Architecture. Sculpture. Remembrance. in Mostar

Hosting of the exhibition Architecture. Sculpture. Remembrance. The art of monuments of Yugoslavia 1945–1991 continues to travel throughout the republics of the former Yugoslavia.

From 23rd to 30th April 2023, the exhibition was presented in Mostar in OKC Abrasevic and thereby additionally marking the successful registration of the Partisan Cemetery in Mostar by architect Bogdan Bogdanović on the EUROPA NOSTRA list of the seven most endangered European cultural heritages, which took place on 13th April 2023. On February 6, 2023, the DESSA Gallery sent an appeal and supported the efforts of Bosnian colleagues and the institution Urbana hiša IDEAA.
 
As the exhibition is being hosted in Mostar we are adding The “Hidden Hand” Memorial Fountain, which was designed by the sculptor Sulejman Ðapo in Mostar in 1982 to the collection of monuments, which are already presented at the exhibition. 
 
We would like to thank our colleague architect Senada Demirović, IDEAA, for the cooperation and co-organization of the exhibition in Mostar.
 
The “Hidden Hand” Memorial Fountain
In front of the Mostar Health Center on the west side of the Neretva River is a modest memorial fountain. This small monument, which is often locally referred to as the “Hidden Hand”, commemorates the people known as “ilegalci”, who were those who lived in Mostar during WWII working normal jobs, but secretly and illegally funneled their income towards the Partisan resistance. The fountain, created in 1982 by sculptor Sulejman Ðapo, consists of a 3-4m wide basin out of which protrudes a concrete claw-like semi-sphere. This monument was extremely neglected and degraded during the Bosnian War of the 1990s, with Slides 1 & 2 here showing the entire structure riddled with bullet holes, as well as having its memorial plaques stolen. After having sat in such a state for nearly two decades, in 2010 the memorial fountain was fully restored and rehabilitated (Slide 3) by the initiative of Mostar’s city administration. Commemorative ceremonies have even begun to take place at the fountain again (Slide 4). The exact coordinates for this memorial fountain are N43°20’24.5”, E17°48’30.3”, right at the corner of Kneza Mihajla Viševića Humskog and highway M6.1.
The Commission to Preserve of National Monuments made a decision at the session held from April 1st  to 3rd 2014, that the Monument to the Hanged Illegals, “Hidden Hand”,  does not meet the criteria for being declared a national monument.
 
 
The “Hidden Hand” Memorial Fountain • Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina • Sculptor: Sulejman Ðapo • Today’s owner: The City of Mostar • Material: concrete • Photographs: Sulejman Demorivć, archival photographs memorylimit.blogger.ba • Text: https://memorylimit.blogger.ba/2021/11/04/spomen-fontana-spomenik-ilegalcu/, Spomenik Database | The Partisan Cemetery at Mostar
 
In media
https://www.ideaa-mostar.com/en/izlozba-arhitektura-skulptura-sjecanje/
https://www.ideaa-mostar.com/izlozba-arhitektura-skulptura-sjecanje/