politics

March 24, 2026

If there is no order, the clock is superfluous

For something to become a symbol, historical time is necessary. Here, however, time dramatically breaks, disintegrates, and barely holds together, often going backward, so it is unclear whether the past is the present, and the future is a guaranteed past.

If there is no order, the clock is superfluous

TL;DR

  • The Belgrade Clock on Republic Square has experienced multiple malfunctions shortly after its installation.
  • The clock's breakdowns are linked to its cleaning with high-pressure water and ongoing issues with synchronization.
  • The prolonged and chaotic reconstruction of Republic Square is presented as a metaphor for fragmented and backward-moving time in Belgrade.
  • The article discusses different concepts of time: universal, urban, historical, and existential.
  • The clock's location marks a site of historical rupture in 1991, suggesting that some events remain unresolved.
  • The author suggests that Belgrade is a 'city of last heartbeats,' with time characterized by waiting and catastrophe.
  • The malfunction of the clock is compared to revolutionaries in Paris shooting public clocks to stop the old order.

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