Neudorf
2025
HR
Naglom industrijalizacijom Slavonije u 19. st. započinje veliki val naseljavanja Nijemcima, Mađarima, Srbima, Rusinima, Slovacima, Česima, Židovima, Austrijancima, Romima, ponešto i Talijanima i Slovencima, kao i Hrvatima iz drugih regija. Formiraju se velika sela u nove etničke, gospodarske, urbanističke, kulturne i konfesionalne zajednice. Novo Selo ili njem. Neudorf je čest naziv za naselja nastala kolonizacijom.
Pečat promjene bila je arhitektura sela - utjecajem doseljenika, posebice Nijemaca, nastaje novi tip kuća. Svi objekti su strukturno jednaki, prilagođeni podneblju i lokalnom životu, a svojim historicističkim fasadama svaki je jedinstven. Na taj način reflektiraju različite identitete zatečene u istim životnim okolnostima. Možda i više nego druge, ove kuće su građene sa vjerom u bolju budućnost. Međutim, kroz 20. stoljeće na ovom prostoru niz ratova i ideologija postupno i temeljito brišu svu etničku raznolikost, ljude i njihove kuće.
Duži niz godina fotografijom bilježim preostale seoske kuća, od kojih su se mnoge, zbog derutnosti, nakon fotografiranja urušile. Serija fotografija se sastoji upravo od tih „mrtvih“ kuća koje apliciram na nedavno snimljene lokacije na kojima su se nalazile, iznad vlastitih ruševina. Povijest je pokazala neutemeljenost ideala suživota koji je s njima građen, a na fotografijama su samo ruševine i duhovi jednog izumrlog svijeta.
Aktualno iseljavanje i demografski slom preostalih Hrvata pokazuje kako ovaj prostor više nije ni za koga.
ENG
With the rapid industrialization of Slavonia in the 19th century, a great wave of settlement began with Germans, Hungarians, Serbs, Ruthenians, Slovaks, Czechs, Jews, Austrians, Roma, some Italians and Slovenes, as well as Croats from other regions. Large villages were formed into new ethnic, economic, urban, cultural and confessional communities. New Village or Neudorf (German) is a common name for settlements created by colonization.
The imprint of the change was the architecture of the village - under the influence of immigrants, especially Germans, a new type of house was created. All buildings are structurally identical, adapted to the climate and local life, and each one is unique with its historicist facades. In this way, they reflect different identities found in the same living circumstances.
Perhaps more than others, these houses were built with faith in a better future. However, throughout the 20th century, three wars and five ideological systems alternated in this area, gradually destroying all ethnic diversity, and with the people, the houses.
For years, I have been photographing the remaining traditional village houses, many of which, due to deterioration, collapsed after being photographed. The series of photographs consists of these "dead" houses that I apply to recently photographed locations where they were located, above their own ruins. History has shown that the ideal of coexistence that was built with them is ungrounded, and the photographs show only ruins and ghosts of an extinct world.
The current emigration and demographic collapse of the remaining Croats shows that this area is no longer for anyone.