Archive for: Studies

The author gives a parallel comparative overview of the Yugoslav society in the 1960s on the one hand, and the rock-n-roll music which established itself as a dominant music trend of the young generations of the decade, on the other. An attempt is made to answer the question of how rock culture as a phenomenon of capitalist and imperialist America has found a place in the cultural map of a socialist anti-imperialist country such as Yugoslavia. The article considers the “crossroads” in which Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia had found itself: while the society had programmed its development in accordance with the materialistic grounds of Marxism (with relevant ideology) its culture unintentionally followed the Weber idealistic perspective. The author aims to prove a thesis under which rock-n-roll, although it came from outside, was not forcefully imposed to Yugoslavia (economically or politically) because rock-n-roll itself represented opposition to the dominant culture of the American society in which it originated. In this part of the article, the author holds an argument with the conspiracy theorists who believe that rock-n-roll had the role of a Trojan horse that would later speed up the ruin of communism. The main reason for such a quick and warm reception of rock-n-roll by the young is found in the fact that even pre-war Yugoslavia had a well grounded tradition of jazz and pop music with adequate culture that rock-n-roll leaned on and enriched. However, rock-n-roll was not that simply assimilated in the land of the communist and antifascist fight heroes. Its acceptance entailed many contradictions, quite different from the ones that were dominant in the USA or Great Britain. The contradictions here arose from the features of the social system and the traditional cultural patterns. According to the author, the acculturation wave that carried the rock-n-roll to Yugoslavia was successful because rock-n-roll is the kind of music that has universal significance and outreach. It cannot be clean cut down to the attributes of its overall esthetic expression – social, anthropological or psychological.

Traditional approach to evaluating the contribution of museums to their environments only considered the social aspect of the benefits and the benefits were recognized only in the areas of heritage protection and educational and cultural missions. Modern approach, however, perceives contribution of museums from the standpoint of branding, as well as economic benefits that non-profit entities and profit entities in the community receive from museum visitors. In addition to secondary contributions to economic development, museums can also be primary instruments of economic revitalization and community development. The paradigm of this kind of development in the last decade of the 20th century was represented through Guggenheim Foundation in Bilbao (Spain), and at the beginning of the second decade of 21st century through Louvre II in Lens (France). Lens has based its previous economic development on mining and accompanying industries. However, the closing of the mines resulted in grave social problems. In addition to decentralization of culture, which has been a focus in France for the past several decades, the establishment of Louvre Lens had as its primary goal the revival of the town with an unemployment rate of 24% (French average is 9%). It was estimated that during the first year of its operations the new museum would have 700,000 visitors, and that after the “first wave”, the normal number of visitors would be 500,000 annually. The new museum was located in a town of 35,000 inhabitants with a hotel capacity of only 250 rooms. However, during the first year of operation (December 2012 – December 2013), it was visited by 900,000 guests. Due to the number of visitors, Lens has seen a 42-million-euro rise in additional income. After Bilbao, Lens has became another paradigm pointing to the economic and developmental benefits that communities can enjoy due to existence of attractive museums branded as cultural and tourist attractions.