Apstrakcija i memorija: Predlozi za spomenike Olge Jevrić u 1950-im godinama

Abstract

Na prvoj samostalnoj izložbi Prostorne kompozicije, koja je 1957. godine održana u Galeriji ULUS u Beogradu, Olga Jevrić je predstavila Predloge za spomenike – grupu apstraktnih skulptura koje su nastale kao iskaz posredne kritike tada aktuelne jugoslovenske spomeničke produkcije. Intencija ove izložbe bila je, kako objašnjava umetnica, da se prikaže problemski otklon od ”konvencionalnih” i ”umetnički neubedljivih i naivnih rešenja” za javne spomenike koji ”u svojoj hladnoj i tipiziranoj produkciji” negiraju čoveka, njegovo stradanje i herojsku istoriju. Nudeći apstraktne predloge za spomenike lišene narativnosti Olga Jevrić je težište dešavanja sa monolitnog tela skulpture prenela u prostor kao događaj koji humani potencijal i komemorativnu funkciju ovog medija izvodi kroz angažovanje prema telesnom doživljaju posmatrača, umesto reprezentacije ljudskog tela u skulpturi, i time ponudila ne samo novu formu oživljavanja memorije kroz skulpturu, već i novu sintaksu jeziku skulpture u srpskoj i jugoslovenskoj umetnosti. Od 1951. godine Olga Jevrić redovno učestvuje na javnim konkursima za izvođenje skulptura posvećenih memorijalizaciji stradanja u Drugom svetskom ratu na kojima dobija nekoliko nagrada: Prvu uslovnu nagradu za spomenik palim borcima u Prokuplju 1951. godine, prvu otkupnu nagradu za spomenik NOB-u u Pljevljima 1955. godine, treću otkupnu nagradu na konkursu za spomen-park žrtvama fašističkog terora u Jajincima 1957. godine. Pored toga ona učestvuje i po pozivu na konkursima za: spomenik palim borcima u Čačku (1953), spomenik u Milanovcu (1953-54), spomenik žrtvama fašizma u Mathauzenu (1957), spomenik palim borcima u Nišu (1959) i spomenik otporu u Adi (1959). Međutim, njeni predlozi za spomenike, uprkos priznanjima koje su dobili, nisu nikada izvedeni u javnom prostoru. Rad zato ima za cilj da ispita kulturnu klimu, društvene okolnosti i kontekst produkcije spomeničke skulpture 1950-ih godina koji su uticali na to da spomenička plastika Olge Jevrić ostane neizvedena.

Abstract: At her +rst solo exhibition, titled Prostorne kompozicije (‘Spatial Compositions’) and mounted in 1957 at the Gallery of the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia in Belgrade (Galerija ULUS-a), Olga Jevrić presented her ‘Proposals for Monuments’ (Predlozi za spomenike) – a group of abstract sculptures conceived as an indirect critique of Yugoslavia’s memorial sculptural production at the time. As the artist explained, the exhibition was intended to present in a problematising way a turn from ‘conventional’ and ‘artistically unconvincing and naïve designs’ for public monuments that, ‘in their cold and typi+ed production’ negate the human, along with its su0ering and heroic history. Advancing her abstract proposals for monuments devoid of narrativity, Jevrić moved the focus of action away from the monolithic element of sculpture into space as an event that derives the human potential and commemorative function of this medium by engaging the viewer’s bodily perception, instead of representing the human body in sculpture, and thereby o0ered not only a new form of reanimating memory through sculpture, but also a new syntax to the language of sculpture in Serbian and Yugoslav art. Starting in 1951, Jevrić was a regular contestant at public competitions for sculptural monuments dedicated to the su0ering of World War II, winning several awards: a Conditional First Prize for her design for a monument to fallen +ghters in Prokuplje in 1951; a +rst acquisition prize for her proposal for a memorial to the National Liberation Struggle in Pljevlja in 1955; third acquisition prize at the competition for a memorial park to the victims of fascist terror in Jajinci in 1957. In addition, she also participated in competitions by invitation, including the following: the competition for proposals for a monument to fallen +ghters in Čačak (1953), a monument in Milanovac (1953–1954), a monument to the victims of fascism in Mauthausen (1957), a monument to fallen +ghters in Niš (1959), and a monument to resistance in Ada (1959). However, her proposals for monuments, despite her awards, failed to materialise in public space. )e purpose of this paper is therefore to investigate the cultural climate, societal conditions, and context of memorial sculptural production in the 1950s that precluded the memorial plastic art of Olga Jevrić from acquiring a public presence.