The cultural memory of Serbs in Croatia starts with their Orthodox heritage which, along with the language and the script, to this day remains a feature they share with their compatriots in Serbia. However, the tradition of Serbs in Croatia is made up of numerous unique characteristics which have arisen and have been evolving during lengthy socio-political processes which they primarily share with Croatian people.
The Serb cultural experience in all of its segments is today a source of reconstructing significance and role of the Serb people in the Croatian history, but it also works as a benchmark of development of Croatian society and its democratic capacities. The Office for Culture functions within the framework of memory, popularisation of culture as a value, and a part of a fight against growing assimilation tendencies in three areas: the culture of memory, heritage, and publishing.

Culture of Memory

The culture of memory program was born out of the need to define the area of presentation and interpretation of the traumatic history of the 20th century through different models of commemorative, artistic and activist practices aimed at both the Serb minority and the Croatian majority. In addition to fostering commemorative practices at memorial sites, the Culture Department, in cooperation with related organisations, experts and directly interested individuals, devises and prepares other public events, campaigns and initiatives aimed at drawing the attention of Croatian society to the issues of crass historic relativism and negationism, and the issues of the Serb minority experience in the fields of education and culture. Within this department, we also conduct advocacy activities through the network of other associations and in communication with institutions responsible for research, museum, and pedagogical aspect of the relationship to history.

Publishing

The SNV’s catalogue encompasses publishing projects which confront the Croatian society with the events of the 20th century, not only in terms of the history of violence, but also related to the Yugoslav experience and the transition at the end of the past century. The Culture Department coordinates publishing activities in cooperation with Croatian publishing houses both on new projects and on significant reissues for additional distribution.

Heritage

The heritage of antifascist monuments, sacral heritage, birthplaces and other important buildings connected with Serb organisations and prominent members of the Serb community in Croatia, certainly do not hold the status they deserve given their memorial and artistic value. The reconstruction of sacral objects falls under the jurisdiction of individual eparchies (dioceses), however the maintenance of the antifascist monuments is not systematic and institutional, but is rather left up to expert associations, heritage associations, network of Serb national minority councils, and antifascist associations. Regardless of the great efforts of these organisations, the reconstruction of these works of art is usually demanding in every sense of the word. This is why the reconstruction process is slow and devoid of a strategy. Therefore, in this reconstruction process, the Culture department continuously cooperates with restoration experts or offers them assistance when county and city councils are unable to see them through. Whether these sites are regarded as memorials, monuments, protected or unprotected registry, as sites of war crimes or as artefacts, their reconstruction is approached in line with the rules of the profession and in consultation with the local community.
The Culture Department also conducts consultations aimed at devising and building new memorials and monuments connected with the Second World War or the 1991–1995 war. In this, it particularly closely follows new tendencies and artists of the younger generation who are thus given the opportunity to engage with the subject-matter they did not learn about in their formal or informal education. The Culture Department’s activities, therefore, equally involve innovating monument culture and awareness-building about these subjects.

Contacts in the Culture Department

Head of Department: Aneta Vladimirov
aneta.vladimriov@snv.hr

Advisor: Nikola Puharić
nikola.puharic@snv.hr

Advisor: Tena Bakšaj
tena.baksaj@snv.hr