(Re)Making History:

Tracing Politics in Urban Space

What role do street names play in building national identities? We are looking for answers inthe examples of two world-famous cities of the former Yugoslavia: its capital and the birthplace of the Non-Aligned Movement - Belgrade; and the host city of the 1984 Winter Olympics - Sarajevo. This study is a journey through three decades of the changing narratives and messages carried by public space in metropolises that have sacrificed multiculturalism in their search for ethnic identities.

Maps

Belgrade

Over the last thirty years, Belgrade has undergone numerous and dramatic transformations. It was the capital of as many as four countries, it changed its economic and social environment, and its demographics changed significantly. This publication explains the ways in which the symbolism of public space in Belgrade followed, or even announced, these changes.

Sarajevo

The changes in the toponyms in Sarajevo mostly occurred during the period between 1993 and 1995. With the breakup of Yugoslavia and the establishment of Bosnian sovereignty in 1992, the renaming of the streets became part of a deliberate strategy of breaking away from Socialist ideals and Yugoslav heritage, thus creating a specifically Bosnian history.

Tandem Western Balkans is an initiative developed by European Cultural Foundation and MitOst e.V. with additional financial support from Open Society Foundation. It is implemented together with Balkans Museum Network (Bosnia and Herzegovina), Balkans, let's get up! Organisation (Serbia), Center for Cultural Decontamination (Serbia), Lumbardhi Foundation (Kosovo) and Jadro Association (North Macedonia).