Refreshing Memories: Croatian Exhibition Recalls Lost Anti-Fascist Heritage

The exhibition entitled 'Refreshing Memory/When Monuments Come to Life', which features artworks that examine Croatia's anti-fascist heritage at a point when historical revision is on the rise in the country, is on show until the end of October in Zagreb.

The exhibition contains photographs of neglected anti-fascist monuments and industrial complexes from the Yugoslav era, videos of artistic performances, as well as installations and examples of monuments revived by artists from the region to preserve the memory of the anti-fascist struggle.

The first part of the exhibition, curated by Davorka Peric and organised by the country's Serbian National Council, opened on September 16 and the second part opened on Monday at the Prosvjeta Serbian Cultural Society.

Under racial laws passed by Croatia's World War II fascist Ustasa regime, the Prosvjeta space was confiscated from its owners and only recently returned to them.

As Croatia has shifted politically to the right, many monuments built in the Communist era to commemorate victims of the Ustasa regime or the Yugoslav Partisans' victory over Fascism during World War II - known as the People's Liberation War during the Communist period - are being left to decay or become prey to vandals.

Half of the anti-fascist monuments in Croatia - about 3,000 of them - were damaged or destroyed during the independence war of the 1990s, removed by the new authorities, or have been damaged by vandals.

Images in the exhibition 'Refreshing Memory/When Monuments Come to Life'. Photo: BIRN.

Photo: BIRN.

Photo: BIRN.

Photo: BIRN.

Photo: BIRN.

Photo: BIRN.