Knin Wall Newspaper

"Knin Wall Newspaper", a project situated in the town of Knin, is a cooperation between a local high school, public library, and an NGO, initiated by a Zagreb based art organization. Through community gatherings, locals of different generations edit wall newspapers on the history of everyday life in the city, in order to counteract big national narrative which is present on site through several big scale monuments on Croatian history and on the Independence War of 1990s. In this project, local community, divided by war, and consisting of different nationalities, connects, exchange and unite.

The culture of memory is a conflicted field, and an open wound in the Croatian society of today. The town of Knin, the medieval capital of Croatia is as well a symbol of victory and liberation in the Homeland War of 1990s. However, the present national narrative excludes Serbian minority and therefore seeks reconciliation. 

KNIN Wall Newspapers offer a safe space for non-dominant and non-polarizing  narratives in which locals of different generations, diverse national and other identities talk to each other, tell their stories and memories on the history of everyday life in their town. It opens space of dialogue as it cherishes shared memories.    

The project flows through inter-generational cooperation involving local high-school students and elderly citizens, and several local cultural workers supported by Zagreb based art organization. Local public library and school provide space for workshops and presentations as well as literature and mentoring while a group of local designers does final layout and print.   

The project wants to democratize the culture of remembrance by empowering citizens of Knin to articulate their memories in community and in public space - to thus articulate their voices in the space over saturated with the dominant Croatian nation building narrative.     

The project opens space for dialogue between diverse social groups, encourages the public to put the culture of remembrance into a general democratic debate, shifting the focus from political polarization to the healing potentials of memory. By focusing on memory of everyday life and not on big historical narratives, by being apolitical, this wall-paper is radically engaged.