COCA-COLA SOCIALISM PRIVATE TOUR

Blow away the dust of time from the Iron Curtain and step into Yugoslavia, a country of Coca-Cola communism. At this exquisite time travel, we are rediscovering with you the golden age of Yugoslavian art and prosperity, but also one of the most controversial persons of the 20th century, an adept political acrobat, Tito. The lifelong president of Yugoslavia was not only a dictator but a big admirer of the Seventh art and a massive fan of Gary Cooper. You will also find out who was the childhood idols of Tito's time and stay surprised at how much America and communist Yugoslavia had in common. This tour is about those artists who found their way to fight for the freedom of speech and who gave birth to impressive Yugoslavian art. When young people all over the world reacted to the stormy Cold war atmosphere, students of Socialist Yugoslavia had a revolution of their own. Artists of different profiles criticized the state for creating unique pieces of art. All these artistic activities were subversive, political statements that transformed Yugoslavian society and its experience of socialism. Our journey through time begins at where everything started, the SKC-Student Cultural Center, where Marina Abramovic, the grandmother of the Art of Performance, set sailed into her artistic Odyssey by putting her body in a five-pointed burning star. That was when the Black Wave of Yugoslav cinematography was born and the avant-garde Belgrade International Theater Festival-BITEF was founded.  We will uncover for you how Belgrade became a city where jazz was played at state events and where Hollywood movies were eagerly awaited.  Belgrade in which you could have listened to the songs of Elvis Presley and the Beatles, drink Coca-Cola, wore jeans, have long or short hair no matter your gender, and still love Russia.