Toše Proeski and the monument: Who does the singer's statue look like at the place of his death?

"A monument as a monument does not have to be a portrait, but if it is a portrait, then it would have to resemble the represented figure and that is an axiom"

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Photo: BBC
Photo: BBC
Disclaimer: The translations are mostly done through AI translator and might not be 100% accurate.

A monument to Tošet Proesko was erected over the weekend in the Croatian town of Nova Gradiška, where the Macedonian singer died 14 years ago in a traffic accident.

The statue of the singer, very popular in the entire region, caused numerous comments on social networks.

For the work of sculptor Slavko Bunić, many have said that it does not look like Proeski and that he "even the Macedonians wouldn't recognize it".

This is another in a series of monuments that were erected without looking like the people to whom they are dedicated, assesses art historian Nenad Makuljević.

"A monument as a monument does not have to be a portrait, but if it is a portrait, then it would have to resemble the represented figure, and that is an axiom," a professor at the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Belgrade told the BBC in Serbian.

The idea and decision to create a stone statue of Tošet Proeski came from the company "Tehniks".

Their representatives said that they are grateful to the city for making it possible to "place a stone statue in the city center that will make all friends of Macedonia, including passers-by, admirers of the artist's life and many others, happy and eternal with the song of Tošet Proeski", he said. RTS.

The unveiling of the monument was attended by numerous officials.

The mayor of Nova Gradiška, Vinko Grgić, as well as the artist Bunić, did not respond to the BBC's questions until the text was published.

Twitter users compared the newly erected statue to various personalities from the world of music, but not to Proeski.

He also reminded some of politicians.

Some have criticized the lack of detail.

A portrait should have portrait characteristics, which is absent here, adds Makuljević.

"Earlier it was an excuse - it doesn't look like it, but no one knows what it looks like, but now they know, there are recordings and photos," he says.

Although some justify the lack of portraiture skills with artistic freedom, this is not the issue here, he adds.

"The monument as such is not successful.

"Nothing here is either first class or special, this is a practice that happens often and, unfortunately, there is as much of it as you want," adds the art historian.

Who was Toše Proeski?

Todor Toše Proeski was born on January 25, 1981 in the Macedonian city of Kruševo.

He graduated from the Academy of Music in Skopje as one of the best students of his generation, and was one of the first musicians who had fans all over the former Yugoslavia after the war.

He died near Nova Gradiska on October 16, 2007, when he was 26 years old.

The monument in his honor is just one in a series that have been the target of comments and ridicule in the region.

Croatian sculptors Dubravko Radman and Lenko Krizmanić, with the help of Elvis Štifanić from Baderna, were the first to carve a 2,5-meter-tall and one-ton monument of the first Croatian president Franjo Tuđman in white Brac marble.

Because of his raised arms, he reminded some of a Lego robot figure, and he was also nicknamed "Franjo in a skirt", they wrote Croatian media.

In Croatia, numerous other monuments to Tuđman, as well as to the celebrated basketball player, were the target of criticism Dražen Petrović in Šibenik, who died in a traffic accident in 1993.

Melania as Smurfette and Gagarin with a small head

The statue of the former first lady of America Melania Trump was placed twice near her birthplace in Slovenia.

The original wooden one, which caused numerous comments, was set on fire by unknown people shortly after it was erected in 2019, and was then replaced by a bronze one.

The statue in the blue dress was described by some as "disgraceful", or called "Smurfette" and said that it does not look like Melania Trump.

During 2018, a monument to the Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was erected in New Belgrade, but also quickly removed.

An unusual monument on which the famous astronaut's head is disproportionately small compared to the pedestal was to be unveiled on April 12, the 57th anniversary of his space flight.

However, even before the official unveiling, the controversial sculpture was removed after strong reactions from the public, on social networks, and in the world media.

Due to the position of the head, the monument to the despot Stefan Lazarevic in the street of the same name in the center of the Serbian capital was also noticed.

In Serbia, the monumental monument to Stefan Nemanja caused the most comments.

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