Balkanization

About

Balkanization is a geopolitical term that most commonly relates to the Balkans and associates with the dissolution of Yugoslavia in the 90s, and is respectively, in a broader sense understood as a division of the multinational country into smaller, ethnically homogenous entities. As the boundaries of the concept are not clearly defined, they are withdrawn for certain purposes, referring to the attitude of the one who acts on that behalf. The similar happens with defining the Balkans, which is based on an imaginary geographic mapping.

The well-known formulation of the Balkans as the Unconscious of Europe can be brought into analogy with the revolutionary attitudes of the avant-garde movement Zenithism, where the Balkans is considered the new force that will regenerate European culture. Balkanization of Europe, according to Ljubomir Micić, means the cultural emancipation of Europe by accepting the new values of the awakened Barbarogenius. The current context which once more places the Balkans in the center of attention of European policy regards the Balkan route which refugees use on their way to the Western Europe. The refugee crisis leads to destabilization of the European Union, as well as the divided attitudes of its member countries, and as the result the borders are raised and a new kind of nationalism constructed.

Unconventionally approaching the theme, artists tend to span different aspects of the meaning of this provocative concept. Introducing the current social, economic and political perspectives through the prism of migration, identity issue and the role of power relations, the artists play about national symbols in order to, with a dose of humor, critically examine the cross-cultural prejudices and stereotypes.