The Art Colony has begun: Artists will create in Sićevo for the next 10 days
The 61st convocation of the oldest art colony in the Balkans was officially opened last night in the village of Sićevo, where 9 artists from Croatia, Bulgaria and Serbia will stay for the next 10 days. The works of art created during this year’s manifestation will be exhibited in the Pavilion in the Fortress in November 2025.
The art colony Sićevo continues the tradition of the first Yugoslav art colony founded by the famous Serbian painter Nadežda Petrović.
“It is with special pleasure that we open this colony, because for us this is the year of jubilee and 6 full decades of continuous maintenance of the Sićevac colony. It took a lot of vision, commitment and enthusiasm to bring to life the idea that Nadežda Petrović had in 1905 when she first gathered her colleagues here in the village of Sićevo. Thanks to that, our institution has a heritage of over 900 paintings, sculptures and new media that we preserve, study, take care of, occasionally exhibit, and we are talking about the works of over 500 authors from our country and abroad,” says Ema Ćoćić Bilić, director of the Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts. .
The opening ceremony was also attended by prof. Dr. Dejan Antić, State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture, who emphasized the unique position of supporting this important cultural event.
“It is an honor and a pleasure to be with you tonight.” I use the opportunity to convey to the director and to all of you the position of Minister Nikola Selaković that the State of Serbia and the Ministry of Culture will continue to support the organization of such a colony. The Ministry has continuously supported the implementation of the Colony in previous years, and it will continue to do so in the years ahead,” says prof. Dr. Dejan Antić, State Secretary in the Ministry of Culture. The collection of works of art created in Sićevo is the most valuable collection of our art of the second half of the century in the territory of Serbia itself, in terms of its historical, artistic and aesthetic characteristics.
City councilor Milica Paulus said that artists are the most important in a society and recalled the words of Nadežda Petrović.
“Artists must be teachers not only of their people, but of all peoples.” Not only of his own, but of all centuries. And real art must be a teacher, an educator and a fighter for the progress of humanity. We can say that the task and mission of artists and art have not changed even today. In that name, I wish all participants a pleasant stay and successful work in this wonderful space where artists and nature compete in the beauty of colors and shapes,” says Councilor Milica Paulus.
The participants of the Art Colony Sićevo 2024 are: Nina Ivanović, Marija Bogdanović, Đorđe Stanojević (Belgrade), Nikolija Stanojević, Milan Hrnjazović (Valjevo), Borislav Božić (Croatia), Dinko Nenov (Bulgaria), Milan Ristic and Tijana Savković (Niš).
The implementation of this year’s manifestation was supported by the City of Niš and the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia.