A surname obliges, but it must not hold you back, says a Montenegrin sculptor Marko Petrović Njegoš in an interview with "Vijesti" commenting on how he experiences his own, and on the occasion of the recently marked day, a great one for the society, culture, state and identity of Montenegro.
Njegoš Day - a Montenegrin cultural holiday celebrating the rich legacy of the bishop Rade Tomov, Petar II Petrovic Njegoš, is celebrated on the day of his birth, November 13. The splendor and significance of that legacy on various levels is unquestionable, and sculptor Petrović Njegoš from Nikšić states what it means to him personally.
"For me, heritage serves more as a silent landmark, a reminder of freedom, clean knees, and true dialogue," he points out in an interview with "Vijesti".
He believes that we do not understand Njegoš, and that is why "he is being manipulated so much."
"Njegoš is not simple or unambiguous. There is both light and darkness in him, both doubt and faith. In that sense, when we reduce him to just a symbol or a political slogan, we lose what is essential," he concludes.
Speaking of Njegoš today, he claims he would be an atheist, and sums up the current state of consciousness and culture.
"Montenegro is a country of absurdities: a monument two and a half meters high and almost two tons, dedicated to a criminal Pavle Đurišić, He's on the run from police across the country. The public knows what he looks like and is familiar with the events, but I wonder how many people in this country know what he looks like. Michelangelo's "'David'? On the one hand, we glorify violent people, and on the other hand, we don't even know the basic history of art," says Marko Petrović Njegoš.
On the occasion of November 13th, sculptor Marko Petrović Njegoš speaks to “Vijesti” about all of this. He also talks about his creativity, motives, and reflections, and reveals what he is currently working on, explaining why the public will wait for his solo exhibition.
We recently celebrated Njegoš Day, which celebrates the figure and work of Petar II Petrović Njegoš, his, but also the rich Montenegrin heritage that is also your personal - family heritage. What does this holiday mean to you?
Njegoš Day is a reminder that culture is not something that happened, but something we live. He is a figure through whom Montenegro is reflected, but also its eternal search for meaning and freedom. For me personally, that day also has a family significance, but I do not experience it through the surname, but through the obligation to express myself honestly in my time, as he did in his.
Montenegro often refers to Njegoš - in culture, politics, symbols. Do we really understand him or do we overuse him?
We do not understand him, which is why he is manipulated so much. Njegoš is not simple or unambiguous. There is both light and darkness in him, and doubt and faith. In that sense, when we reduce him to just a symbol or a political slogan, we lose what is essential. He lived in his time of other principles. They are trying to change his national identity through political malfeasance, they have become accustomed to the place of his eternal resting place being an incredible architectural monument. Because of the distorted ideology of those who would rather Montenegro did not exist. Along with them, the Church of Serbia, which is essentially not the church of this country, but has remained to us as a remnant from the shameful violent unification of 1918, has a great influence. And all this passes, because we do not understand him. I am sure of one thing, the Njegoš of today would be an atheist.
What does November 13th mean to you personally and how do you carry your family legacy?
It is a calm but constant responsibility. A surname obliges, but it must not restrain. For me, heritage serves more as a silent landmark, a reminder of freedom, pure knees and true dialogue. Njegoš spoke in verse, I speak in stone. It is important that speech remains preserved in time, a spark in stone.
Did Njegoš influence your formation as a person and an artist? How do you translate that into your sculptural language?
As a person, not as a person, my parents shaped me, but as an artist in my thirties, they did. His reflection on man between earth and sky. In sculpture, I translate this into the desire to find a balance between matter and spirit. Stone is weight, it provides incredible resistance and does not allow for mistakes, wood is life, soft and with every blow of the chisel it gives a new perspective on the idea through the structure of its patterns. Njegoš was aware of this tension between roughness and sublimity, and that is what I try to convey in form.
You most often use stone in combination with wood. Primordial materials. What attracts you to them?
I am attracted to their truth. Wood breathes, has warmth and remembers touch. Stone is silence, constancy. There are also metaphors of Montenegro in them, ruggedness on the outside, softness on the inside. Working with natural materials requires patience, and for me that is exactly the way to stay connected to the elemental.
Your sculptures often combine opposites, as you yourself have explained - soft and hard, intimate and universal. How would you describe your “philosophy of materials”?
I believe that material is not just a tool, but a partner in a dialogue. I don't impose my will on it, but I try to hear it. Every piece of wood, every stone already has a story inside it, I just try to release it. It's a constant struggle. Sculpture, in my opinion, is an act of listening and shaping the invisible.
Walnut is your recognizable motif. Why walnut?
The walnut is a symbol of life, seed and memory. It has had a strong symbolic role in various cultures. It has layers, a hard shell, a hidden core, a shape that resembles a brain. I have always been fascinated by this balance of strength and fragility. It has become my personal signature, but also a symbol of a human being, closed, but full of a world inside. It often happens that my obsession with walnuts is connected with Njegoš's verses. Perhaps there was some unconscious spark, but it was insignificant. The walnut fruit is so full of symbolism, an inexhaustible source of inspiration.
The work “16 Weeks” combines wood, stone and the symbolism of pregnancy. How personal is art to you, and how universal is it?
Art begins with personal experience, but it must transcend the boundaries of intimacy. “16 Weeks” is my personal record, inspired by family and the conception of a child, but at the same time it speaks of pregnancy in general, creation, the life that is born. The personal becomes universal when expressed honestly.
Family, wife, child - they are frequent inspirations in your work. How do you maintain the balance between tenderness and strength, the personal and the universal?
Precisely through honesty. Tenderness is not weakness, but a form of strength. When I create a work about family, I do not seek sentimentality, but the truth of the moment. All my sculptures belong to a certain cycle, a set of moments that have left a mark on my life. Sometimes they also depict pain, anger, emptiness, happiness... In stone and wood I seek what is permanent, in people what is transient. Tension moves me. All in all, a great mental purification.
Do you think about the audience while you create?
Yes, but not as a mass, but as an individual. Every sculpture is an encounter. I don't want the viewer to "understand" my work, but to feel it, to touch it with their eyes. When I succeed in doing that, the dialogue is complete, even if it lasts for a few seconds.
Montenegro is present in your work. Can it be talked about through art today?
Art, in my opinion, is the most honest way to talk about Montenegro because it does not require justification or words. Through stone and wood I speak about the land, about its strength, about Montenegrins, my people, this material is essentially its flesh, bones, tissue. Montenegro is not just a landscape, but a sense of belonging and a struggle to preserve dignity.
Although, it is difficult to talk about dignity today, many have trampled it underfoot for the sake of immediate gain.
Your new sculpture is being prepared in front of the RTCG building. What will passersby be able to see?
In front of RTCG, a walnut sculpture called “Surface of Thought” will be created. Of course, my personal signature. I see the walnut as a natural container of thoughts and experiences, closed on the outside, strong, inconspicuous, and complex on the inside. “Surface of Thought” is a reminder that depth exists, but that it needs to be opened, recognized, and have the courage to look into it. And we often don’t have that courage.
What are you currently working on and can we expect an exhibition soon?
I am currently working on something I could call “improving” the culture in this country. Of course, in quotation marks, because the reality is exactly the opposite. Therefore, the exhibition will have to wait.
Montenegro is a country of absurdity: a two and a half meter and almost two ton monument dedicated to a criminal Pavle Đurišić, He's on the run from police across the country. The public knows what he looks like and is familiar with the events, but I wonder how many people in this country know what he looks like. Michelangelo's "David"? On the one hand, we glorify the violent, and on the other hand, we do not even know the elementary history of art. Priests who hide the monument to a criminal further undermine the meaning of their oath; instead of being a moral pillar, they have been transformed into dealers in sacred things and an influential formation in politics. In such a society, art becomes the last oasis of truth, and that is precisely why it bothers many.
That's why I say the exhibition has to wait. I can't create a gallery spectacle while the country is in a cultural darkness that celebrates ignorance, hides the truth, and confuses morality. But I can work. I can leave a mark, even through one shape of a walnut, one cut, one surface of thought. It's my way of resisting this reality.
If institutions are not doing their job, then we who create will have to be the last line of defense of meaning.
Bonus video:
