Arsenije Jovanović: Portrait of a Radio Artist

Arsenije Jovanović (1932–2025) was one of the pioneers of Serbian and Yugoslav modern, experimental radiophony, as well as one of its the most prolific and most awarded practitioners. Yet, the writings on his radiophonic works are scarce. There is no overview of his radiophonic output, as there is no thoughtful insight into his overall poetics. This paper is thus conceived with the idea of offering such insight into radiophonic worlds of Jovanović. This seems appropriate in the context of the 40th anniversary of Radionica zvuka (Sound Workshop), established in 1985. Jovanović influenced the conception of this serial and was its frequent collaborator, although his career spread internationally. In this paper, Jovanović’s short biography will be presented, with more context about his work in radio. Then, Jovanović’s poetic and autopoetic statements will be discussed, with short comment on his reception. The final part of the paper is dedicated to the mapping of Jovanović’s radiophonic opus.