What The Water Sees
A twelve-week investigation using Belgrade's rivers as witnesses to urban performance. Following the Confluence Protocol through four phases: Sava, Danube, Interior, and Convergence.
The hypothesis: Belgrade performs differently along its two major rivers. The Sava sees working Belgrade, industrial Belgrade, the city's southern/western boundaries. The Danube sees grand Belgrade, fortress Belgrade, the monumental performances along the northern/eastern edges. Same city, different staging, different audiences. But the protocol also demands attention to interior zones - neighbourhoods where rivers aren't visible or relevant. These areas that resist riverine interpretation aren't exceptions to the confluence framework. They're essential. They reveal Belgrade's complexity beyond its signature geographical metaphor. Not everything can be understood through the water's witness.
The photographic series "The Rivers' Belgrade" attempts to capture shots from the water's perspective - not tourist selfies at scenic viewpoints, but evidence of what the rivers actually see. Infrastructure. Backstages. The parts of the city that face the water whether anyone's looking or not. This requires actual time at water level - not viewing Belgrade from elevated tourist spots but understanding what's visible from the rivers themselves. What does the Sava see looking up at New Belgrade's towers? What does the Danube witness from below Kalemegdan's walls? The rivers don't get the postcard angle. They get the infrastructure, the foundations, the reality beneath the staging.
The landlocked zones reveal different Belgrade entirely. Residential areas where daily life has nothing to do with confluence narratives. Industrial districts that ignore the rivers. Neighbourhoods that could exist in any city, performing no particular "Belgrade-ness" for anyone. This is where the investigation becomes honest. You can't cherry-pick only the areas that fit your framework. The Confluence Protocol works because it accounts for its own limitations. The rivers witness certain performances. But not everything stages itself for water. Some of the city just... runs. The framework has to acknowledge what it can't explain.
