Last night, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Montenegro hosted the literary evening “Archaeology of Resistance”, dedicated to Dubravka Ugrešić, one of the most important writers of contemporary European literature, whose work continues to speak powerfully about freedom, responsibility, and the role of the writer in times of social upheaval.

The discussion on the work, intellectual legacy, and cultural significance of Dubravka Ugrešić featured Dr. Maja Vodopivec, lecturer at Leiden University and President of the Dubravka Ugrešić Foundation; Zlatan Tunjić, PhD candidate at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg; Dr. Sonja Tomović Šundić, Professor at the University of Montenegro; and Dr. Andrijana Nikolić, Professor at the Faculty for Montenegrin Language and Literature in Cetinje. The evening was moderated by Suzana Popović, museum advisor for literature, while selected texts were read by Anja Popović, political scientist.

Speaking about Dubravka Ugrešić’s oeuvre, Prof. Dr. Sonja Tomović Šundić emphasized that Ugrešić was an author who left a profound mark on the contemporary era, both through her literary work and through her political and ethical positions.

“Dubravka Ugrešić belongs to the very верш of European literature. Her poetics of resistance, constructed through fragments, play with language, and the deconstruction of myths and stereotypes, constantly questions the meaning of the text and spiritual values in an era of popular culture and triviality,” Tomović Šundić noted.

Prof. Dr. Andrijana Nikolić pointed to the multilayered identity of Dubravka Ugrešić, describing her as a Croatian, Yugoslav, post-Yugoslav, and Dutch writer, whose work was shaped by the experience of displacement and cultural transition.

“The NIN Award, granted to Dubravka Ugrešić in 1988, is a recognition of literature that arises from life, but also from literature itself. Her texts erase the boundaries between fact and fiction and demand an active, investigative reader,” Nikolić emphasized.

Zlatan Tunjić spoke about the need to reread Dubravka Ugrešić, especially among younger generations, stressing that her work is not a matter of the past but a mirror of contemporary society.

“When we speak of Dubravka Ugrešić, we are not speaking of a footnote in literary history, but of a space of thought that continues to disturb us today. Her texts do not offer comfort, but vigilance and responsibility,” Tunjić said.

Reflecting on her biography, it was emphasized that Dubravka Ugrešić, despite being exposed to persecution, public humiliation, and the loss of professional and national belonging, remained consistent with her own ethics. “Her departure from Croatia in 1993 was a painful but necessary act of self-defense,” it was noted, adding that exile became a space for a new life and creation, although marked by lasting scars.

At the end of the evening, Dr. Maja Vodopivec, Director of the Dubravka Ugrešić Foundation, addressed the audience, speaking about the fulfillment of the author’s final wish – the establishment of the Foundation as a place of encounter, not merely of remembrance.

“The Dubravka Ugrešić Foundation is not an institutional framework of memory, but a space of living dialogue and ethical responsibility toward a form of thought that does not consent to oblivion. Dubravka remains a symbol of freedom and an example of consistency, even at the cost of solitude,” Vodopivec concluded.

The literary evening “Archaeology of Resistance” confirmed that Dubravka Ugrešić remains a powerful, living presence in thought today – an example of how an individual of free spirit can stand upright and consistent, even in times that do not encourage such consistency.