

Besides being from a time period and in a region I couldn’t find more interesting, these monuments were created in a style that is rarely, if not never, used anymore. The title is not lying when it says these “look like they’re from the future.” I view them with the same fascination I look at movies made in the 1970s or 80s made about the upcoming 2000s, featuring hovercars, elaborate computer systems in every home, and overly sleek buildings and machines.  Of course besides looking so unfamiliar to our modern eyes, there is a lot to be said about these huge symbolic gestures of the former Yugoslavia and what they meant to the people then and now. Can they still function as valid sculpture today or are they relics of a time and ideas too different or made bitter by social historical fracturing?

Another thing that I find very cool, was that the photographer spent 3 years visiting these monuments, using old maps from 1975. Many of these sites appear seldom visited, if not entirely forgotten and most certainly rarely see foreign tourists. This is exactly the perfect blend of adventure and historical-cultural exploration I would love to include on my next trip!

post by Jackie Clark