RUSEVINE (Croatia, 2008)
In Croatia the recent past is still all too much in evidence in the landscape. For instance, one finds many empty houses, that often are the property of the Serbian minority. Sometimes they are part of entire abandoned villages, sometimes the neighbouring houses are still occupied, and sometimes they stand isolated on hills sown with anti-personnel mines. Masha Matijevic surveys these ‘modern ruins’. For her, the rusevine (ruins) are a symbol for the way Croatia is looking to the future, and dealing with its own past, scarred by way and ethnic conflicts. On the one hand, the dwellings are being fixed up as part of the moves toward Croatia’s desired admission to the EU; on the other, they are left undisturbed as remains of a past which people would rather not discuss.
