Remembering Yugoslavia

Do you remember that time in the early days and weeks of the pandemic when you picked up a new hobby? You baked bread. You gardened. You crocheted. You refurbished furniture. You wrote a novel. You created a podcast... Vlado Vince built a Yugoslav computer.  The little Galaksija, an 8-bit computer created by Voja Antonić that enthusiasts built themselves using instructions published in 1983 in Yug...

The Monument to the Uprising of the People of Kordun and Banija at Petrova Gora, or Peter’s Mountain, in central Croatia, belongs to the most notorious derelict Yugoslav-era monuments. In addition to a range of emotions, the Petrova Gora monument generates more questions than answers. What happened in the surrounding woods? Why build this sculpturally and architecturally exceptional behemoth on th...

Diaspora Voices is an occasional series of conversations with ex-Yugoslavs living abroad. In this, the third installment, two millennials from Croatia living and pursuing their PhD in the UK share their stories, poems, and scholarly findings of emigration.  Featuring the song "Uvelo misto" by Bobo & Saša Antić. The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast explores the memory of a country that...

Art, bravery, and community in the lesser known corner of the former country. Or how one Macedonian artist carries her father's legacy and brings a town together at a Yugoslav-era monument.  With Elena Chemerska, Vladimir Martinovski, Martin Milev, and Natalija Teodosijeva. Featuring songs by Bernays Propaganda, Martix, and The John & Space Rebel Gang. The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast e...

On February 19th, 2015, Clemente Padín, the elder statesman of Uruguayan art, replied to an email from his compatriot and young artist Francisco Tomsich with a fateful attachment: a list of email and postal addresses of six Yugoslav mail artists. These were some of the people with whom Padín had corresponded in the 1970s and 80s and 90s as part of a mail art network. Padín’s list launched Tomsich...

The top scholar of Yugonostalgia, professor of Cultural Studies at the University of Ljubljana, and ex-Yugoslav National Army cook, Mitja Velikonja, discusses his military service, the good and the bad of Yugoslavia and Slovenia, the evolution of Titostalgia, political graffiti in Central/Eastern Europe...and a lot more. Featuring the songs "Vjeran pas" by Slobodná Európa "Lugje od...

Graffiti dating back to the 1940s survive on walls of towns and villages from Ljubljana to the Istrian peninsula. Who wrote them and why? How did they make it this long? Helena Konda and Eric Ušić, who research these slogans, discuss the creation, meaning, and persistence of the 1940s graffiti. With Helena Konda and Eric Ušić. Featuring songs by Dem Crew, Soundcheck Regaz, and Eric Ušić. The Remem...

Across former Yugoslavia and beyond, songs of the Partisan struggle, resistance, and revolution reverberate anew in the public square. Why is that? And who’s that singing over there? Four activist choirs tell their origin stories, explain how they re-purpose the legacy of past antifascist struggles, and, yes, sing. Featuring (excerpts of) the songs "Pesem upora," "El Pueblo Unido,&q...

Artists have used Yugoslav World War II monuments as elements in their works to criticize official policies or inaction. In the process of performing such artistic interventions, these artists have created contemporary monuments. Three such artists, Siniša Labrović (Croatia), Elena Čemerska (North Macedonia), and D.A. Calf (Australia) discuss their interventions. Featuring the songs "Termopil...

In this installment of Diaspora Voices, an occasional series of conversations with ex-Yugoslavs living abroad, three people on three different continents—Australia (Parramatta, NSW), North America (Vancouver, BC), and Europe (Amsterdam, the Netherlands)—share stories of their journeys to and through life in diaspora. Home, identity, nationalism, family, love...and that disappeared country that con...

How and when did the world's fascination with Yugoslav socialist monuments begin? Who started the fire and who is stoking it? Photographers Jan Kempenaers (Belgium) and Jonk (France) share their work on spomenici , sources of their inspiration, and views on the monuments' social media notoriety. Featuring the song "Spomenik" by Lepša Brena (Serbia). Graffiti, abandoned places,...

More than a generation after Tito’s death, biographies of the Yugoslav statesman keep appearing apace. Why is that? What else is there to say about Tito, his life, and his legacy? And how do all these books on the same subject of historical record differ? Three authors of biographies of Josip Broz Tito published since 2000—Ivo Goldstein, Jože Pirjevec, and Geoffrey Swain—discuss their motivations...

Historian Jelena Djureinović parses the trajectory and the many facets of historical revisionism in Serbia.  Assorted presidents, collaborators, and royals also make an appearance. The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast explores the memory of a country that no longer exists. Created and hosted by Peter Korchnak. New episodes two to four times per month. Detailed show notes: RememberingYugoslavia.com/P...

Travel writing about former Yugoslavia exploded in the 1990s as the country disintegrated in violence. The lessons the author of the first such account, Brian Hall, learned when he traveled through then-Yugoslavia in 1991 resonate today more than ever. Marija Krivokapić from the University of Montenegro helps place Brian’s book and those about Montenegro in the context of travel writing as a genre...

Two photographers born in former Yugoslavia and living abroad, Olja Triaška Stefanović (Novi Sad, Serbia / Bratislava, Slovakia) and Dragana Jurišić (Slavonski Brod, Croatia / Dublin, Ireland) have (re)claimed the memory of their disappeared homeland through their art. Their photographs speak of searching, deep loss, fragmentary memory, and, in a way, closure.  Bogdan Bogdanović, Rebecca West, and...

...or New Yugoslavism in Contemporary Popular Music in Former Yugoslavia Parallel to Yugonostalgic enjoyment of Yugoslav-era music across the region, another related musical phenomenon emerged in the 1990s: original music glorifying Yugoslavia. In this episode of Remembering Yugoslavia: the music of New Yugoslavism. Thanks to the generosity of their creators, performers, and record labels, the epi...

... or A Field Report from the Days of AVNOJ Every last Saturday in November, several thousand people from all across former Yugoslavia gather in Jajce for Days of AVNOJ, an official celebration of Yugoslavia's founding at the Second Session of the Antifašističko vijeće narodnog oslobođenja Jugoslavije (Anti-Fascist Council for the National Liberation of Yugoslavia) which took place there on...

...or 25 Years of the Dayton Peace Accords What has Dayton wrought and where do we go from here? Bosnian policy analysts and activists Gorana Mlinarević and Nela Porobić Isaković bring a feminist perspective to discuss the reality and legacy of the Dayton Peace Accords after a quarter century of implementation. Milan Lajčák, Miss Bosnia, and JFK also make an appearance. The Remembering Yugoslavia...

A Serbian and a North Macedonian graphic designer discuss Yugoslavian design as an inspiration for their work. A legendary Yugoslav designer, Donald Niebyl, and Alexander the Great also make an appearance. The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast explores the memory of a country that no longer exists. Created and hosted by Peter Korchnak. New episodes two to four times per month. Detailed show notes: Re...

Two members of the Serbian diaspora share their experiences leaving former Yugoslavia, making a new life in South Africa and the United Kingdom, and staying connected with their disappeared homeland. Plus a listener's letter from Australia. Nelson Mandela, Patreon members, and assorted Yugoslav sports stars also make an appearance. The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast explores the memory of a c...

Donald Niebyl discusses the origin story and notoriety of his creation, Spomenik Database, and the fetishization of Yugoslav-era World War II monuments. Jan Kempenaers, Balkan bureaucrats, and warm and fuzzy feelings also make an appearance. The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast explores the memory of a country that no longer exists. Created and hosted by Peter Korchnak. New episodes two to four time...

Foreign-born, Belgrade-based tour operators, Ralph van der Zijden, from the Netherlands (iBike Belgrade & Yugotour), and Tiago Carruco, from Portugal (Into the Balkans), share their passion for the place, how they started their businesses, thoughts on Yugoslavia, and how the covid pandemic has affected their operations. The Mayor of the Hague, a Belgrade taxi driver, and a giraffe also make an...

Historian Ivo Goldstein identifies the roots and actors of historical revisionism in Croatia. Croatian exiles, a Serbian war criminal, and Lauryn Hill also make an appearance. The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast explores the memory of a country that no longer exists. Created and hosted by Peter Korchnak. New episodes two to four times per month. Detailed shownotes: RememberingYugoslavia.com/Podcast...

Director of Ljubljana-based Institute of Culture and Memory Studies, Tanja Petrović, discusses the new lives of Yugoslav objects, Yugonostalgia, and the political potential of socialist Yugoslavia today. American bombs, Yugoslav products, and Slovene Yugonostalgics also make an appearance. The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast explores the memory of a country that no longer exists. Created and hosted...

President Goran Gabrić takes me on a walking tour of Mini Yugoslavia. The Remembering Yugoslavia podcast explores the memory of a country that no longer exists. Created and hosted by Peter Korchnak. New episodes two to four times per month. Detailed shownotes: RememberingYugoslavia.com/Podcast-Mini-Yugoslavia Instagram: Instagram.com/RememberingYugoslavia Become a patron: Patreon.com/RememberingYu...