Dušana Miklja’s new novel Gallery (Closed for Inventory), published by Vulkan, has won numerous reader sympathies and has been one of the most sought-after titles in bookstores for weeks.
Known to the public as a respected journalist, lecturer, and translator, critics say his new work places the reader in the role of a seeker of truth in an extraordinary way.
Although he included significant names that have written world history in his Gallery, in an interview with Kurir, he emphasises that he also paid equal attention to less popular names and reveals the title of his new work.
Who are the heroes of your new work that you are trying to save from oblivion?
“People, landscapes, cities, events. Everything that represents the legacy of what I flatter myself to call an exciting life. Everything that has accumulated over the years. What is worth remembering and deserves to be preserved from oblivion.”
In the book, you cover a wide range of topics, from historical figures to exotic landscapes. How did you choose which images and stories would be part of the Gallery?
“The images were included not based on their status value but on their exceptional nature. On something that sets them apart. This certainly includes people who power did not change. Who, because of that, deserve the greatest respect, which is evident from the central place they have been given.
“Such are, for example, the former President of Italy, Pertini, the first President of independent Angola, Agostinho Neto, who is also present in all anthologies of Portuguese poetry. There is also Wiesenthal, who was not in power but was powerful enough to bring Nazi war criminals to justice.
“In the Gallery, there was also room for great film divas Monica Vitti and Brigitte Bardot. For balance, it also includes individuals from the dark side of the moon, such as Kurt Waldheim and Idi Amin, who renamed himself from a sergeant to a field marshal and lord of Uganda. Among the rebels included in the Gallery, I particularly cherish the leader of the Black Panthers, Stokely Carmichael, whom I met in Kampala, and Che Guevara's daughter, Adela, whom I encountered among the anarchists in Rome.”
As a true artist, you have portrayed the heroes in your own way.
“The images are described with words. At the same time, they are arranged as if they exist visually. As much as possible, they are connected with painters who are related to the described characters and landscapes. Toledo, for example, is equated with El Greco, who literally wove his likeness into the dark towers of that city. Tropical landscapes, on the other hand, could not bypass Paul Gauguin or Paris Chagall.”
You also deal with the lives of "ordinary people." Who are the individuals who inspired you and how?
“There are no ‘ordinary people’ here. My mother's sewing machine, which fed us during tough times, has equal status to Picasso's painting "La Coutureuse" in the Metropolitan Museum in New York, where a worn-out woman is ironing clothes.”
How much of your life have you woven into the lines of this book?
“You could say my whole life. I am obliged to admit that despite my aversion to pathetic and sentimental expressions.”
The book raises the question of what readers' lives would look like if represented through paintings.
“I think that way would be more beneficial than high-minded interpretations. Perhaps it would more effectively help to see life instead of questioning whether it could have been different.”
In a previous interview, you mentioned you were preparing a book for children. Were your grandchildren your biggest critics in writing the new book?
“My grandchildren are looking forward to the opportunity to become ‘literary heroes.’ Of course, provided the book meets a favourable reception from the publishers.”
You are known for "writing quickly and easily." What are you preparing for the future?
“I am writing a novel titled The Abolition of Man. Although the title sufficiently hints at the content, I would say only that it deals with a topic that existentially and fatefully concerns our very survival.”
How would you describe your life through images? What scenes would be found in your personal gallery?
“I grew up in poverty. I would choose images that speak of my parents' sacrifices. Also, images with a surrealist character, like the sea in the Caribbean, whose underwater world resembles the paintings of Paul Klee.”
What would you like readers to take away as the message of Gallery"?
“That we live in an unjust world, where humanity and effort are not rewarded. But still, to change it, we must also make a personal effort.”
(Kurir.rs/I.M.)