Cultural Theorist: Kitsch Becomes Common, Belgrade Handed Over to Ignoramuses

Milana Dragicevic Sesis (YouTube screenshot)

Cultural Theorist Milana Dragicevic Sesic believes that kitsch has become a part of the everyday life, best reflected in the majority of projects the current government has been drafting, and that Belgrade has been handed over to ignoramuses.

“Kitsch, they say, is the art of happiness. The authorities, therefore, want to convince us that we live in a happy society and that, judging by their statements, everything is wonderful, beautiful and happy. The majority of the projects they create, draft or support, allow, in fact, for a better emission of this kitsch reality,” Dragicevic Sesic said for the March 10 issue of the Nedeljnik weekly.

“In that reality, our economic growth is the greatest in the world, we’ve long surpassed Slovenia, Croatia and the rest, and any criticism that comes from the EU or the Freedom House organization is perceived as enemy propaganda, brought about by some evil NGOs which are disturbed by the blossoming this government has enabled and initiated,” she said.

The prime examples of kitsch in Belgrade she sees in the Slavija square fountain, with its lilac-pink lights, and the sculpture erected “in front of the [former main] train station, which is a kind of an unnecessary kitsch of historical romanticism.”

 “I’m afraid we won’t be remembering this era for its good traits, and these structures will remain as permanent warning [and memory] of a time when we’d given up on fighting and handed over our city to ignoramuses,” Dragicevic Sesic warned.