ANDREJ ĐERKOVIĆ
ZONA ROSSA / 2017
ARS AEVI Museum of Contemporary arts Sarajevo
"Zona Rossa" is a cycle of photographs made in the central area of the Italian city of L'Aquila, which was completely destroyed during the tragic earthquake on April 6th, 2009. The area defined as the "Red Zone (Zona Rossa)" represents the perimeter of the historical centre which, due to the massive damage, was completely evacuated and which has been uninhabited since that tragic earthquake.
Entry into the area is forbidden, and the same is inaccessible the public, except for reconstruction workers and members of the military and police representatives, who ensure compliance with strict security regulations. Locations in the "Red Zone" are defined as places of high risk for normal social development, and this intimate photographic series aims to point out the desire and weight of reconstruction, not only for this picturesque medieval city, but also for reconstruction of the human spirit, against the destruction of life, the history and the identity of its inhabitants.
Following countless examples of art works with the so-called "emptiness", this photographic series also seems to be a subject of ambiguous desires. Through its “emptiness”, it depicts human fatalism and the character of people who stayed overnight without their homes, which resulted in personal emptiness in their own lives that could not be explained if it is not personally experienced. Empty streets and squares of abandoned city corridors are open to a limitless interpretation in which the ability to perceive life before and after, becomes a precondition for being in the same.
The passer-by is invited for interaction, by confronting the emptiness of the city outlines with imaginary content, which has the task of replacing the urban landscape. By his direct interference, the author explicitly expresses the inability to overcome the constant conflict between personal and collective memory with reality.
ARS AEVI Museum of Contemporary arts Sarajevo, 2017