Sounding Spomenik

While the striking and still enigmatic appearance of the abstract brutalist monuments of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has been well-documented in recent years, we know hardly anything about their sounding aspects. Most of these spomeniks (original plural form spomenici, meaning memorials in the Serbo-Croatian language, derived from the root spomen- which means memory) have hollow parts that serve as resonant spaces. The most characteristic materials from which these historical artefacts were made are poured concrete and rebar, or steel frames with metallic covering plates, all materials that certainly influence sounds or can modify them audibly. Curiously, nobody has until now examined, thoroughly documented and published these enduring landscape objects as acoustic spaces. Besides the spomeniks' direct sonic aspects, we know little about their surrounding acoustic environments. The majority of these unique and individual monuments were constructed in remote rural locations, usually far from any urbanization, while some of them were erected in city centres or suburbs, or near villages – all of which give rise to a highly diverse range of sounding ambience.

However these spomeniks functioned – and some of them still function – as World War II memorials with a clear anti-fascist connotation, and from the mid-50s until the late 70s as the materialized emblems of Josip Broz Tito's utopian idea of a strong and united Yugoslavian state with the slogan 'brotherhood and unity', we regard these abstract but undisputedly iconic modernist constructions primarily as architectural works of art. These monuments, rooted in the anti-fascist struggle and commemorating countless victims of oppression, carry deep historical and ideological weight. We approach them with respect for their historical significance and as reminders of the fight against fascism. As a record label, we are interested in exploring their layered histories, but our primary focus lies in uncovering and amplifying the unique sonic qualities embedded within these monumental structures.

In 2021, Inexhaustible Editions sublabel SonoLiminal initiated a long-term research, recording and publishing project to explore and reveal the sonic attributes of spomeniks of the former Yugoslavia (which can now be found in Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, and North Macedonia) by asking local instrumentalists – mainly young and remarkably talented professional musicians working locally or internationally in the fields of free improvisation or contemporary composed music – to play sounds on-site, and to find the most responsive or fascinating sounding parts of the monuments. Besides the intentional sounds produced by musical instruments, we intend also to document the unintentional sounds of the immediate surroundings via environmental recordings. Each year we plan to visit, examine and reflect on at least three or four monuments through field trips, recording sessions and, eventually, audio publications. Until now we have gathered more than twenty locations with emblematic spomeniks which are relevant to our Sounding Spomenik project.

We invite you to visit this page and the space below from time to time for updates on the project; we are going to share texts, photo galleries, and videos about the development of this ambitious and presumably adventurous research and publishing work on this inequitably unrevealed subject.

László Juhász
April 2021

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