ÚJ SYMPOSION
/5
- ÚJ SYMPOSION
- 1971
- paper, print
- 28,5 × 20 cm
In 1971, the sub-group "February" issued an “Open Letter to the Yugoslav Public,” which triggered a nervous response from the authorities. The letter contained a frontal attack on the political and cultural system, stating: “Political and administrative decision-making has created an atmosphere of fear and endangered progressive thinking and freedom of creation, making work in the art field sickening and hazardous. Self-management practices in a reign-of-terror atmosphere are impossible because the trust of the government is always given to politically ‘correct’ individuals.”
The letter was sent to the most prominent state and party functionaries, institutions, and the media. It is viewed as the first instance, followed by other provocative statements and texts, that resulted in court trials of Miroslav Mandić and Slavko Bogdanović. Mandić would be the first to be given a 9-month prison sentence for the text “ A Poem on a Film”, published in the Hungarian language journal Új Symposion in March of 1972. In May of that same year, Bogdanović was sentenced to 8 months in prison for “inciting resentment amongst the citizens” in his text “Poem of the Underground Youth Tribune of Novi Sad,” published in the Belgrade journal Student in 1971. B.D.
The letter was sent to the most prominent state and party functionaries, institutions, and the media. It is viewed as the first instance, followed by other provocative statements and texts, that resulted in court trials of Miroslav Mandić and Slavko Bogdanović. Mandić would be the first to be given a 9-month prison sentence for the text “ A Poem on a Film”, published in the Hungarian language journal Új Symposion in March of 1972. In May of that same year, Bogdanović was sentenced to 8 months in prison for “inciting resentment amongst the citizens” in his text “Poem of the Underground Youth Tribune of Novi Sad,” published in the Belgrade journal Student in 1971. B.D.