Vsemir – The Border at the Miren Cemetery
The Vsemir exhibition tells the story of the border that cut through the Miren cemetery in 1947, dividing it between Yugoslavia and Italy. The border ran through the graves, dividing not only the living but also the dead. It brought turmoil to the eternal peace of the cemetery.
People could no longer bury their loved ones on the other side of the border and were not allowed to meet each other in the cemetery. The only exception was 1 November, when everyone could come to the cemetery. This day was really more about the living than the dead. Although the cemetery was heavily guarded, people could at least see each other, secretly exchange messages or throw something across the border. Sometimes, people would take the opportunity to flee across the border in the desire for a new and better life.
The life of the people from Miren and all those living by the border improved slightly in 1955, when they got passes allowing them to cross the border several times a month. However, the signing of the Treaty of Osimo in 1975 was extremely important, as it finally settled and corrected the border between the two countries. Thanks to quiet diplomacy, the border at the Miren cemetery had already been shifted a year earlier, ensuring that the entire cemetery remained in Yugoslavia.
The Miren cemetery speaks of the fragility and transience of life, as it is a place where we remember the deceased, whom we miss. It also tells us the story of the living, who visited this once-divided cemetery because they missed their friends and relatives from the other side of the border. It tells us about a place of meetings, but also of a passage to a better life desired by some. It reminds us in several ways that what seems solid and reliable today can change overnight. Vsemir, the all-encompassing space that belongs to everyone and is shared by all of us, is a space that invites us to stop for a moment, to think and ask ourselves about the limits of man and man’s borders.
Opening hours
Monday–Sunday:
9.00–21.00