A labyrinth is always a trap and a liberation (when and if you manage to find a way out) at the same time, it depends on you and your skill and perseverance.
And there are various labyrinths wherever you turn.
Historical revisionism has been one of the dominant topics in the Montenegrin public these days and weeks (months, years). The credit for this goes not only to statements like the one Joanikijev about a war criminal as a hero, but also numerous attempts to "sneak through" some less visible things as historically correct, which is how a perverted (often even perverse) value system is created.
Revisionism arises in order to change the dominant value system in a society. That is always what is being said behind closed doors. When criminals become "heroes", it is first and foremost an attempt to make the worldview/meaning of these criminals the value paradigm of a society. Do you think Montenegro is ready for that, and that on that path the substance of explicit resistance will not be constituted?
It's a dangerous game, no doubt, but if a reaction is necessary, then one should not close one's eyes, but be aware of what must be (defended), of everything that must be done.
This revisionist impulse is not just a Montenegrin or regional phenomenon. The entire world is caught up in the wave. The Trumps camp politics, a kind of voluptuous enjoyment of certain elites in distorting facts, in a wild game of false images (and narratives).
In our country, it mostly comes down to presenting the warriors from the nineties as serious, even European politicians.
As a defense against the spirit of revisionism, an exhibition is currently underway in Podgorica Labyrinth of the nineties, about a decade when an entire society sank. A mosaic of truth that gives a complete picture.
The authors of the exhibition (D. Stojanovic i I. Stiks, Modern Gallery, CCE) have brought to life all those forces that have made the greatest mockery, defeat and deluge of a decade. It is not just a reminder, but also a reflection on a “wrong turn”.
The right word was chosen for the title (and visual concept) - labyrinth. Where it is easy to get lost, but not at all easy to find a way out. Today's Montenegro is a testament to that.
The 1990s are still that fundamental sin that hangs over all of us, over our societies, that makes it impossible to move on... Until all those horrific stories are told, until everything that happened is understood.
You will find yourself in a different kind of labyrinth if you try to understand the confusion of the so-called civic wing on the local political scene. The way they "defend" crucial civic principles is, above all, evidence that they do not understand what this is all about.
Why is our labyrinth (not only in the nineties) so dangerous, complicated and - deadly?
At the center of each labyrinth sits a monster, a black hole born from all the defeats and failures of those who have unsuccessfully sought a way out.
Our problem is that the key emancipatory process in Montenegro was led by a man who was part of the darkest darkness of the 1990s.
It's like a bride asking a chimney sweep to fold her wedding dress. He can do it, but don't be surprised if the dress is full of stains.
I don't mind. Đukanović that he changed the table, on the contrary, I believe he did well, that every awareness is significant and contributes to the progress of a sick/wounded society... The main complaint is that he believed that he could and should use the same mechanisms that he used when he was on the side of darkness when he crossed over to the other side.
In fact, this has tarnished an authentic (and great) idea and brought it to the brink. That is why it is crucial for the full momentum of emancipatory and European forces in Montenegro that Đukanović is not on the scene. He has already hindered Montenegro's path to a better future enough. In other words, he has turned that path into a complex labyrinth.
At the center of which he remains as the infamous Minotaur. Or, in our case, Milotaur...
Bonus video:
