Iva Kontic

Today in History (or 25 May & I) deals with the relationship between history and personal memory in connection with the phenomenon of 25 May, Youth Day in the former Yugoslavia - a national holiday and the official birthday celebration of its former president, Josip Broz Tito.* 

*Introduced by Tito in 1957 and celebrated until 1987 (seven years after his death), the celebration of Youth Day began each year with the carrying of the National Relay throughout Yugoslav territory and its constituent republics, accompanied by various events organized in towns and cities along its route. The central celebration was held on 25 May, when the Relay arrived in Belgrade at the Yugoslav National Army Stadium, now Partizan Stadium. The final and largest manifestation, known as the “Slet,” took place at the stadium, where Tito received the Relay. The “Slet” spectacle, which included mass gymnastic exercises and music performances, was regularly broadcast on national television.

Born after Tito’s death, during the final phase of the Yugoslav era and the Youth Day phenomenon, my experience of that period in history is shaped by the private and family sphere, without direct awareness of its broader social and political context. The memories are constructed through “posthumous” historical interpretations and are largely mediated by family stories, albums, postcards, and personal objects. Thus, the work takes as its starting point the personal relationship to the historical reality of the date that shaped the reality of millions of people for several decades..

A two-channel video installation , Today in History (or 25 May & I) consts of two video pieces running simultaneously. The video displayed on a TV monitor explores individual experiences in relation to the central 25 May manifestation, the “Slet,” through a collage of excerpts from interviews with various people, all former citizens of Yugoslavia and direct witnesses to the historical event. Relatives, neighbours, and family friends— the participants represent a kind of selected circle of the artist's "personal" historical figures. Their memories and anecdotes complement one another in a documentary survey-like reconstruction of the event. 

The interview “compilation” is juxtaposed with a video projection depicting Partizan Stadium in Belgrade in its present-day state and under everyday lighting conditions, far removed from the festive atmosphere of the former national spectacle and almost entirely stripped of visible traces of its history. The only element alluding to the site’s historical background is my performance at the centre of the football field, where I reenact sections of the mass choreographies from the “Slet” manifestations. The performance is meant to break the autobiographical dimension of the work and serves as an ironic commentary on the impossible task at the heart of  its “objective”: to capture the “truth” of collective memory and convey a first-hand individual experience that is itself shaped—and therefore limited—by the past and by processes of historicization. The sequencing of images in the video imitates the television reportage of “Slet” manifestations found in the archive of Radio Television Serbia.​