Zenitism ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Zenitizam, Зенитизам) was an

avant-garde In the arts and literature, the term ''avant-garde'' ( meaning or ) identifies an experimental genre or work of art, and the artist who created it, which usually is aesthetically innovative, whilst initially being ideologically unacceptable ...

art Art is a diverse range of cultural activity centered around ''works'' utilizing creative or imaginative talents, which are expected to evoke a worthwhile experience, generally through an expression of emotional power, conceptual ideas, tec ...

movement in

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

that lasted from 1921 until 1926, first appearing in

Zagreb Zagreb ( ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, north of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the ...

from 1921 to 1924 and from 1924 in

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

. It primarily involved

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

graphic design Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...

poetry Poetry (from the Greek language, Greek word ''poiesis'', "making") is a form of literature, literary art that uses aesthetics, aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meaning (linguistics), meanings in addition to, or in ...

literature Literature is any collection of Writing, written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially novels, Play (theatre), plays, and poetry, poems. It includes both print and Electroni ...

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

and

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

. Like other avant-garde movements at the time, it held anti-war, anti-bourgeois and anti-nationalist views and rejected traditional culture and art. Micić defined it as "abstract metacosmic expressionism."

The movement

Ljubomir Micić Ljubomir Micić ( sr-cyr, Љубомир Мицић; 15 November 1895 – 14 June 1971) was a Serbs, Serbian poet, writer, critic, editor and actor. He was the founder of the avant-garde movement Zenitism and its magazine ''Zenit''. Both he and hi ...

, a Serbian socialist, established the movement following

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, during which

Kingdom of Serbia The Kingdom of Serbia was a country located in the Balkans which was created when the ruler of the Principality of Serbia, Milan I of Serbia, Milan I, was proclaimed king in 1882. Since 1817, the Principality was ruled by the Obrenović dynast ...

lost a million inhabitants prior to creating

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

. In June 1921, he proclaimed the "Zenitist manifesto". Although some artists from the region were known in Europe, Zenitism was the first notable art movement from the Balkans in Europe.

''Zenit'' magazine

Most of its artistic ideas were communicated through the ''Zenit'' magazine which

launched and which published 43 issues between 1921 and 1926. The magazine soon became famous internationally and saw many famous artists contributing the magazine. Most famous amongst them are

Sergei Yesenin Sergei Alexandrovich Yesenin (, ; 1895 – 28 December 1925), sometimes spelled as Esenin, was a Russian lyric poet. He is one of the most popular and well-known Russian poets of the 20th century. One of his narratives was "lyrical evocations ...

Alexander Blok Alexander Alexandrovich Blok ( rus, Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Бло́к, p=ɐlʲɪˈksandr ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ ˈblok, a=Ru-Alyeksandr Alyeksandrovich Blok.oga; 7 August 1921) was a Russian lyrical poet, writer, publ ...

Wassily Kandinsky Wassily Wassilyevich Kandinsky ( – 13 December 1944) was a Russian painter and art theorist. Kandinsky is generally credited as one of the pioneers of abstract art, abstraction in western art. Born in Moscow, he spent his childhood in ...

Miloš Babić Miloš Babić (Serbian Cyrillic: Милош Бабић; born November 23, 1968) is a Serbian former professional basketball player. He is a 7'0" 240 lb power forward/ center. He played collegiate basketball for the Tennessee Technologic ...

Boris Pasternak Boris Leonidovich Pasternak (30 May 1960) was a Russian and Soviet poet, novelist, composer, and literary translator. Composed in 1917, Pasternak's first book of poems, ''My Sister, Life'', was published in Berlin in 1922 and soon became an imp ...

and

Miloš Crnjanski Miloš Crnjanski ( sr-Cyrl, Милош Црњански, ; 26 October 1893 – 30 November 1977) was a Serbian writer and poet of the expressionist wing of Serbian modernism, author, journalist and a diplomat. Biography Crnjanski was born in Cso ...

. The authors shared their radical views of the European civilisation and art. The movement would soon conflict and distance from

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an anti-establishment art movement that developed in 1915 in the context of the Great War and the earlier anti-art movement. Early centers for dadaism included Zürich and Berlin. Within a few years, the movement had s ...

movement and

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. In 1925, the 36th issue of ''Zenit'' was banned by the Belgrade City administration for "inciting hatred towards the state", but the ban was overturned by the court. In 1926, the 43rd issue of Zenit was banned by the Belgrade City administration for "inciting citizens to disobey the authorities". This time, the ban was upheld by the City court and the Appellate court.

Political views

The movement was avant-garde socialist, anti-traditionist, anti-militarist with the focus on human. Micić himself believed in the imminent collapse of western Europe and the rise of "barbarogenie" - barbaric Balkan man who will take its place. Barbarogenie was capable of recovering Europe using his barbaric strength of a man from the Balkans, unsoiled by the legacy of European civilization which collapsed after WW1. The concept is arguably expressing signs of nationalism. In reality Micić, an ethnic Serb, initially expressed anti-Serbian sentiment. In the eve of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Micić changed his worldview, now expressing Serbian nationalism. He created the new magazine where he proclaimed the "Serbianhood manifest", promoting Serbian integralism and unitarism, and Serbia as the unifying center of all Serbs.

References

External links

Zenit
at Monoskop.org. Art movements Avant-garde Concepts in aesthetics Modern art Literary movements Poetry movements Serbian art movements Culture of Serbia Serbian literature Serbian art 20th-century art movements 20th-century literature {{lit-mov-stub