Dalla Jugoslavia all’Unione Europea

In 2006, the International Commission for the Balkans, chaired by the former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, highlighted the unprecedented commitment by the international community and the European Union towards the territories of Former Jugoslavia. The aim was to achieve peace and prosperity in the region, and enable the successor countries’ accession to the European Union. Thirty years have passed since the beginning of Jugoslavia’s dissolution on June 25, 1991 and more than twenty since the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999, that determined the end of the Jugoslav wars. Yet, these hopes have not yet been fulfilled for the majority successor countries of Former Jugoslavian. With the exception of Slovenia and Croatia (which joined the European Union respectively in 2004 and 2013), the other countries in the region remain distant from the core of Europe and appear to be still burdened by a number of unresolved issues inherited from the ‘90s.

Against this backdrop, the MAXXI’s exhibition, BIGGER THAN MYSELF. HEROIC VOICES FROM EX YUGOSLAVIA, offers the possibility to reflect on the present and future of the countries in the region, with a particular attention on their relationship with the rest of Europe. How strong have these countries been hit by the numerous crises that have struck Europe in recent years? Are the new dynamics of globalisation having an impact on these countries? If so, how? Are the Western Balkans still somewhere between pro-European ambitions and new geopolitical challenges?

The event is organised in cooperation with MAXXI, the National Museum of 21st Century Arts

Photocredit: ph. Musacchio, Ianniello&Pasqualini, Courtesy Fondazione MAXXI