PROJECT NAME

Walking and drawing Bezanija Village

ROLE

Resident artist

Project financed by LINA Community with the

Association of Belgrade Architects/Belgrade

International Architecture Week/BINA

DATE

2024

Bežanija Village is the oldest settlement still standing in New Belgrade. Its characteristic pitched-roof housing typology and urban structure edged by vineyards is today found cornered between the plateau and the high

concrete residential towers of the brutalist era. Bežanija Village is unique;

it holds landscape, heritage, and social value that deserves to be preserved amidst the rapid urban development: so much so that there is already a local citizen association in charge ofkeeping alive the memory of Old Bežanija.

When BINA proposed me to work in this area of the city, I was surprised to hear that it was under threat: my perception when visiting it was that not only that it has, like many historical places, aunique charm and significance and a peaceful atmosphere: it also generates an interesting contrast and remarkable variety in the urban landscape coexisting

with the brutalist towers, very different in scale and in proportions. In a time where all cities are becoming more and more alike, I am convinced of the value and importance ofworking for its preservation amidst the rapid urban development.

In my practice, I seek to explore peripheral or contested spaces using

subjective and experiential practices like drawing and walking. My research aims for a sensitive and immersive approach to studying and

engaging with these peripheral areas, challenging conventional perspectives. The focus is on paying attention to the places as they are and giving voice to their unique identities and stories, questioning the predefined narratives that have been created elsewhere.

By drawing and walking, the project seeks that the participants establish

an intimate connection with the environment, capturing their subjective

experiences through artistic expression. Walking and being present with our bodies allows us to embrace uncertainties and serendipities in navigating these peripheral spaces, and doing it collectively enables us to share our insights and deepen our way of looking through the perspectives of others. This immersive nature of the situated practice also promotes a deeper understanding of how diverse behaviors and needs -not only human- shape these territories. By paying attention, we can uncover the traces of the past, realities of the present and potentialities of the future within these often-overlooked areas.

In this way, drawing and walking hold as well transformative power in urban discourse, envisioning possibilities beyond conventional planning, fostering a reflective, collective and imaginative approach to urban decision making. This empowers us to conceive new interactions and possibilities for the built environment.

It is crucial to generate spaces in which to discuss our perceptions and experiences around a territory to create new narratives and ways to represent it that are ours. The project thus seeks to bring about a collective, openly complex and qualitative narrative that values the territory's uniqueness. By fostering a deeper connection with the space, it contributes to our ability to be aware of the necessity and advocate for more responsive and empathetic urban practices that respect the realities and needs of peripheral territories and communities.

An important remark is also that the project is traversed by the fact that I was a foreigner in Belgrade. First of all, I do not understand Serbian words. But I do understand Serbian drawings: drawing therefore becomes a language that goes beyond borders, emerging as the main language of the project and potentially questioning the dynamics that appear when oral languages are predominant.

Secondly, this fact also allowed to explore the ways in which narratives and stories of places are represented and conveyed to people who – like me – do not know them, whether in the form of tourist souvenirs or guided tours. The experience of drawing together meant also the possibility for the participants to show me their city, for me to see it through their eyes, and for them in turn to see it again through mine, as if they had never seen it before, to appreciate all its possibilities from a fresh perspective.

Lastly, all of this leads us to reflect on what images and iconography are used to showcase our territories and with what objectives (solely touristic or economic? how does it affect at a local level?), in what contexts (only in the city center? only for tourists?), and by whom they are chosen and produced. How can we take ownership of the images that are shared of the places we inhabit? Can the practice of drawing be useful for making these images closer to our daily experience of the territory, more our own?

Building upon these questions, the project outcome will work with the language of the touristic object (souvenir): postcards, t-shirts, tote-bags… Based on the drawings made in the collective encounters, an alternative version of these elements (our own merchandising!) will be made for Bežanija Village, in order to restore its value in a symbolic way to its inhabitants and the rest of the city.