Status of monument -> National monument
Pursuant to Article V para. 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Article 39 para. 1 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, at a session held from 26 to 28 March 2012 the Commission adopted a
D E C I S I O N
I
The cultural landscape of the necropolis of the victims of fascism, Municipality Novi Travnik, is hereby designated as a National Monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the National Monument).
The National Monument consists of twelve sculptures laid out on the site with access paths, a plateau and the surrounding landscape (a hillock surrounded by meadows).
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 100 (old survey), Land Register entry no. 264, cadastral municipality SP Slimena, Municipality Novi Travnik, corresponding to c.p. nos. 372/1, 372/2, 372/3, 372/4 and 372/5 (new survey), c.m. SP Slimena, Municipality Novi Travnik, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
The provisions relating to protection measures set forth by the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of the Federation of BiH nos. 2/02, 27/02, 6/04 and 51/07) shall apply to the National Monument.
II
The Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (hereinafter: the Government of the Federation) shall be responsible for providing the legal, scientific, technical, administrative and financial measures necessary for the protection, conservation, restoration and presentation of the National Monument.
The Commission to Preserve National Monuments (hereinafter: the Commission) shall determine the technical requirements and secure the funds for preparing and setting up signboards with basic details of the monument and the Decision to proclaim the property a National Monument.
III
To ensure the on-going protection of the National Monument on the area defined in Clause 1 para. 3 of this Decision, the following protection measures are hereby stipulated:
- all works are prohibited other than conservation-restoration works, the restoration of the complex, works designed to ensure its sustainable use, and works designed for the presentation of the monument, with the approval of the Federal Ministry responsible for regional planning and under the expert supervision of the heritage protection authority of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina;
- works that could be detrimental to the National Monument are prohibited, as are the installation of major infrastructure facilities and the erection of temporary or permanent structures not designed solely for the protection and presentation of the National Monument;
- the National Monument may be used for its original purpose and for its presentation for educational and cultural purposes provided that these do not compromise its integrity and natural setting;
- the approach paths and parking area shall be refurbished without compromising the original appearance of the complex;
- builders’ waste shall be removed from the landscape surrounding the monument;
- the complex shall be landscaped.
IV
All executive and area development planning acts are hereby revoked to the extent that they are not in accordance with the provisions of this Decision.
V
Everyone, and in particular the competent authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Canton, and urban and municipal authorities, shall refrain from any action that might damage the National Monument or jeopardize the preservation thereof.
VI
The Government of the Federation, the federal ministry responsible for regional planning, the Federation heritage protection authority, and the Municipal Authorities in charge of urban planning and land registry affairs, shall be notified of this Decision in order to carry out the measures stipulated in Articles II to V of this Decision, and the Authorized Municipal Court shall be notified for the purposes of registration in the Land Register.
VII
The elucidation and accompanying documentation form an integral part of this Decision, which may be viewed by interested parties on the premises or by accessing the website of the Commission (http://www.kons.gov.ba)
VIII
Pursuant to Art. V para 4 Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, decisions of the Commission are final.
IX
This Decision shall enter into force on the day following its publication in the Official Gazette of BiH.
This Decision has been adopted by the following members of the Commission: Zeynep Ahunbay, Martin Cherry, Amra Hadžimuhamedović, Dubravko Lovrenović, and Ljiljana Ševo.
No: 04.2-2.3-73/12-2
26 March 2012
Sarajevo
Chair of the Commission
Amra Hadžimuhamedović
E l u c i d a t i o n
I – INTRODUCTION
Pursuant to Article 2, paragraph 1 of the Law on the Implementation of the Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments, established pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, a “National Monument” is an item of public property proclaimed by the Commission to Preserve National Monuments to be a National Monument pursuant to Articles V and VI of Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina and property entered on the Provisional List of National Monuments of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Official Gazette of BiH no. 33/02) until the Commission reaches a final decision on its status, as to which there is no time limit and regardless of whether a petition for the property in question has been submitted or not.
On 3 October 2011, Emir Bičakčić of Sarajevo submitted a proposal/petition to designate the necropolis of the victims of fascism in Travnik as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Pursuant to the provisions of the law, the Commission proceeded to carry out the procedure for reaching a final decision to designate the Property as a National Monument, pursuant to Article V para. 4 of Annex 8 and Article 35 of the Rules of Procedure of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments.
Statement of Significance
The necropolis of the victims of fascism in Travnik is one of the twenty-one monuments in the former Yugoslavia designed by Bogdan Bogdanović, and is an essential part of his opus. Bogdan Bogdanović, one of the most highly-renowned and successful designers of memorial architecture in south-east Europe, uses the universal symbolism of the sun, planets and moon to create monuments that become an integral part of their setting.
The necropolis of the victims of fascism in Travnik was built in 1975 in memory of the 700 victims of fascist terror in 1941. It consists of twelve conceptually identical sculptures arrayed in two irregular arcs, steps with terraces, and an unpaved plateau.
II – PRELIMINARY PROCEDURE
In the procedure preceding the adoption of a final decision to proclaim the property a national monument, the following documentation was inspected:
- details of the current condition and use of the property, including a description, architectural survey and photographs
- an inspection of the current condition of the property
- a copy of the cadastral plan and title deed
- a copy of the Land Register entry
- historical, architectural and other documentary material on the property, as set out in the bibliography forming part of this Decision
Pursuant to Article 12 of the Law on the Implementation of Decisions of the Commission to Preserve National Monuments Established Pursuant to Annex 8 of the General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the following procedures were carried out for the purpose of designating the property as a national monument of Bosnia and Herzegovina:
- letter ref. 04.2-35.2-5/12-14 dated 23 January 2012 requesting documentation and views on the designation of the necropolis of the victims of fascism in Travnik was sent to the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport and Novi Travnik Municipality, Department of Proprietary Rights, Geodetics and Cadastre.
In response, the Commission has received the following documentation:
- letter ref. 07-40-4-1067-1/12 of 25 January 2012 from the Institute for the Protection of Monuments of the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sport supplying details of previous statutory protection of the property.
The findings based on the review of the above documentation and the condition of the property are as follows:
1. Details of the property
Location
The cultural landscape of the necropolis of the victims of fascism in Travnik is 3km as the crow flies north-east of the centre of Novi Travnik, at Ćamića Brdo.
The National Monument is located on a site designated as cadastral plot no. 100 (old survey), Land Register entry no. 264, cadastral municipality SP Slimena, Municipality Novi Travnik, corresponding to c.p. nos. 372/1, 372/2, 372/3, 372/4 and 372/5 (new survey), c.m. SP Slimena, Municipality Novi Travnik, Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Historical background
During World War II, many battles were waged in and around Travnik, where the Germans, Ustasha and home guard maintained strong forces. Parts of the 1st Proletarian and 10th Assault Divisions attacked the German-home guard garrison on 15 to 16 October 1943, breaching the outer defences of the city, but were forced to retreat when German reinforcements arrived. The town was liberated for the first time on 22 October 1944, after two days of fighting, by troops from the 5th Corps of the Yugoslav Peoples’ Liberation Army, using every available military means, but was again occupied by German troops on 22 January 1945 after four days of heavy fighting. Travnik was finally liberated on 19 February 1945 by the 4th Division, reinforced by a brigade from the 10th and one from the 39th Division of the Yugoslav Peoples’ Liberation Army.(1)
The necropolis of the victims of fascism in Travnik was built in 1975 in memory of the 700 victims of fascist terror in 1941, to a design by the architect Bogdan Bogdanović (Belgrade, 20 August 1922 – Vienna, 18 June 2010)(2), one of the region’s greatest designers of memorial architecture. Most of his monuments are dedicated to the victims of fascist ideology, and are of universal value in their formal expressivity and overall artistic expression.
The essential feature of Bogdan Bogdanović’s architecture is his transposition of fragments of architecture and ancient symbols into a powerful and original spatial composition, using a distinctive vocabulary of associations and meanings, freed by new, conceptually complex values.(3)
2. Description of the property(4)
Bogdan Bogdanović’s memorial sites(5) incorporate every element of a complex architectural, aesthetic and landscape design. He establishes a harmonious relationship between the natural setting and the architectural expression by his skilful placing of sculpture on the site, using the lie of the land to heighten the dramatic effect and carefully-planned vistas from various parts of the complex. His design for the necropolis of the victims of fascism in Novi Travnik consists of twelve sculptures in whose forms, though abstract, one may recognize wide-awake guards keeping watch from the top of the hillock. Military look-out posts are invariably on high ground, as are these sculptures, which explains their significance at this particular site.
In the architect’s own words, “using the universal symbols of the sun, planets and moon, the monument speaks to everyone, and succeeds in becoming an authentic component of the space.” The combination of sculpture, architecture and landscape design entails the use of a vocabulary that includes stone, plant species and water. Bogdanović does not make use of the iconography of death or of social realism, so that one can find in this necropolis no crosses, no hammers and sickles, no representations of human figures, no crude naturalism of representation and shaping of elements. He reduces all these components to ornament created by “combining local, historical features of building and Bogdanović's wholly inner imagination.” In this way, he “avoids the clumsy transference of reality into the language of architecture, which often – paradoxically – denotes merely a glorification of death.”(6) This artistic principle of his is recognizable in the necropolis at Novi Travnik: the memorial plaque at the bottom of the terraced steps leading to the monument is designed to suggest a stećak, and the inscription is in Cyrillic and Latin capital letters reminiscent of the epigraphics of Bosnian stećaks.
Bogdanović creates the image of the entire monument by combining five fundamental architectural forms: megaliths (points of reference); ramparts (boundaries); gateways (roads); mausolea (focal points) and memorial complexes (quarters).(7)
Bogdanović set up a formula for documenting his monuments and presenting them in abstract form, consisting of five elements: theme, syntheme, builder, mythologeme and analogy. This enables him to elucidate the concept of his monuments, including the necropolis of the victims of fascism:
Theme: necropolis of the victims of fascism, Travnik 1975.
Syntheme: upland glade near an old Vezir’s town in Central Bosnia; stone serpents with eyes wide open, guarding this part of our country.
Mythologeme: twelve megalithic “stone guards” carved from bihacite stone; an eternal guard, always wide awake, and a place where children happily play.
Analogy: teratomorphic forms dominated by one of their features – eyes wide open.(8)
The necropolis of the victims of fascism in Novi Travnik is composed of an approach path consisting of terraced steps; a hillock and surrounding landscape; and a group of twelve sculptures. The concept of the memorial derives from the relationship between these elements, between the natural setting and the designer’s imagination. The sculptures are set in pairs forming two irregular rows, with the distance between the pairs ranging from two to three metres.
In the case of the necropolis of the victims of fascism, Bogdanović placed twelve stone soldier guards, intended to remain there forever, eyes wide open, guardians of the innocent, on the alert to prevent them from coming to harm.
The material used for the sculptures is bihacite stone, and for the terraced steps, a combination of stone for the steps and crushed stone for the terraces. The approach path is 2.60 m wide.
Sculpture
Each of the twelve sculptures represents the head of a soldier with eyes wide open; these form the dominant motif of the memorial. They are set on a square plinth denoting the body. The edges of the sculpture are all rounded, with no sharp edges. Depending on one’s point of view, the sculptures appear identical, but careful examination reveals that some are longer and others wider, suggesting that the designer sought to individualize them and thereby to indicate that each one represents a person, a soldier.
The sculptures are 200 cm in height, 140 cm in width and 75 cm deep. The plinth is 80 cm high, 140 cm wide and 140 cm deep.
3. Legal status to date
The property was listed Institute for the Protection of the Cultural and Natural Heritage of BiH under the heading “Memorial at Smreke, Stojkovići, Novi Travnik,” but was not on the Register of immovable cultural monuments.
4. Research and conservation-restoration works
Nothing is known of any investigative or conservation-restoration works on the memorial since it was first erected.
5. Current condition of the property
The form of the memorial as a whole has survived, but one sculpture is badly damaged (broken). The memorial is in a state of neglect, overgrown with thorny scrub, and the area around it is used as an agricultural property.
The paths and plateaux are also at risk as a result of neglect.
6. Specific risks
- neglect
- adverse effects of the elements.
III – CONCLUSION
Applying the Criteria for the adoption of a decision on proclaiming an item of property a national monument (Official Gazette of BiH nos. 33/02 and 15/03), the Commission has enacted the Decision cited above.
The Decision was based on the following criteria:
A. Time frame
B. Historical value
C. Artistic and aesthetic value
C.i. quality of workmanship
C.ii. quality of materials
C.iii. proportions
C.iv. composition
C.v. value of details
C.vi. value of construction
F. Landscape value
F.i. relation to other elements of the site
F.iii. the building or group of buildings is part of a group or site
G. Authenticity
G.i. form and design
G.ii material and content
G.iii. use and function
G.v. location and setting
The following documents form an integral part of this Decision:
- Ownership documentation
- excerpt from title deed no. 67/06, c.m. Slimena, Novi Travnik Municipality, issued on 28 September 2012
- copy of cadastral plan, c.m. Stojkvići, Novi Travnik Municipality, issued on 28 September 2012
- Land Register entry no. 264, c.m. Slimena, Novi Travnik Municipality, issued on 24 November 2012
- Photodocumentation
- Photographs of the cultural landscape of the necropolis of the victims of fascism in Novi Travnik taken on 28 September 2012 by Aida Bucalović, art historian, using Canon EOS -450D digital camera
- Other documentation
- survey of the site by Amra Sarić, BSc.Arch, Commission to Preserve National Monuments
Bibliography
During the procedure to designate the property as a national monument the following works were consulted:
1982. Heritage protection authority. “Zaštićeni spomenici Narodno-oslobodilačkog rata” (Protected monuments of the War of National Liberation), Naše starine, journal of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments of NR Bosnia and Herzegovina, VIII (1962): 244-245.
1975. Vojna enciklopedija Jugoslavije (Military encyclopaedia of Yugoslavia), vol. 10. Belgrade: edition, 1975.
1987. Likovna enciklopedija Jugoslavije (Art encyclopaedia of Yugoslavia), 2, K-Rem. Zagreb: Jugoslavenski leksikografski zavod “Miroslav Krleža,” 1987.
1988. Trumić, Aleksander. Nacrtane riječi i napisani crteži, spisateljski i graditeljski opit Protomajstora Bogdana (Words in drawings and drawings in words, a literary and architectural experiment by Arch-designer Bogdan). Sarajevo: doctoral dissertation, University of Sarajevo, Faculty of Architecture, March, 1988.
(1) Vojna enciklopedija Jugoslavije, knjiga 10 (Zagreb: Grafički zavod Hrvatske, 1970), 91.
(2) Graduated from the Faculty of Architecture in Belgrade, where he also taught. Mainly designed memorial architecture, marking events from the Peoples' War of Liberation in an authentic, imaginative fashion. Among the most striking of his monuments are the memorial to the Jewish victims of fascism, Belgrade, the memorials in Sremska Mitrovica, Prilep, Kruševac, Mostar, Jasenovac, Labin, Štip, Travnik and Vukovar. His contribution to architecture earned him the October Award of the City of Belgrade, the Architects’ Federation of Yugoslavia aware, and many other important awards and accolades. Of particular note are his writings on the problems of contemporary architecture. See Likovna enciklopedija Jugoslavije, 1 A-K. (Zagreb: Jugoslavenski leksikografski zavod Miroslav Krleža, 1987), 147.
(3) Ibid.
(4) A comparative analysis of the Garavice memorial park to the victims of fascist terror and the necropolis of the victims of fascism in Novi Travnik reveals a marked similarity between the concepts of these two memorials. Every elucidation of the concept of the Garavice memorial is equally applicable to the necropolis in Novi Travnik. Parts of the text are taken from the decision designating the cultural landscape of the Garavice memorial part to the victims of fascist terror, adopted at the Commission’s 52nd session, 6 to 9 September 2011.
(5) For example, the Partisans’ memorial cemetery in Mostar, or Garavice near Bihać.
(6) Katarina Luketić, http://www.zarez.hr/76/z_esej.htm
(7) The section on the universal values of Bogdan Bogdanović’s memorial architecture is from the Decision designating the architectural complex of the Partisans’ memorial cemetery in Mostar as a national monument, Official Gazette of BiH no. 90/60.
(8) Aleksander Trumić, Nacrtane riječi i napisani crteži, spisateljski i graditeljski opit Protomajstora Bogdana, doctoral dissertation. (Univerzitet u Sarajevu, Arhitektonski fakultet, 1988) 83.
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