Public Lecture - Women's Antiwar Resistance in the '90s in Belgrade

 

Special guest of the public lecture was Zorica Trifunović, feminist, anti-war activist and one of the organisers of key anti-war campaigns during the 1990s, including the "Don't Count on Us" concert.

 

 

 

 

Locations

 

THE STUDENT'S CULTURAL CENTRE

The starting point of the tour as a reminder of the cornerstone event of the whole feminist movement in the Yugoslav region: the International Conference "Comrade Woman. The Women’s Issue. A New Approach?” held there in 1978. The SCC was the scene of intense debating throughout the 1980s. With nationalist mobilisation and the outbreak of the wars in the 1990s, most feminist activities shifted towards resistance to war and violence. This resistance, among other things, is manifested through the considerable presence of women among the proponents of the first anti-war groups, organisations and initiatives (the Centre for Anti-War Action, the Belgrade Circle, the Civilian Resistance Movement, GAMA, the Humanitarian Law Centre and others) and participants in protests and campaigns; as well as through the founding of feminist and peace organisations such as the Women in Black whose first standing protests against the war and ethnic cleansing took place in front of the SCC.

 

 

 

 

PIONIRSKI PARK

The majority of anti-war campaigns and protests took place between the Presidential Palace, the Federal Assembly building and Pionirski Park ("Stop the Hatred to Stop the War", "The Yellow Ribbon", the "Candles for all those Killed in the War", "Peace in Bosnia"…). Women are the primary organisers of peace initiatives and founders of peace organisations in Serbia and for the most part, they were the principal pillars of war resistance. This resistance was articulated through public campaigns, but also through the organisation of assistance to refugees (a considerable part of whom were women and children) and the distribution of humanitarian aid, as well as the collection of data on war crimes, various forms of peace-keeping trainings and assistance to those refusing conscription.

 

 

 

 

REPUBLIC SQUARE

On 22 April 1992, Republic Square hosted an anti-war rock concert, "SOS for Peace: Don't Count on Us", featuring the following bands: Rimtutituki, Boye, Obojeni Program, Rambo Amadeus and attended by some 55,000 people. The Republic Square is, among other things, a place where, shortly after the Dayton Accords were signed in 1995, protests organised by the Women in Black under the slogans "Not in our Name" and "Let's not Fool Ourselves", took place drawing attention to those not "counted" as worthy of being remembered by the official national remembrance and oblivion system, those made victims through Serbian nationalism.

 

 

 

The Guided Tour Video