On Friday, April 26, 2013, the long time secret chamber for Yugoslavian communist leaders was transformed in to an art gallery thanks to contributions from artists including Turkish curator Basak Senova and Croatian Edo Hozic. This gallery has been transformed from a nuclear shelter for Yugoslav leader Marshal Josip Broz Tito from the period of the nuclear war into a three-month art exhibit, which began in 2011 and has opened for the second time last week. Only Tito and his closest confidants were aware of the existence of the sub-1000 foot, U-shaped fortress, and its existence became aware to the larger population only when Bosnia broke away from Yugoslavia in 1992. It took twenty-six years to find and cost billions of dollars to build.
The facility houses almost one hundred rooms and begins in a sector where a mimicked noise of a nuclear detonation (of course, modified for the general public) is set off. This sets the tone of the exhibit as it makes the viewer feel as though they are encapsulated in an apocalyptic world. The garage door that serves as the entrance to the bunker is then shut, and the participants continue on their journey through the tunnel where mirrors on the floors crack as people walk over them.
The various rooms focus on differing goals: some try to portray the realism of the bunker and what people who would have used it would have done there. Others try to capture the tragedies that occurred, commemorating all those who suffered in the midst of this era. The visitors must gain permission from the army to enter the 70,000 square foot perimeter, and pay a fee of five euros (just over six American dollars). The trek through this facility is surely an unforgettable one as the artists work is portrayed and the experience become multi-sensual. This is surely a remarkable exhibit that will hopefully become permanent in a matter of time.