapters: Cultural Politics in Times of Social Anomy; The Culture of Disagreement: the Right to Different Memory; the Art of Contestation - the Art of Action; the Art of Protest in Public Space; the Art of Inner Exile; Performances of Disagreement, from the Culture of Resistance to the Catharsis and Reconciliation. Methodologically complex and diverse, this book has been skilfully shaped, through an interdisciplinary approach, into a dynamic structure, with many references from the domain of performative interdisciplinary practices.
According to Branimir Stojković, the author “manages to approach the subject of study from many perspectives, drawing attention to the achievements and significance of art practices. She demonstrates the fact that art can precede social rebellion, using artistic means to articulate the essence of the problem; that artistic practice can be a paradigm of social process thus aesthetically legitimizing it; to get inspired by rebellion and keep its spirit alive, and to remain in the possession of the doers even after the rebellion has become a historical fact, regardless of whether it is a victory or a defeat”. According to Aleksandra Jovićević, the book “superiorly breaks down all the taboos that dominate contemporary discourse (…) It is of enormous value since it outgrows its historical frame, analysing what could be defined as counter-publicity or counter-culture created out of anti-war movements”.
Studying specific forms of the culture of memory, the author has shed some light on and thoroughly interpreted cultural phenomena, persons and art practices of the resistance which were active during the nineties in Serbia, created in civic society, especially the ones related to performance in public spaces: projects by Ivana Vujić, Dah Theatre, activism by Zorica Jevremević, Borka Pavićević, Ana Miljanić, Nela Antonović, and many others. It is a document of inestimable value because it offers a wealthy original data on most relevant alternative art organisations and events, which are hereby protected from transience and oblivion, thus becoming a unique methodical and cultural contribution.
Author:
Dr Milena Dragićević Šešić, former President of University of Arts, Belgrade, now Head of UNESCO Chair in Cultural Policy and Management. Director of the Research Institute of the Faculty of Dramatic Arts. Board member of the European Diploma in Cultural Project Management (Brussels). Guest Lecturer at numerous world universities. Published 20 books and more than 150 essays, translated into 17 languages. Expert of UNESCO, European Cultural Foundation, Council of Europe, etc. Commandeur dans l`Ordre des Palmes Academiques 2002.
BOOK COVER: photography: Mrdjan Bajić: Yugomuzej: *032: Fire; 2001