20 Apr Not a Fairytale But… at the KROKODIL Center
On Tuesday, April 28 at 18:30h, at the KROKODIL Center (Karađorđeva 43, Belgrade), we continue the series of regional events that combine discussions, narration, and multimedia installations under the name Not a Fairytale But… Join us in narrating the third chapter, Not a Fairytale But… It Has Forest Fairies, which focuses on the pacifist engagement of women in Montenegro.
Participating in the discussion during the first part of the event are the collaborators of the third chapter of Not a Fairytale But…It Has Forest Fairies: Nađa Bobičić, author of the third chapter; Marijana Stojičić, sociologist, researcher, feminist, and peace activist; and Adriana Zaharijević, philosopher and expert in feminist theory, political philosophy, and social history. The discussion will be moderated by the project’s editor, Milena Berić. Attendees will also have the opportunity to view a conceptual representation of Lepa Mlađenović’s manifesto, The Politics of Women’s Solidarity, in the form of a spatial installation, as well as to read and/or listen to the stories published so far from the three chapters of Not a Fairytale But…
“Every one of us was aware that these were our neighbors and our relatives. It was right close by. Those people came to us both as relatives and friends, and as people who brought their products to sell here. So, a completely normal attitude was that there must be no shooting. That there must be no destruction […] We truly articulated a resistance to war, to killing. That was perhaps clearer to us than anything else,” says Ervina Dabižinović from the Center for Women’s and Peace Education “Anima” in Kotor, who was an active participant in the pacifist struggle in Montenegro during the 90s.
About Not a Fairytale But…:
Through five monthly chapters, in various formats—audio, video, text—we bring true stories about the real heroines of the nineties: activists, peacemakers, feminists, and fighters who opposed war, nationalism, and political repression during the breakup of Yugoslavia. These are women who refused to be enemies to one another, regardless of which side they found themselves on, because they understood that sisterhood knows no nation and that love and care for others are the only cure for hatred.
Our intention is to map and analyze the legacy of the women’s peace movement of the nineties, in which the struggle was not fought with a rifle in hand but on the streets, in cultural institutions, on SOS hotlines, and in shelters. Peace activism was a sure path to being accused of “betraying the nation,” but also the direct successor to the women’s anti-fascist struggle.
Through storytelling, we explore how today’s young activists and students adopt and reshape these practices in the fight against contemporary political repression: which tactics, symbols, and ethics of resistance they choose; how they connect a feminist approach to peace with labor, social, and other civil rights; and how they preserve memory and insist on justice today in Belgrade, Zagreb, and Sarajevo.
This project is funded by the UK international development program and is implemented in partnership with the British Council.
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