A mural dedicated to Milan Mladenovic, the legendary Yugoslav guitarist, singer, and songwriter, has been painted in Sarajevo’s Grbavica neighbourhood at Grbavicka Street 6. Mladenovic, the frontman of Ekatarina Velika, was known not only for his music but also for his strong anti-war stance during the 1990s.

The mural is part of the Museum of the Nineties initiative, which recently organized the exhibition “Labyrinth of the Nineties” at the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The exhibition highlighted those who opposed the wars of the 1990s, including Mladenovic, who famously performed at the 1991 YUTEL for Peace concert in Sarajevo and the 1992 Rimtutituki anti-war concert in Belgrade. He also refused to perform in Banja Luka in 1993 after the destruction of the historic Ferhadija Mosque.

Mladenovic, born in Zagreb, spent part of his childhood in Sarajevo before moving to Belgrade, where he became a key figure in the Yugoslav rock scene. The mural was created by the Obojena Klapa collective, based on a design by artist Rijad Hadzic.

As a reflection of historical and cultural ties between Sarajevo and Belgrade, a mural of Valter, the legendary WWII hero from “Valter Defends Sarajevo,” will be painted in the Serbian capital, Belgrade.

The “Labyrinth of the Nineties” exhibition, seen by over 4,000 visitors in Sarajevo, was an expanded version of a 2023 pilot exhibition in Belgrade. It represents years of research by historians, activists, and cultural organizations from across the former Yugoslavia, aiming to shed new light on a turbulent decade that shaped the region’s history.