The unique exhibition in Serbia ‘Sava Šumanović and European Realism Between the Two World Wars’, which will include the largest number of works by one of the most significant Serbian painters and will connect as many as four countries through three exhibitions, will be opened on Saturday, 24 September, at 8:22 p.m. The exhibition will mark the beginning of the visual arts week of the current Kaleidoscope of Culture in Novi Sad.
In the Gallery Square, a place that traditionally belongs to visual arts, the Kaleidoscope of Culture, one of the key projects of the European Capital of Culture, connected galleries of national importance – the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection and the Gallery of Matica Srpska, where two exhibitions will be held, and the Rajko Mamuzić Gift Collection, as well as the ‘Sava Šumanović’ Gallery in Šid, where the third exhibition will be held.
The ticket price for the exhibition is 200 RSD and it is valid for both museums, Pavel Beljanski Memorial Collection and Matica Srpska Gallery.
‘What was a dream in 2016 is now a reality. The idea of new people, spaces, processes and programmes and their connection, which may have seemed impossible, can be seen today in the example of the exhibition of one of the most important representatives of Serbian modernism in three art institutions at the same time. It is a serious undertaking within the Kaleidoscope of Culture, which showed on several levels that such things are possible, not only in Novi Sad, but also beyond, and that this should be our constant practice,’ said Sara Vuletić, the programme director of the ‘Novi Sad – the European Capital of Culture’ Foundation, at today’s press conference.
Šumanović’s painting from the period between 1919 and 1940 will be presented with works from the three mentioned museums, as well as thanks to the loan from leading national cultural institutions, museums from Croatia, North Macedonia and France.
‘The importance of Šumanović’s works from the collection of Pavle Beljanski and the collection of modern paintings of the Gallery of Matica Srpska was indispensable in presenting the value of the cultural heritage of Novi Sad, in the year when the city holds the title of European Capital of Culture. The third link in the exhibition concept is the ‘Sava Šumanović’ Gallery in Šid, without whose collection it would be impossible to draw conclusions about the work of this artist in national and international context. The programme of the opening ceremony will also include the ChoreoChroma project, which has its starting point in the painting of Sava Šumanović,’ explained Milana Kvas, the author of the project and manager of the Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection, the institution that is responsible for the project.
The manager of the Gallery of Matica Srpska, Tijana Palkovljević Bugarski, PhD, and the director of the ‘Sava Šumanović’ Gallery in Šid, Jovana Lakić, presented the exhibitions in the exhibition spaces of their institutions and emphasized the importance of this inter-museum cooperation.
‘This is the beauty of the European Capital of Culture as a project – to enable us to do some things that are otherwise not possible, to encourage us to be better and make strides that our audience and our city deserve,’ said Tijana Palkovljević Bugarski, manager of the Gallery of Matica Srpska.
From the imposing collection of art works, which marked the visual arts week of last year’s Kaleidoscope of Culture, to the security and preservation of those works as the greatest national treasure, DDOR osiguranje is an important stakeholder of the Gallery Square and the official insurance of the ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ project and the Kaleidoscope of Culture programme arch, as well as the partner of the visual arts week.
‘When it comes to the preservation of cultural heritage, Unipol, our holding company, supports initiatives and projects in the field of culture and art. When we focus on the visual arts, Unipol has established its own special museum, called CUBO, where we promote culture by organizing events and exhibitions with different topics to convey this important heritage and values of the Unipol Group to the community. With this project, Unipol supported exhibitions of world-famous artists, such as Monet, Chagall, Renoir, Picasso, Van Gogh, Dali and many others. DDOR has recognized the importance of promoting and supporting art through various initiatives, ranging from the purchase of works by young authors who decorate our premises to cooperation with the ‘Novi Sad – European Capital of Culture’ Foundation, which is of great importance for our city. By supporting the Kaleidoscope of Culture project, which is traditionally held in the Gallery Square, we wish to further strengthen our traditional commitment to art and culture. This year’s exhibition of paintings by Sava Šumanović, one of the most outstanding artists in Serbia of the last century, makes us extremely proud. My wish for all visitors to the exhibition is to enjoy these works,’ said Francesco Masci, President of the Executive Board of DDOR osiguranje.
The Kaleidoscope of Culture runs until 7 October, and after the visual arts week, the final week is dedicated to the applied arts.
Paintings:
Sava Šumanović, In the Shadow, 1935, ‘Sava Šumanović’ Gallery, Šid
Sava Šumanović, House in an Alley, 1933, Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection, Novi Sad
Photo:
Vladimir Veličković
