28.04.2015

Exhibition “Socialist art and socialist realism” opened

At the Grand Gallery of the Central Military Club, an exhibition titled “Socialist art and socialist realism” was opened. It was created in cooperation of the Vujicic Foundation and Odbrana Media Center.

The exhibition, containing the selection of 118 art pieces from the Vujicic collection, follows the theme of socialist realism (1948-1952), and socialist art that preceded this period. The exhibition displays works of “hard core” national socialist realism artists such as Djordje Andrejevic Kun, Pivo Karamatijevic, Branko Sotra, and most authors whose creation shortly featured this art.

Opening the exhibition, Dr. Jasna Jovanov, Manager of the Memorial Collection of Pavle Beljanski, stressed that this was a comprehensive collection dedicated to socialist art and socialist realism that would later gain its final form, stressing that the genre had not attracted all artists, but only some of them.

According to Prof. Dr. Jerko Denegri, co-author of the exhibition beside Dr. Jasmina Jaksic Subic, the period of socialist realism in arts had been neglected until recently, with no objective reason.
- It is clear today that this was an important period which the science of history of arts should bring new light into and explain many dilemmas, as this is a period where art is intertwined with foreign and interior politics, ideology, art system and education – Denegri said, expressing his belief that the exhibition would attract much attention of professional public, considering that over 90 percent of the material displayed today had never been presented to the public before.

Director of Odbrana Media Center Colonel Stevica S Karapandzin conveyed his joy that the Belgrade audience for the first time had the opportunity to see the exhibition “Socialist art and socialist realism” at the Central Military Club of Serbia, stressing that, among 1.500 works that this institution had collected, most were works of socialist realism that had been gifted by the authors at the time. Colonel Karapandzin announced that the exhibition would be one of the many programs that the Ministry of Defence and the Serbia Armed Forces would be presented with on the Night of Museums, on 16th May.

The Vujicic Collection is a privately owned art collection of 10th century Serbian art located in Belgrade, whose art collection includes over 500 pieces of art – paintings, sculptures, drawings, graphics, photographs, prints and works of conceptual art. The works in the collection chronologically encompass Serbian art of 20th century, and the collection is completed with a collection of documentary material and archive build, a library, and an electronic and printed register. The Vujicic Collection is one of the first privately-owned collections to publicly exhibit its art pieces, considering it its commitment to the society.

All interested visitors will have the opportunity to view the exhibition until 22nd May at the Grand Gallery of the Central Military Club, on workdays and Saturdays, 11.00 – 19.00.