26.08.2014

Exhibition "Memory - Sorrow and Beauty" opened

In the course of marking the centenary of the beginning of the First World War, tonight, at the Small Gallery of the Central Military Club, an exhibition titled “Memory – Sorrow and Beauty” by academic painter and designer Ivanka Jevtovic. The opening was attended by State Secretary Zoran Djordjevic, representatives of the Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces of Serbia, public figures and numerous supporters of art.

The exhibition dedicated to the heroines of the First World War, Milunka Savic and Nadezda Petrovic, was opened by Dusan Milovanovic, retired Museum Advisor at the Museum of Applied Art. He used the occasion to point out that people who don’t know their history and roots have no present, and certainly no future.

- Here, Ivana Jevtovic told her story, her relation to her ancestors, paying the debt by giving her contribution to the Serbian art. Her works is of three levels – memory, sorrow and beauty. Memory, as a binding bond with all ancestors, sorrow, because the dream of Nadezda or Milunka didn’t come true, and, lastly, beauty, which is enriched by kindness and heals all those willing to take her in – Milovanovic said, adding that the exhibition is dominated by one ornamental segment – the Byzantine Heart, a symbol of love and the author’s attempt to compensate for everything that has been missed, stressing that “the rain of her heart should diminish all fall-outs and love lost and nurture and cure with its healing purpose.”

Welcoming the guests, Director of Odbrana Media Center Lieutenant Colonel Slavoljub M. Markovic stressed that it was a great honor for him to cooperate with the author, following her creative spirit from the very beginning to tonight’s opening.

- The team that prepared this project was basically involved from the very beginning to the final realization. For me, that was a great experience, because I had the opportunity to see the author’s basic idea, overflowing with symbolism and ornaments from our cultural and spiritual heritage - Lieutenant Colonel said, particularly acknowledging the people who most closely cooperated with the author – her brother Ivan Jevtovic and Dragana Markovic.

The exhibition’s author thanked the Ministry of Defence and Odbrana Media Center for their selfless support and cooperation from the beginning of the project.

- The exhibition is dedicated to the heroines of the First World War, Milunka Savic and Nadezda Petrovic, and was inspired by the centenary of the Great War. It consists of three parts, set in two rooms. In the first one, the Great War is presented by collages and high couture models, the collection with which I have recently opened the Days of Serbia in Paris – Ivanka Jevtovic said, inspired by the reaction of the audience to create everything presented today at the Central Military Club. The setup of the second room, dedicated to Nadezda Petrovic, contains empty white frames with Byzantine hearts and hand-painted fresco motifs that open the windows of the soul where memory dwells.

With strong inspiration, using collage technique, stylization of elements of uniforms and folk wear in high couture models, through frame and heart as symbols of memory – Ivanka Jevtovic writes her record. This is why ornaments from frescos from monasteries of Moravsko Raska School, carpets, and apples complete the frames that hold and keep the memory composed of two elements – sorrow and beauty.

The exhibition will be opened at the Small Gallery of the Central Military Club until September 20, 2014, on weekdays and Saturdays, 11.00 – 19.00. Admission is free.