14.05.2022.

“Top-Notch Museums” event at Military Museum and Central Military Club Gallery

The Military Museum and Media Centre "Odbrana" are two of the Belgrade’s 43 cultural institutions that opened their doors to citizens and visitors to the capital last night as part of the eighth "Top-Notch Museums" event. This event will be held on May 14-20, 2022, as part of the celebration of the International Museum Day, the European Museum Night and the National Museum Week. The theme of this year's "Top-Notch Museums" event is the Power of Museums, because they are the places of new discoveries that teach us about the past and generate new ideas.

On the first day of the event, the visitors had the opportunity to visit the exhibitions in two Ministry of Defence cultural institutions for free.

– The Military Museum is holding this year's "Top-Notch Museums" event at two locations. The first is the Sava Port, where visitors can see valuable museum exhibits concerning the Sava river monitor, where museum exhibits depicting the history of the Navy in the first half of the 20th century are kept. In 2005, this ship became Serbia’s cultural asset. At the second location, in the upper town, within the south-eastern ramparts of the Kalemegdan Fortress, you can see the exhibition "Adjutants to Serbian Rulers" from 1835 to 1918. We have numerous important and valuable museum exhibits covering that historical period. The visitors will also be able to see our third permanent exhibition entitled "Fourteen Centuries of Freedom Fight" featuring personal items of some prominent Serbian military leaders and statesmen. They are original, three-dimensional and the most representative examples of the entire cultural and historical heritage housed by the Military Museum - says senior curator Marijana Jovelić.

Visitors will be able to visit the permanent exhibition and the Military Museum Gallery from 10 am to 5 pm on May 15, 17, 18, 19 and 20. Admission is also free.

Media Centre "Odbrana" has prepared a rich programme for interested citizens. According to the Head of the Central Military Club Gallery, senior curator Jelena Knežević, visitors can see "Sublimations", an exhibition featuring works by the famous painter and sculptor Miloš Šobajić in the Central Military Club’s Grand Gallery. His Parisian works, that the Belgrade audience has not had the opportunity to see so far, are particularly interesting.

Most visitors stopped by the artist’s reconstructed studio, where Šobajić’s famous white suit, which he wore on various occasions, is exhibited, as well as his personal items, such as the Amazon bracelet, the ring from the monastery of St. Catherine on Mount Sinai and the stone amulet, which the famous artist often carried in his trouser pocket because he believed it brought him good luck in business. That exhibition will stay open after the "Top-Notch Museums" event has finished - until July 2, 2022.

– There is great interest among visitors in "Rakijaart", the original exhibition hosted by the Brandy Museum, which is displayed in the Small Gallery. Twelve most important painters on our current art scene, namely Željko Đurović, Slavko Krunić, Boris Dragojević, Vasilije Dolovački, Zoran Krulj, Dragan Martinović, Goran Mitrović, Zoran Ivanović, Momčilo Macanović, Slobodan Vuković, Milutin Obradović, and Jovica Panić Jole, have found, each in their own authentic way, a new meaning in the used brandy barrels and breathed new life into them, turning them into works of art - says Jelena Knežević and adds that the exhibition is open until June 4.

– As the "Top-Notch Museums" event lasts from May 14 to 20, we have prepared an additional programme entitled "Through the Space and Time of the Warriors’ Club". Visitors will be able to visit the Central Military Club building at 1 pm on May 18 and get acquainted with the history of architecture of the former Warriors’ Club Palace, which is a cultural monument built in the period from 1929 to 1932. During the tour of the building, visitors will have the opportunity to see our magnificent terrace - a former symbol of Belgrade, and grand salons where the most representative works from the Art Collection owned by the Central Military Club Gallery are kept. To book a tour of the Central Military Club building, call 011 3234-712 by 5 pm - added Jelena Knežević, the senior curator.

Visits to these two institutions have left visitors with positive impressions. Darko Andrijašević from Bileća came to visit the Military Museum in Belgrade with his sister. We saw him look at old uniforms with admiration.

– This is my first visit to the Military Museum on Kalemegdan. I was looking at these wonderful uniforms, which are part of the permanent exhibition, and one of the most representative and beautiful is certainly the uniform of the Yugoslav Army horse guard colonel. It has caught my eye - said Darko.

Slađana Šormaz from Belgrade has come to the museum with her son. She says that she has been here before, but this time she wanted to show her son the treasure kept here.

- There is a lot to see here and it is very interesting for children. The exhibition is very rich. Children are most interested in old weapons, ships, and models. We have enjoyed it. I am glad that we have had the opportunity to see this beautiful exhibition, said Slađana.

Velimir Savić from Banja Luka has visited both exhibitions at the Central Military Club and told us his impressions.

- Amazing things are taking place in Belgrade. I am a writer and I have decided to combine something useful with something pleasant – to run a half marathon and visit these two exhibitions at the Central Military Club. By the way, I had the opportunity to meet Miloš Šobajić and his wife Maja in Banja Luka, and I am also acquainted with some of the painters whose works are included in the "Rakijaart" exhibition. For me as an artist, it has been a pleasure to see these two really well-organized, prestigious and interesting exhibitions. That is why I invite everyone to visit them – said Savić.