Remaking History: Tracing Politics in Urban Space Lejla Odobašić Novo & Aleksandar Obradović International Burch University Sarajevo 2021 Authors: Lejla Odobašić Novo & Aleksandar Obradović Publishing: International Burch University Critcal Review: Nerma Prnjavorac Cridge & Vladimir Dulović Proofreading: Adrian Pecotić Project Logo Design: Mina Stanimirović Book Layout Mina Stanimirović & Lejla Odobašić Novo EBook (URL): http://remakinghistory.philopolitics.org/index.html Date and Place: February 2021, Sarajevo Copyrights: International Burch University & Philopolitics Reproduction of this publication for educational or other non-commercial purposes is authorized without permission from the copyright holder. Repro- duction for resale or other commercial purposes is prohibited without prior written permission of the copyright holder. Disclaimer: While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information contained in this publication, the publisher will not assume liability for writing and any use made of the proceedings, and the presentation of the participating organizations concerning the legal status of any country, territo- ry, or area, or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. CIP zapis je dostupan u elektronskom katalogu Nacionalne i univerzitetske biblioteke Bosne i Hercegovine pod brojem COBISS.BH-ID 42832902 ISBN 978-9958-834-67-7 TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE Critical Review by Nerma Prnjavorac Cridge... ..................1 Critical Review by Vladimir Dulović .................. .................7 INTRODUCTION...................................................... ...............10 METHODOLOGY and STUDY AREA.................. ...............16 BELGRADE................................................................ ..............22 SARAJEVO............................................................... ..............66 CONCLUSION........................................................... .............174 REFERENCES........................................................... .............179 Acknowledgments.................................................. .............184 Belgrade_Sarajevo PREFACE (Re)making History: Tracing politics in urban space 6 7 Belgrade_Sarajevo Critical Review Starting with their names, the differences seem apparent. The capital city of the former Yugoslavia, Belgrade’s name translates Nerma Prnjavorac Cridge, Architect/Professor (from Serbo-Croatian, the official language of Yugoslavia) to the Architectural Association, White City, whilst Sarajevo’s name comes from the Turkish word School of Architecture London for Palace. During its heyday, Sarajevo was a microcosm of Yu- goslavia, ethnically and culturally the most diverse of all former Yugoslav capital cities. The city reached international fame and Before you is a document about change. (Re)making History: peaked in prosperity and size during the Winter Olympics in 1984, Tracing Politics in Urban Space is an attempt to arrest moments when an extensive new part of the city and impressive sport of history - a process still very much in the making. Written by facilities and infrastructure were built. Famous for its tolerance two authors, Aleksandar Obradović and Lejla Odabašić Novo, and the many religious and ethnic communities living together, (Re)making History provides a concise analysis of the renaming Sarajevo was commonly referred to as the European Jerusalem. of streets in recent years in two former Yugoslav cities – Bel- This is the only city in Europe where we can find a Catholic Ca- (Re)making History: Tracing politics in urban space grade and Sarajevo. thedral, Serbian Orthodox Church, Jewish Synagogue and Mus- lim Mosque within 100 meters of each other. Testimony of this Due to their geographic proximity, shared history, and common is that Emerik Blum, the founder of one of the largest Yugoslav language, the two cities’ destinies are inextricably bound togeth- conglomerates Energoinvest, which was headquartered in Sara- er. As in the other former Yugoslav territories, recent changes jevo, was the initiator of Sarajevo’s candidature for the Olympics have sought to emphasize and deepen divisions. (Re)making and the city’s Mayor during this time. History shows us how these revisionist steps by subsequent governments aim to erase the communist past. Often, they end Within Socialist Yugoslavia, cultural and religious differences up creating absurd contradictions, eloquently described by Cro- were smoothed over through Tito’s politics of promoting Broth- atian journalist Boris Dežulović as ‘a suicide from behind’. Serbi- erhood and Unity and actively encouraging youth to travel an historian Dubravka Stojanović astutely interprets this as the across Yugoslavia and physically help build the country. In some closing in of paranoia and isolation; the exclusion of one’s self cities, this may have been a superficial covering, but the names from one’s own history and geography. (Re)making History sug- of Sarajevo’s streets from this period tell a story of a genuinely gests that our collective memory and knowledge is being erased multicultural and pluralist city with a mixed population and many and repressed, and as such needs to be re-read over and over intermarriages. again. One needs to understand this study based not only on its face value, but also as an outline of a complex body of knowl- In Yugoslavia, almost every town and city had its major street edge of what is absent. (Re)making History demonstrates what named after Tito, with Brotherhood and Unity and the Yugoslav disappears when tragic events, including war and even geno- National Army also very common street names. Even one whole cide, repeat in the same territory within a single generation. city, the capital of Montenegro, was named after Yugoslavia’s life-long president – Titograd. Many others added prefix Titov to 1 2 Belgrade_Sarajevo their names. As this study shows, during Tito’s Yugoslavia, many Muslim city – further, this has led to the rise of a ‘parallel’ city, streets in Belgrade and Sarajevo shared the same names, often first named Srpsko Sarajevo and now known as East Sarajevo. named after Yugoslav National Army, Communist War Heroes, and international statesmen, reflecting the unique political posi- During the siege, Trio redesigned many iconic images, such as tion of non-alignment. the Coca-Cola sign (one of the main sponsors of the Olympic Games) by playing on the name of Sarajevo in Cyrillic script. With the break-up of Yugoslavia, in most former Yugoslav cities, streets named after Tito were the first to be renamed. The cap- The first victim of the war on the Sarajevo’s street names were ital of Montenegro changed its name back to Podgorica in 1992. Cyrillic street signs, which were removed from all the buildings. There is no longer a Tito street in Belgrade, but as (Re)making This was accompanied by a change in the name of the official History tells us, despite everything that this city suffered, Saraje- Yugoslav language, Serbo-Croat, which quickly became ‘sepa- vo’s main street has resisted this change and is still called Marša- rate’ languages: Bosnian, Croatian, and Serbian (and later Mon- la Titova – Marshall Tito’s Street. During one of the many recent tenegrin). Narrow minded nationalist leaders sought to divide (Re)making History: Tracing politics in urban space attacks on this street’s name, the cult graphic design group Trio, and erase those who declared themselves as Yugoslav – even from Sarajevo, ran a poster campaign highlighting the absurdity though the people who use each ‘language’ can understand of the proposed change being presented as a priority in a city each other perfectly well. Sadly, street names in Sarajevo are with many more acute needs. only displayed in Latin script, and in East Sarajevo exclusively in Cyrillic script. Shortly after Bosnia and Herzegovina was officially recognized as an independent country on the 1st of March of 1992, its cap- It is perhaps unsurprising that many streets in Sarajevo revert- ital city Sarajevo entered four years of brutal siege. (Re)making ed to their old pre-communist names – many of Turkish origin. History traces the name changes which began during the siege, Even those with Bosniak names who fought on the side of Yugo- when Bosnian Serb paramilitaries seized the Yugoslav National slavs have been replaced, simply because anything Yugoslav is Army’s arms from the city and surrounded it. Sarajevo endured equated with being Serbian and therefore undesirable. the longest siege in modern European history, with the 1995 Day- ton agreement leading to a fragile peace. The siege destroyed Many of the street names seen as ‘pro-Serbian’ disappeared the diversity of the city’s people – with over half of the pre-war from Sarajevo, and ‘migrated’ to the new areas of East Saraje- population leaving the city, subsequently replaced by displaced vo. Significantly, there is no longer a Beogradska Street in Sa- persons from other parts of Bosnia and Herzegovina. rajevo, it was renamed after Emerik Blum. Progressive voices have called for the reinstatement of the name of Belgrade street Post-Dayton Bosnia is split across two entities – the Federation as they rightly suggest that Sarajevo shouldn’t follow others, and Republika Srpska. As the capital of the Federation of Bos- but instead show how, despite everything, the city can still rise niaks and Croats, Sarajevo has become a predominantly Bosnian above it all; not least because there remains a Sarajevska street