Zagreb, July 21, 2021
Isabell Radešić, an architecture graduate from Pula, won our competition for the creation of an artistic design for the commemoration of civil war victims.
At the beginning of May, we announced the call in search of an artistic design that can be installed in unmarked places where civilians suffered during the wars of the 1990s on the territory of the Republic of Croatia.
Eleven artists, creatives, architects, and students responded to our call. A 5-member expert commission evaluated their proposals for artistic designs to commemorate civil war victims. Members of the commission included Zorana Unković (painter), dr. sc. Tomislav Pletenac (cultural anthropologist), Romano Nikolić (Arterarij artistic director), mag.art.dipl. Hrvoje Gregorić (conservator-restorer), and Ante Pereza (a graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb; member of the board of directors of the Youth Initiative for Human Rights).
Photo: Isabell Radešić
The selection process included two phases. During the first phase, members of the commission selected the candidates who made it to the final round. During the second phase, the commission conducted interviews with the finalists, giving them a chance to explain more clearly and with more detail their proposals, ideas, motivation, and other relevant information which they wished to share.
The commission unanimously selected Isabell’s proposal. As she explained in the application herself, Isabell’s artistic design proposes a collection of reflective metal surfaces spread across the country in which the observer sees their own reflection. The elements are fragments of the whole monument, which are individually incomplete, and they are shaped to resemble pieces of a broken mirror. There are no identical elements, yet they are all recognizable and clear.
Foto: Isabell Radešić
The commission found her idea for commemorating civil war victims to be excellent. One of the members of the commission stated how “on one hand, it leaves the message that each civil war victim is like us, and on the other hand, how fragile lives are”. Furthermore, they describe her design as easily readable, striking, impressive, doable, and long-lasting.
The Youth Initiative for Human Rights team thanks all candidates for their creativity and contribution in recognizing this important topic through their suggested proposals. Additionally, a big thanks to the members of the commission who directed their time and expertise into detailed and committed work while selecting the best design.
We will deliver the winning design to the local and regional self-government bodies alongside recommendations for the appropriate commemoration of civil war victims. Many places of civilian suffering all over Croatia are not marked. Without making any distinctions between victims, we want to encourage local governments to responsibly deal with the past and commemorate all civilian war victims.
The competition for the artistic design for the commemoration of civil war victims is part of the project 4O: Discovery, awareness, empowerment and human rights organization whose total value is 170.147€ out of which 149.922,00€ is funded with the support of Iceland, Lichtenstein, and Norway under EGP grants.