{"id":224199,"date":"2019-03-28T12:10:54","date_gmt":"2019-03-28T11:10:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/2019\/biber-and-war-of-memories-in-podgorica-inhumanity-as-the-common-enemy\/"},"modified":"2021-02-16T17:28:39","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T16:28:39","slug":"biber-and-war-of-memories-in-podgorica-inhumanity-as-the-common-enemy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/biber-and-war-of-memories-in-podgorica-inhumanity-as-the-common-enemy\/","title":{"rendered":"Biber and War of Memories in Podgorica: Inhumanity as the Common Enemy"},"content":{"rendered":"

On 13 March, the Centre for Nonviolent Action and the Biber<\/em> team organised the promotion of the third Biber<\/em> Short Story Contest in Podgorica. The promotion was held at the Budo Tomovi\u0107 Culture and Information Centre in Podgorica, which was the co-organiser and provided support to the programme.<\/p>\n

The following people spoke at the promotion: Lejla Kalamuji\u0107, writer from Sarajevo and member of the jury; Nora Verde (Antonela Maru\u0161i\u0107), writer from Zagreb; Sla\u0111ana Ljubi\u010di\u0107, activist and writer from Novi Sad; and Katarina Mili\u0107evi\u0107, member of CNA and the Biber<\/em> team.<\/p>\n

Apart from promoting the Biber<\/em> Contest and the previously published collections, the promotion also discussed personal and collective notions of reconciliation, the speakers talked about the need for such processes in their own communities and the obstacles and barriers that stand in its way.<\/p>\n

The combination of activism and literature that has resulted in Biber<\/em> now seems if not inseparable and necessary, then very efficient and effective in working towards the common aim of peacebuilding and a better and freer society for us all.<\/p>\n

Speaking about her inspiration for the short story \u201cLimbo in the Summer\u201d, published in the first collection, about her personal need to write it and publish it, Sla\u0111ana Ljubi\u010di\u0107 said that Biber<\/em> is \u201ca great opportunity to combine literature and activism,\u201d as well as providing support and a boost to all those who are thinking about writing stories about peace and reconciliation.<\/p>\n

Lejla Kalamuji\u0107 discussed dealing with the past as an important step towards peacebuilding, adding that for her, dealing with the past meant dealing with herself, her own memories and traumatic experiences. Pointing out that topics of war and reconciliation are quite well represented in the literary production of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the work of relevant literary authors, Kalamuji\u0107 added that \u201cBiber<\/em> has become important not just in terms of activism for peace and trust building, but also as a regional point of reference for literature.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a society where dealing with the past helps deconstruct established representations of the enemy, where reconciliation is readily discussed and where people take responsibility for their actions, it is easy to see that it is only inhumanity that is our common enemy and that we must fight it constantly and openly. As Katarina Mili\u0107evi\u0107 said at the promotion, \u201cVarious other cries and messages are often heard. They are very loud. Reconciliation is not discussed openly, except when it is being misused for political gain. When it comes to us who are supposed to live and breathe reconciliation, our voices are very soft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Antonela Maru\u0161i\u0107 insisted that stories from Biber<\/em> should be told and heard more often in our societies and that we should be \u201cimplacable in our demands for reconciliation\u201d. The reading of her story \u201cCipal\u201d from the first Biber Collection left a powerful impression on the audience. The audience was visibly touched and had received plenty of food for thought. At the end, empowered and inspired, they took part in a lively discussion.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I have done that \u2014 says my memory<\/p>\n

I cannot have done that \u2014 says my pride and remains inexorable<\/p>\n

Eventually \u2014 memory yields<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 <\/p>\n

Already the next day, 14 March, at the same venue, the Budo Tomovi\u0107 Culture and Information Centre in Podgorica, it was this epigram by Nietzsche that opened the War of Memories<\/em> exhibition and best sums up the current state of Montenegrin society when it comes to dealing with the past. Our memory tells us that we took part in the war, but our lofty and forgetful pride tells us that we couldn\u2019t have possibly done so, and finally that others must have done it! This is the most common answer you are likely to receive in Montenegro today, at least officially, when you ask about the past war. That is why the War of Memories<\/em> exhibition, arriving to Podgorica three years after it was first shown in Vienna, is anything but late, anything but obsolete, in fact, in Montenegro it is sorely needed, and, therefore, always welcome.<\/p>\n

The War of Memories<\/em> exhibition of photographs by Nenad Vukosavljevi\u0107 and Ned\u017ead Horozovi\u0107, which came out of the project on War Monuments in Bosnia and Herzegovina (from 1991)<\/em> was opened by Davorka Turk, member of the CNA team, who presented the background of the research conducted as part of the project; Tamara Zrnovi\u0107, member of the CNA team, who introduced the audience to the work and activities of the Centre for Nonviolent Action; and Ned\u017ead Horozovi\u0107, one of the photographers and member of the CNA team, who spoke about his own experiences while visiting sites of atrocities and monuments. The exhibition was on display at the Budo Tomovi\u0107 Centre until 29 March.<\/p>\n

Erasing memories, suppressing them into oblivion or rejecting responsibility for what happened and passing it onto someone else cannot form the basis for coexistence or for building a lasting peace. The War of Memories<\/em> exhibition addresses these very problems, but not by providing ready solutions. Instead, it opens a window for those who wish to see and create space themselves for acting differently, constructively, with compassion and responsibility.<\/p>\n

Extensive media coverage of both events and, interestingly for Montenegrin society, by both position and opposition media, the so-called pro-Serbian and the so-called pro-Montenegrin media outlets, indicates that the need for reconciliation has been universally recognised. All of them, irrespective of their different national prefixes and positions within society that are usually defining, at least for those few days, at least in those few articles and reports, they all became pro-reconciliation.<\/p>\n

In fact, the media campaign extended beyond the promotion and opening of the exhibition, with the daily DAN<\/em> and the Vijesti television station subsequently publishing interviews with authors from the region who participated in the Biber<\/em> promotion. This is good news in terms of how our activities can take on a life of their own and how their effects can hopefully be spread, and it leaves us with a feeling of content and satisfaction with what we have presented and achieved.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Photo gallery from the Biber promotion<\/a><\/p>\n

Photo gallery from the opening of the War of Memories exhibition<\/a><\/p>\n

Some media reports:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Interview with Nenad Vukosavljevi\u0107, published in the Vijesti daily<\/a><\/p>\n

Morning show on TV Vijesti\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

Sla\u0111ana Ljubi\u010di\u0107<\/a><\/p>\n

Nora Verde (Antonela Maru\u0161i\u0107)<\/a><\/p>\n

Lejla Kalamuji\u0107<\/a><\/p>\n

Announcements for Biber:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dan daily<\/a><\/p>\n

Pobjeda daily<\/a><\/p>\n

Montenegro Radio Television<\/a><\/p>\n

Articles about the Biber promotion:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dan daily<\/p>\n

Mladiinfo<\/a><\/p>\n

Pobjeda daily<\/a><\/p>\n

Vijesti daily<\/a><\/p>\n

Announcements for War of Memories:<\/strong><\/p>\n

Dan daily<\/a><\/p>\n

Montenegro Radio Television<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On 13 March, the Centre for Nonviolent Action and the Biber team organised the promotion of the third Biber Short Story Contest in Podgorica. Already the next day, 14 March, we opened the War of Memories exhibition<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":240,"featured_media":223690,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,73],"tags":[1707,1844,1757,2123,146,1907],"class_list":["post-224199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-activities","category-promo","tag-biber-en","tag-biber-contest","tag-literary-contest","tag-photo-exhibition","tag-reconciliation","tag-war-of-memories"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/240"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=224199"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":230261,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/224199\/revisions\/230261"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/223690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=224199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=224199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nenasilje.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=224199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}