Beyond the Adriatic Sea: A Plurality of Identities and Floating Borders in Visual Culture

Beyond the Adriatic Sea: A Plurality of Identities and Floating Boarders in Visual Culture is a collection of papers published with the intention to present the various segments and the intertwined nature of culture and visual culture on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and its hinterland. This collection of papers explores the different sources, functions, presentations and receptions of visual culture on and around the Adriatic. It is grounded on the premise that visual culture is one of the fundamental determinants of this region and an active element in its shaping. This is a determinant that defines the identities of all who were tied to the Adriatic coast as a place of residence or saw it, for one reason or another, as its stronghold. The texts collected in this volume are the result of multidisciplinary research of cross-cultural and transcultural interaction which is the underlying structure of visual identities of this region. Their goal is to shed light on certain strata of these complex identities, unknown to this day or insufficiently present in scholarship dedicated to the Mediterranean and Mediterranean studies. Nenad MakuljevićThe papers edited and collected in the volume Beyond the Adriatic Sea provide very stimulating reading not only for art historians but for all readers interested to learn and reflect various aspects of visual culture in this part of the Mediterranean. As a historian I see the close bonds and the relationship of visual media to the production of historical narratives and cultural memory. To come to terms with all the intersections, syncretisms, and conflicts in this part of Europe, and for a better understanding of representation, meaning and culture on the eastern coast of the Adriatic Sea and its hinterland an interdisciplinary approach seems essential. In this respect this volume is a most welcome contribution. The editor´s premise that visual culture is one of the fundamental determinants of this region and an active element in its shaping seems well-founded, and the texts collected in this volume are indeed the result of multidisciplinary research of cross-cultural and transcultural interaction which is the underlying structure of visual identities of this region what definitely enables them to shed light on certain strata of these complex identities, unknown to this day or insufficiently present in scholarship dedicated to the Mediterranean and Mediterranean studies.Aleksandar Jakir