Monument to Stefan Nemanja unveiled

The monument to Stefan Nemanja (1113-1199), one of the most important Serbian rulers and founder of the Nemanjic dinasty, unveiled on January 27 on reconstructed Sava Square in Belgrade, despite of critical voices of various experts and intelectuals.

The monument of imposing dimensions (23.5 meters high and five meters below ground, weighing about 80 tons), was made in bronze by Russian sculptor Alexander Rukavishnikov, an active member of Russian Academy of Arts and the Head of sculpture department at The Surikov Art Institute, who wesn’t present at the ceremony.

The pedestal of the monument looks like an open-air exhibition itself, with mosaics on the inside that represent parts of the Grand Prince Stefan Nemanja’ life. Stefan Nemanja stands on a Byzantine helmet, holding a sword in one hand and th Charter of Hilandar in the other. The plateau around the monument is paved with stone cubes more than 100 years old, which were found during the construction works in the immediate vicinity of Sava Square.

The ceremony of unveiling the monument was attended by the President of the Republic of Serbia Aleksandar Vucic, Prime Minister Ana Brnabic, ministers in the Serbian government, Serbian Parliament Chair Ivica Dacic and Serbian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Milorad Dodik, as well as the City of Belgrade officials - Mayor Zoran Radojicic, Deputy Mayor Goran Vesic, and dignitaries of the Serbian Orthodox Church, representatives of the diplomatic corps, Banja Luka Mayor Drasko Stanivukovic…

The President of the Republic pointed out that the ceremony is not just an act of unveiling the monument, but an act of taking care of oneself and one's identity.

“To stand here means repentance for all the years during which we forgot about him, but also the awareness that we have finally discovered the root from which Serbia was created”, stated Vucic, adding that the monument to Stefan Nemanja is primarily a story “about us, who we were, where we were, what we did and most of all what we are today and what we want to become”.

As Stefan Nemanja built endowments, we must build them today, aware that our present is the endowment of our future, said Vucic at the ceremony that was transmited live on Radio-Television of Serbia.

Vucic also said that in the previous period Serbia tried to rise from the ashes, to renew and build its railways, roads, hospitals, schools, as well as to restore the faith in ourselves, and in the possibilities and the strength of the state.

“Tonight, I am especially happy, because here, where we stand, there is a temple dedicated to Nemanja's third son, the great Saint Sava. As we are unveiling the monument today, we managed to build and paint a mosaic in the largest Orthodox church in a short time. That is how we will renew Hilandar”, Vucic said.

"Without the awareness that there was someone before us - someone who had dreams that we live today - no dream of the future is possible. We have the present, because of Stefan Nemanja and his son Rastko - our Saint Sava, and because of Stefan the First-Crowned, because of Milutin, Dušan, Uroš, Lazar, Vuk, Đurađ, Stefan, and because of Đorđe and Miloš, Mihajlo and Milan, Petar, and both Aleksandars. Because of the people who told that story, the story about us, the story about Serbia. And the word we say today - the word 'Serbia' - is not ours. They created it, thus creating us too, and we must never forget that. They forged it, from Sitnica to Marica, from Kosovo to Kumanovo, from Cer to Kajmakčalan. There is a lot of blood and plenty of lead in that word. That's why it is so heavy, that's why it is so great. That is why it is such an obligation, for everyone who dares to say it”, said Vucic.

According to Vucic, Serbia managed the most important thing – to recover the country economically, to defend it nationally, to return it and elevate it spiritually.

Vucic, pointing out that the great ruler is holding a sword and the Hilandar Charter in his hands, reminding that Serbs were a tribe until Stefan Nemanja, and from his rule until today a nation-building people.

“This is not just an act of revealing to the father and creator of the state, this is a kind of act of taking care of ourselves and our identity. To stand here in front of the great Stefan Nemanja means repentance of sorts, for all the years of oblivion,” Vucic stressed.

This monument, Vucic said, is huge because everyone should see it and see us through it - upright and proud, people ready to work and build, friends who do not want to take anything from anyone, but who will defend what's ours.

"I am grateful to everyone who contributed to the creation of this artistic masterpiece, from sculptors Svetomir Arsić Basara, Vladimir Veličković and Emir Kusturica to Aleksandar Rukavishnikov”, Vucic said.

Vucic also thanked the Belgrade Waterfront company who turned the Sava Square from “an ugly site into the most beautiful place".

The Serbian member of the Bosnia-Herzegovina Presidency Milorad Dodik said that the Serbs have long ago learned that there is no freedom without a state. “Even today, we are fighting under modern circumstances," Dodik said, adding that the medieval part of history of Serbia remained repressed, and that the time had come for us to return to our core values.

"Today's Serbia is more and more advanced, we see progress at every step. We from Republika Srpska are looking at Serbia's progress and we are always happy when we can contribute to it. I am grateful to President Vučić for understanding not only us in Republika Srpska, but also for all Serbs in Montenegro and everywhere", Dodik said.

The monument that was installed differs from the one that won the competition, because Stefan Nemanja now holds a sword in one hand instead of a cross. Russian artist said that it was changed on demand by the Serbian authorities. According to explanations in the media, Stefan Nemanja was the founder of Serbian statehood and spirituality, but that the idea of statehood prevailed, which was not achieved by the Russian cross but, as always, by the sword.

Many citizens gathered on the Sava Square, and because of the unveiling ceremony, the public transport timetable was changed. A video beam was set up on the Sava Square, from where a film about Stefan Nemanja, his significance for Serbia and the creation of the monument was broadcast, and during the evening, lighting was gradually released on the square, around the monument and upon the monument itself. After the ceremonial unveiling of the monument, church bells rang from all Belgrade sanctuaries.

The monument was completely made in Moscow, and its installation began in August 2020, and was completed at the end of December 2020. According to the deputy mayor of Belgrade, "it became the property of the people".

In addition to an applause, the grandiose monument to Stefan Nemanja received a number of criticisms, becoming controversial for various reasons, one of them being its cost which is unknown.

Opponents think the monument is a megalomaniacal and pricy token of Vucic’s populist and autocratic rule that should be removed, while he said that all those who “dream of removing it” will not succeed because it represents “the anchor of the whole Serbian nation.”

The Society of Serbian Art Conservators said the monument is an “ideological product of despotism” which has no connection with Serbia and Belgrade of the 21st century.

According to art historian Branislav Dimitrijevic, the monument to Stefan Nemanja as well as the installation of other monuments in Belgrade in the last two or three decades, shows that the issue of symbolic marking of the public space, and especially of the art in the public space, is much more complex than the pouring of bronze figures of great men and a "Pharaonic" approach to urban space engineering. The enormous presence of this monument, seven-storey building high, serves the purpose of distracting attention away from the vital issues of Serbian society in order to cover up everything that no longer exists in the immediate vicinity of this monument, or in the entire city, said Dimitrijevic.

Also, the building of the monument has often been compared by critics to a controversal project Skopje 2014 in North Macedonia’s capital.

Several professors of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade have asked the Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade to provide them with an overview of the costs associated with the construction of the monument to Stefan Nemanja, in accordance with the Law on Free Access to Information of Public Interest.

In the open letter, professors Dubravka Stojanovic, Ognjen Radonjic, Sasa Brajovic, Nenad Makuljevic and Milan Vukomanovic stated that the construction of the monument in honour of Stefan Nemanja was initiated and carried out by the state and city authorities and therefore asked the Secretariat for Culture of the Belgrade, as the body that commissioned the works, to inform public on all costs of the entire process of starting, building, transporting and erecting the monument, about the companies and individuals who have performed these tasks and the dates of the conclusion of all contracts, as well as the source of funding for these costs.

According to the Customs documents, seen on the N1 television, the monument to Stefan Nemanja costs at least 9 million EUR.

The Serbian authorities have decided to keep this information secret until 2023.

*Photo: RTS/screenshot

(SEEcult.org)