Lecture and Discussion

Who does Yugoslavian Modernism Belong to?

The Bogdan Bogdanović Example

Wed 19.02.2020, 19:00-21:30
black white photo with 3 women in a library

The team around Jelica Jovanović making an inventory of Bogdan Bogdanović's private library
© Photograph: Wolfgang Thaler

Yugoslavian Modernism has received increasing international attention in recent years. This includes the special work of the architect, writer and former-mayor of Belgrade Bogdan Bogdanović, who realised over 20 memorials to the victims of Fascism and people active in the antifascist resistance in former-Yugoslavia between 1951 and 1981.

Following the acquisition of his estate by the Az W, an exhibition of his archaic and poetic work was presented for the first time in 2009. In the meantime, his oeuvre has received worldwide appreciation. The new book by Wolfgang Thaler Bogdan Bogdanovic’ Biblioteka Beograd. An Architect’s Library (FOTOHOF edition, 2019) provides an opportunity to engage with the special position of Yugoslavian Modernism during the Cold War and its current reception.

Guests:
Jelica Jovanović, architect and PhD student at Vienna University of Technology; Ivan Ristić, curator, Leopold Museum; Wolfgang Thaler, photographer; Michael Zinganel, cultural historian, curator, artist, frequent visitor to former-Yugoslavia

Moderated by:
Monika Platzer, Head of the Collection, Az W