Transforming the Adriatic Coast during and after the Yugoslav Period: Artistic and Architectural Reflections

• In Event: Rethinking Yugoslav Art III: Charting Emancipatory Spaces: Insights on Art from Yugoslav Socialism and Post-Socialism II

Abstract

During its modernist period, the Adriatic coast of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia underwent a massive transformation. The rise of (mass) tourism exerted a particular impact, which still marks the region. It is less known that the country established its most essential defense lines in this area during the same period. Thus, the unproductive time of vacations and rest and relaxation meets the strategic military planning. Considering the two concepts side by side in their spatial and temporal structures, a particular paradox emerges, which today's transformations appear to reverse. While the former military areas are freely accessible, the tourism infrastructure is falling prey to the idea of exclusivity for their guests. The sharing of the infrastructure with the local population seems to vanish. The idea that these areas could be put to a different use is struggling to take hold. I will discuss these implications by utilizing my artistic-academic research and including the current artistic and architectural practices engaged in Yugoslav heritage on the Adriatic and its transformation (Ana Dana Beroš, Lana Stojićević, Sandro Ðukić, Motel Trogir, Melik Ohanian, Dan Oki, among others). What utopian, collective ideas moved the Yugoslav society? How has this perspective changed, and how do current developments on the Adriatic Coast lead to new/old forms of inequality and consumerist elitism?

Author

• Anamarija Batista, Mozarteum (Austria)