12.01.2012.

Exhibition "20th-Century Poetics and Fate" opens in Nis

The exhibition "20th-Century Poetics and Fate" consisting of the selected works from the collection of the Serbian Military Club from Belgrade has been opened this evening in the gallery "Synagogue" of the Nis National Museum by the Head of the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Defence, Colonel Milivoje Pajovic.

"Life which is short and lasts in spite of everything, and art that is eternal and unique are used for the title of this exhibition illustrating through the ideas of the artist the essence of the turbulent century behind us," Colonel Pajovic said pointing out that the Ministry of Defence, the Serbian Armed Forces and the "Odbrana" Media Centre store and promote only heroic deeds.

"This is a unique opportunity in the Gallery of our Club to present the heroes of the Yugoslav and the Serbian painting art who fought their artistic battles during the 20th century", said the Head of the Public Affairs Department.

At the opening of the exhibition, organized in cooperation between the Nis National Museum and the "Odbrana" Media Centre, speakers were Lieutenant Colonel Slavoljub Markovic, the Head of the "Odbrana" Media Centre, Slavisa Popovic, Director of the Nis Museum, and Professor Nikola Kusovac, an art historian.

Addressing the assembled art lovers, Lieutenant Colonel Markovic said that the exhibition in the "Synagogue" gallery is one of the first presentations of a rich collection of the Serbian Military Club Gallery, which includes more than one thousand five hundred exhibits.

"This exhibition is a part of the exhibition concept of the "Odbrana" Media Centre, in cooperation with cultural institutions in Serbia, with the aim to present the cultural heritage located in the depot of the Military Club. In this set-up, it has been recently presented in Novi Sad, it is in Nis now and will continue on its way to other cities in Serbia, "Markovic said, acknowledging the authors of the set-up - Nikola Kusovac, a renowned art historian, and Milorad Bubanja, a curator of the Serbian Military Club Gallery. According to him, they had a difficult task to take out from the rich collection 46 works to be exhibited in Nis and authentically illustrate the artistic climate of the former Yugoslavia.

Speaking about the exhibition, Professor Nikola Kusovac pointed out that the institution of a "war painter" was something by which the Serbian Army was unique compared to all the others.

"At those times when every gun was needed, the learned men were separated to devote to painting and to perpetuate during the war not as much our glorious victory, as our severe injuries. They painted the most terrifying testimony through which a glorious army was passing. And that army which has left such mark has cherished in its being the preserving and taking care of fine art. Collection in the Military Club has grown over time to become an important art centre, whose "peaks" of artistic creativity, from Ljubljana to Gevgelija, are exposed in front of you", Kusovac said.

The collection consists of several significant achievements made during the first half of the 20th century, such as paintings of Vlaho Bukovac, Ljuba Ivanovic, Sava Šumanovi? and Marin Tartalja, but the backbone of its values are paintings of Serbian and Yugoslav artists made during the second half of the 20th century.

Exhibition activities of the Military Club Gallery have a long tradition. It was founded as early as in 1945 at the initiative of Branko Šotra, the first postwar Head of that institution, famous art creator and founder of the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade. The gallery has so far organized more than five hundred exhibitions of eminent local and foreign artists. At one time, eight Quadrennial events were held on the theme of "National Liberation Struggle in the works of painters," as well as several thematic exhibitions entitled "Military in the works of painters."

The Gallery has rich cooperation with museums, galleries, foundations and other cultural institutions in Serbia and that cooperation is the base of the new exhibition concept of the "Odbrana" Media Centre.

In 2011, those who presented their rich painting collections in representative art exhibitions in the Military Club were the Painting Art Gallery "Sava Šumanovi?" from Sid, Military Museum, Art Gallery Nadezda Petrovic from Cacak, Foundation "Momcilo-Momo Kapor", Zrenjanin National Museum and the Memorial Collection of Pavle Beljanski from Novi Sad.

The technical processing of artistic works is in progress as well as the preparation of a collection catalogue which will bring it closer and present it to the art lovers and professionals. The collection is stored in the depot which is equipped according to the modern museological standards.