Centre for Civic Education (CCE), Foundation M90, and Cultural Front from Serbia, in cooperation with the Municipality of Budva, will open the exhibition “The Nineties: From Dissent to Resistance” on Monday, 1 September 2025, at 8:00 PM, in the Church of Santa Maria in Punta, in Budva.
At a time when wars, hatred, poverty, and violence shaped the daily lives of millions, there were individuals, collectives, and organizations who chose not to remain silent – they chose resistance. The new exhibition “The Nineties: From Dissent to Resistance” is dedicated to them, continuing years of work on researching and presenting an alternative view of a turbulent decade in the former Yugoslavia.
Thirty years after the wars ended, the exhibition reminds us of those who fought against nationalism, war, repression, and injustice, often at great personal risk. Through six thematic sections, visitors will have the opportunity to discover stories of dissent, resistance, and civic courage.
“When we talk about the nineties, we usually speak about crimes, sanctions, misery, exile, and destruction – the consequences of policies that promoted violence, national exclusivity, and war as the only path. However, we rarely talk about the people who opposed those policies. Those who refused to remain silent, who chose to speak out, write, protest, help others, and take risks – because they believed there had to be another way. We rarely talk about the fact that even then, in the darkest times, there were sparks of solidarity, courage, artistic expression, civic resistance, and hope”, state the exhibition authors Dubravka Stojanović, Igor Štiks and Dejan Ubović, emphasizing that the exhibition is also an attempt to express gratitude to them.
A significant part of the exhibition is dedicated to independent and anti-war media – both print and electronic – which played a key role in exposing propaganda and reporting on war events and the struggle against authoritarian regimes. Art as a space of resistance reveals how artists, through performances, photography, music, and film, expressed their dissent from dominant and ruling narratives
The exhibition also presents protests and civic initiatives that, despite repression, were organized throughout the former Yugoslavia. Everyday life, too, offered many opportunities to express resistance, often highlighting invisible but important acts by individuals who provided help, saved lives, or refused to participate in violence.
One of the central parts of the exhibition is the Wall of Heroes, an homage to individuals who demonstrated exceptional civic courage. It prominently features true civic and human heroes – symbols of resistance – such as Srđan Aleksić, Nedjeljko Galić, Miroslav Milenković, General Vladimir Trifunović, Goran Čengić, Admiral Vladimir Barović, and Tomo Buzov. A particularly emotional section is Goranka’s Niche, dedicated to Goranka Matić, a renowned artistic photographer and chronicler of social change during the nineties, whose work is an indelible part of collective memory.
The exhibition “The Nineties: From Dissent to Resistance” will be open to the public until 30 September 2025, every day except Mondays, from 10:00 AM to 8:00 PM.
This exhibition stems from the “Museum of the Nineties” initiative, which has had notable showings in Belgrade, Sarajevo, and Podgorica. In June 2025, the permanent exhibition “The Labyrinth of the Nineties” was opened in Belgrade. The exhibition is organized by the Cultural Front, Foundation M90, and CCE, with support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the MATRA programme, as well as the European Fund for the Balkans (EFB) and the Shared Horizons project, funded by the Republic of France and implemented by Expertise France, Groupe AFD. The content of this exhibition is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the views of the donors.
Maja Marinović, Programme Associate