Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Tito. e. Ikone
Tito. Che. Icons
I posle Tita Tito! i njegov lik i djelo ostaju jednako vani i nakon tog traginog dana,
a njegova slika je ostala na istom mestu na kome se nalazila od 1945.5 Jo dosta vremena
nakon toga. Tito - harizmatina ikona u decenijama koje slijede bie predmet rasprava, koju
e mnogi nastojati da ospore i negiraju. U kontekstu prostora koji se danas naziva region
odnosno bivih jugoslovenskih republika, ovaj diskurs je jo uvijek aktuelan ne samo sa
stanovita istorijskih i kulturolokih razmatranja ve i sa stanovita oiglednog neuspjeha
politika koje su oznaile kao negativno i sruile drutveni sistem kojeg Maral personifikuje.
e Gevara argentinski marksistiki revolucionar, po obrazovanju ljekar, Kastrov najblii
saradnik, a potom voa gerilske vojske, diplomata i vojni analitiar bio je takoe harizmatini,
kontroverzni lider. Nakon smrti postao je legendarna politika figura (njegovo ime je esto
poistovjeivano sa pobunom, revolucijom i socijalizmom) mada se mnogi sjeaju njegove
okrutnosti (u vrijeme dok je bio na elu zatvora La Cabaa Fortress) kada je nareivao egzekucije bez suenja na Kubi. Uprkos njegovoj esto osporavanoj politikoj ulozi u kubanskoj
revoluciji ostao je globalna inspiracija popularne kulture i postao dominantna ikona brojnih
ljeviarskih pokreta, ak je imenovan jednim od 200 najuticajnijih ljudi XX vijeka. uveni potret koji je nainio Alberto Korda 1960. godine jedna je od najreprodukovanijih i najpoznatija
fotografija koju je Maryland Institutie College of Art proglasio simbolom XX vijeka, a ije
verzije su slikane, tampane, vezene, tetovirane ... a on i nakon toliko godina ostaje nacionalni
simbol Kube, ali istovremeno najbolje prodavan brend i ujedno dio masovnog potroakog
drutva, iako je bio jedan od onih koji je prezirao kulturu konzumerizma. Mit o e Gevari
daleko prevazilazi romatinu predstavu i istinu o njegovom ivotu i ponaanju. Snimci pustih
ulica i trgova sa eovim likom koji bdi nad njima potenciraju osjeanje prisustva i naglaavaju vezu izmeu konteksta mjesta i vremena u kojem su nastali. Serija svjedoi o jednom
takoe znaajnom istorijskom fenomenu fascinacije likom i djelom uvenog kubanskog
gerilca. Kao i kod Titovih portreta ono to dominira na ovim predstavama usamljenih prostora
koji djeluju naputeno ak i kada u njima ima ljudi je njegov pogled koji generie snagu i
odlunost i sublimira sve ono po emu e ostati zapamen.
Postavljene u kontekst iste izlobe ove dvije harizmatine linosti - osobevrstog, stoikog
karaktera6 koje su se borile pod istim ideolokim simbolom crvenom zvjezdom i postale
zatitni znak jednog vremena i posebnog itanja odreenih istorijskih identiteta drutva
nominalne jednakosti (Fea Vuki, Hibridni identiteti) danas u vrijeme hibridne kulture i
hibridnih identiteta suprotstavljanja u realnom vremenu (F.V.) upuuju na drugaije itanje
onoga to je tada bilo zasnovano na ideji o (naelnoj) ravnopravnosti i blagostanju za sve.
Ogroman viak znaenja koji se generisao oko ove dvije linosti - prvo kroz njihovo
revolucionarno-politiko djelovanje, zatim kroz (slubenu) izgradnju kulta linosti, a onda kroz
posthladnoratovske i postmodernistike interpretacije, popularnu kulturu i komercijalizaciju
toliko je veliki da nekako nestaje iz vidokruga ostavljajui mogunost samo izolovanog (a za
mnoge od nas i linog) tumaenja.
Mogunost da se posjetilac izlobe susretne sa ovom dvojicom u kondenzovanoj interpretaciji Branka Lenarta svakako je izuzetna prilika da se taj ogromni balast znaenja refokusira, pomiri
i sagleda.
Mirjana Dabovi Pejovi
5 Bojana Peji, Tito ili ikonizacija jedne predstave, Novo itanje ikone, pripredio Dejan Sretenovi, Geopoetika,
Beograd, 1999. 118
6 Alberto Korda govorei o e Gevari; a Milutin oli o Titu u recenziji za film Sutjeska iz 1973.
Despite the quite different places they occupy in the broader historical and sociological
context, the aura that surrounds them surpasses the individual roles they played in the social
and political life of their native countries.
There were a number of photographers who photographed Tito during his life, but also a
number of those who recorded the atmosphere of adoration and the state of shock ensuing
upon the news of his death. This event indirectly testified to the daily life speaking less about
ordinary life and more about the habits, customs and nature of the people in this area.4 The
series entitled Tito in reproductions (Tito v reprodukcijah), created as a result of a photographic
analysis and a survey in the period 1980-1983, was inspired by the tradition from the era of
former Yugoslavia which imposed the obligation to keep the Marshals photograph in public
places as a symbol of accurate location of a wider cultural and living space (S. Timotijevi).
Titos death was a motive for research a specific sociological study depicting clearly the
atmosphere of the space where the photograph is placed, which indirectly represents a
testimony to the daily existence of ordinary people their lifestyle and their predominant
value system. This documentary approach resembling the American-style photographic
research from the 1930s is accompanied by anonymous peoples statements about Tito as a
person compiled by the artists wife, thus offering a clear picture of the society and the general
mood of the population all over Yugoslavia prior to and immediately after Titos death. They
are photos of anonymous spaces, taken throughout Yugoslavia: cluttered stores, shabby
rooms, coffee places, stairways of various buildings, shop windows in which Titos portrait was
carefully fitted into the meticulously designed (saccharine kitsch) arrangement. No matter
whether it occupied the central place in the composition, the portrait of the President for
Life for many years after Titos death continued to be the focal point with the specific aura of
presence surrounding it, with the energy emanating from his powerful look. The photograph
of the President in the formal marshal uniform or in a modern civil suit represents a typical
example of the metaphorical meaning of the power of the image embodying omnipresent
absolute power. Lenart takes black and white photographs of abandoned sceneries,
preserving the dimension of the documentary, reconstructing a kind of dramatic sublimity,
with the sense of cinematic suspense scenes of empty frames where something important
has just happened. After Tito Tito! his character and work remain equally important after
this tragic day and his photograph remains at the same place where it had been standing
since 1945,5 long after his death. In subsequent decades, Tito, the charismatic icon, will be
a subject of debates which many people will attempt to dispute or negate. In the context
of space nowadays referred to as the region, i.e. in former Yugoslav republics, this is still a
current issue not only from the perspective of historical and cultural considerations but also
from the perspective of the obvious failure of the policies which labelled the social system
personified by the Marshal as negative and demolished it.
Che Guevara an Argentine Marxist revolutionary and a physician, Castros closest
associate and later a guerrilla leader, a diplomat and a military analyst, was also a charismatic,
controversial leader. Upon his death, he became a legendary political figure (his name has
often been seen as a synonym for rebellion, revolution and socialism), although many people
remember his cruelty (while he was in charge of La Cabaa Fortress prison), when he ordered
executions without trials.
4 Slavko Timotijevi, text on the occasion of the exhibition in the Happy Gallery (Srena galerija), November 1984.
5 Bojana Peji, Tito ili ikonizacija jedne predstave, in Novo itanje ikone, edited by Dejan Sretenovi, Geopoetika,
Beograd, 1999, p. 118.
Despite his frequently disputed political role in the Cuban revolution, he has remained the
global inspiration of popular culture and become the main icon of a large number of leftist
movements; he has also been included among the two hundred most influential people of
the 20th century.
The famous portrait of his created in 1960 by Alberto Korda is one of the most frequently
reproduced and best-known photographs proclaimed by Maryland Institute College of Art as
the symbol of the 20th century, with a tremendous variety of painted, printed, embroidered
or tattooed versions. And Che Guevara himself, after so many years, remains the national
symbol of Cuba, but at the same time the best-selling brand and also part of the mass
consumer society, although he was among those who despised the culture of consumerism.
The Che Guevara myth goes far beyond the romantic representation and truth about his life
and conduct. The photographs of empty streets and squares with Ches image hovering
above them accentuate the sense of presence and emphasize the connection between the
context of place and time in which they were created. The series testifies to another also
significant historical phenomenon of fascination for the character and work of this renowned
Cuban guerrilla. Just like in Titos portraits, what dominates these representations of isolated
spaces which appear deserted even when there are some people in them is Che Guevaras
look which generates strength and determination and sublimates everything that he will be
remembered for.
Placed in the context of the same exhibition, these two charismatic figures, persons of strong
and stoic character6 who fought under the same ideological symbol red star, and became the
trademark of a time and a special reading of certain historic identities of a society characterized
by nominal equality (Fea Vuki, Hibridni identiteti (Hybrid Identities)), at a time of hybrid culture
and hybrid identities of opposition in real time (F.V.), point to a different reading of what was
then based upon the idea of (general) equality and welfare for all.
A surplus of meaning generated around these two figures first through their revolutionary
and political action, then through the (official) development of a personality cult, and finally through
all post-Cold War and postmodernist interpretations, popular culture and commercialization is
so huge that it somehow disappears from sight leaving only the possibility of isolated (and for
many of us also personal) interpretation.
The opportunity for the viewer in this exhibition to meet the two figures in Branko Lenarts
condensed interpretation is by all means an exceptional chance for the huge load of meaning to
be refocused, reconciled and grasped.
Mirjana Dabovi Pejovi
6 Alberto Korda speaking about Che Guevara and Milutin oli about Tito in a review of the film Sutjeska (1973).
Branko Lenart roen 15. juna 1948. u Ptuju, Slovenija. Sa porodicom emigrigao u Grac, Austrija, 1954.
1968. postao lan avangardne asocijacije Forum Stadtpark, Grac. Od 19721978. pohaao master studije
u Gracu. 1980. studijski boravio u Apeiron radionici, Millerton, Njujork. Nastavio studije u La Roelu, Arlsu,
Oksfordu, Rimu, Parizu, Londonu, USA i Izraelu. Osniva je i predsjednik (19942007.) kulturne asocijacije
Artikel-7 za Slovenake Stirijance/Pavel Haus. 2001. saraivao na projektu Poslednje putovanje Inge
Morat, putujue izlobe i knjige (predgovor Artur Miler), Prestel 2003. Predavao fotografiju na koli za
umjetnost i dizajn (19792007.) i na Univerzitetu Primjenjenih nauka Joaneum (19962003.) u Gracu.
Od 1968. uestvovao na brojnim grupnim izlobama u Evropi i Sjevernoj Americi. Izlae samostalno
od 1970. ukljuujui galerije Galeria Ins Barrenechea, Madrid i Museo dArte Moderna Car, Muggia in
2010/2011.
Objavljeno je nekoliko monografija ukljuujui Wahr genommen, predgovor Peter Weiermair,
Izdanje Fotohof, Otto Mller Verlag, Salzburg 1991. Vitalogy, tekst Wolfgang Kos und Walter Titz, Neue
Galerie, Graz 1998. Kaddisch, tekst Johannes Schmidt, Izdanje Camera Austria, Graz 1998. Augen:Blicke
Schrift:Stcke, tekst Gerhard Melzer, Droschl Verlag, Graz 2004. Die Leute von Rachau, tekst Roland
Girtler, Holzhausen Verlag, Wien 2004. Photo:Concept 1965 2005, tekst Kurt Kaindl, Fotogalerie Wien,
Wien 2005. Piran:Pirano, tekst Primo Lampi, Arhitekturni muzej, Ljubljana 2008. Vergangen und
vergessenJdische Kultur in Slowenien, tekst Elisabeth Arlt, Pavelhaus, Graz 2009. Styrians, tekst Ale
teger, Galerie Marenzi, Leibnitz 2009. Krkave Istria.Terra, tekst Aleksander Bassin, Primo Lampi,
Salvator itko, Pavelhaus, Graz 2012.
Njegovi radovi se nalaze u nacionalnim i internacionalnim kolekcijama ukljuujui: muzej Albertina,
Be; Fotografski arhiv, Trst; Arhitekturni muzej, Ljubljana; Nacionalnu biblioteku, Pariz; Fondaciju Huan
Mir, Barselona; Lentos Umjetniki muzej, Linc; Muzej umjetnosti i istorije, Frajburg; Muzej Fotografije
Andr Villers, Mugin; Muzej Moderne, Salzburg; Novu galeriju/Univerzalmuzej Joaneum,Grac; Rmerquelle
Kunstsammlung, Be; Sammlung Fotografis/Bank Austria, Be; Fondaciju Inge Morath, Njujork.
ivi i radi u Gracu i Piranu.
Born on 15th of June 1948 in Ptuj, Slovenia. He emigrated with his family in 1954 to Graz, Austria. In
1968 he became member of the avantgarde art association Forum Stadtpark, Graz. From 1972 1978
he studied for mastership in Graz. 1980 he was Artist-in-Residence at Apeiron Workshop, Millerton, N. Y.
Further studies in La Rochelle, Arles, Oxford, Rome, Paris, London, USA and Israel. He is a founding member
and was chairman (1994 2007) of the cultural society Artikel-7 for Slovenian Styrians/The Pavel House. In
2001 he cooperated with the project Inge Moraths Last Journey, travelling exhibition and book (preface
by Arthur Miller), Prestel 2003. He has been teaching photography at the College of Art and Design (1979
2007) and at the University of Applied Sciences Joanneum (1996 2003), both in Graz.
Since 1968 he has taken part in many group exhibitions in Europe and North America. He has had
solo exhibitions since 1970, including Galeria Ins Barrenechea, Madrid and Museo dArte Moderna
Car, Muggia in 2010/2011.
Several monographs were published, including Wahr genommen, preface Peter Weiermair, Edition
Fotohof, Otto Mller Verlag, Salzburg 1991. Vitalogy, text Wolfgang Kos und Walter Titz, Neue Galerie,
Graz 1998. Kaddisch, text Johannes Schmidt, Edition Camera Austria, Graz 1998. Augen:Blicke
Schrift:Stcke, text Gerhard Melzer, Droschl Verlag, Graz 2004. Die Leute von Rachau, text Roland Girtler,
Holzhausen Verlag, Wien 2004. Photo:Concept 1965 2005, text Kurt Kaindl, Fotogalerie Wien, Wien
2005. Piran:Pirano, text Primo Lampi, Arhitekturni muzej, Ljubljana 2008. Vergangen und vergessen
Jdische Kultur in Slowenien, text Elisabeth Arlt, Pavelhaus, Graz 2009. Styrians, text Ale teger,
Galerie Marenzi, Leibnitz 2009. Krkave Istria.Terra, text Aleksander Bassin, Primo Lampi, Salvator itko,
Pavelhaus, Graz 2012.
His works are in national and international collections, including Albertina, Vienna; Archivio fotografico, Trieste; Arhitekturni muzej, Ljubljana; Bibliothque Nationale, Paris; Fundaci Joan Mir, Barcelona;
Lentos Kunstmuseum, Linz; Muse dart et dhistoire, Fribourg; Muse de la Photographie Andr Villers,
Mougins; Museum der Moderne, Salzburg; Neue Galerie/Universalmuseum Joanneum, Graz; Rmerquelle
Kunstsammlung, Vienna; Sammlung Fotografis/ Bank Austria, Vienna; The Inge Morath Foundation, New
York. He lives and works in Graz and Piran.
www.brankolenart.com
www.kulturserver-graz.at/v/lenart.html
Izdava: Narodni muzej Crne Gore | Za izdavaa: Pavle Pejovi | Kustos izlobe i tekst: Mirjana Dabovi
Pejovi | Prevod: Olivera Kusovac | Fotografija: Branko Lenart | Dizajn: Branka Vujovi | tampa: DPC
Tira: 400