АКТУЕЛНО
diSTRUCTURE "Unequal Geographies / Possibility of the Sublime"
On Thursday, October 9th at 7 p.m., the exhibition "Unequal Geographies / Possibility of the Sublime" by the artistic duo diSTRUKTURA will open in the exhibition hall of the former Officers' Home.
Milica Milićević and Milan Bosnić (diSTRUKTURA) graduated and received their master's degree from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Department of Painting. Since 2005, they have been working together as the artistic duo diSTRUKTURA and under that name have participated in over 30 solo and more than 70 group exhibitions in Serbia, Slovenia, Macedonia, Romania, France, Italy, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Switzerland, Japan, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Montenegro, Croatia, Hungary, Finland and Egypt. diSTRUKTURA has participated in artist-in-residence programs and workshops in Spain, Switzerland, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Italy, Finland, Egypt and Serbia. They are the recipients of several awards and scholarships, including the Pollock-Krasner grant for 2015. Their works are in over 15 public and private collections.
diSTRUKTURA continuously engages with landscape, examining the role of this genre and its formal modalities, starting from romantic painting, all the way to digital and artificially generated images. By addressing the essential connection of this artistic genre and its historical conditioning with ideas of identity, belonging, power and hegemony, they raise a number of questions concerning individual and collective awareness of biodiversity and the universal importance of its preservation, on the one hand, and unilateral economic interest, on the other. Through the artistic work of diSTRUKTURA, neglected differences between natural places, landscapes subordinated to human needs and virtual nature are mediated, that is, they point to the historical deprivation of the direct experience of nature.
This artistic couple is continuously present on the international contemporary art scene, and their work features landscapes of different meridians and vedutes of different cities around the world. The exhibition “Unequal Geographies” belongs to the project “Possibility of the Sublime” and, based on scenes from the mines of the former Zlatara Majdanpek, now managed by the Chinese company Zijin Mining, it speaks about the geopolitical aspect of a space and points to the worrying possibility of recognizing something that could perhaps be called the image of a colonial landscape, which is present in economically underdeveloped areas.
The dominant part of the exhibition in Niš is represented by paintings, which treat the category of the sublime in two ways. In a smaller number of works, through sequentiality and filtering, similar to digital manipulation of images, a certain landscape is presented as more delicate or exciting than the initial occasion itself. However, the primary principle in a larger number of works is the successive annulment of the landscape until its complete abolition, thus approaching “sublime destruction” no longer as an aesthetic category, but as a paradigm of human existence.
The exhibition in the Officers’ Home will include works of art in the fields of painting, photography and video. This is the first solo exhibition of diSTRUKTURA in Niš. They were participants in the art colony "Sićevo" in 2011, and their works were exhibited as part of numerous exhibitions from the Contemporary Painting Collection of the SLU Gallery, as well as in the 5th Niš Salol: 12/2. The exhibition in Niš is organized by the Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts, after which it will be held in Kruševac and Čačak. A rich unified catalog will be published at the end of this year in co-publishing by the Art Gallery "Nadežda Petrović" Čačak, the Art Gallery Kruševac, the SLU Gallery Niš and the non-governmental organization ProArtOrg from Belgrade. In addition to diSTRUKTURA, the opening of the exhibition "Unequal Geographies / Possibility of the Sublime" will also be addressed by art historian Sanja Kojić Mladenov, the curator of the exhibition and the author of the text accompanying this exhibition. On behalf of the SLU Gallery, the curator is Milan Ristić.
PROMOTION OF THE MONOGRAPH AND RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION OF MIODRAG DAJA ANĐELKOVIĆ
PROMOTION OF THE MONOGRAPH AND RETROSPECTIVE EXHIBITION OF MIODRAG DAJA ANĐELKOVIC
* PAVILION IN THE FORTRESS - THURSDAY, 2 October 2025 at 7 pm
The promotion will be attended by Radmila Vlatković, museum advisor, Zvonimir Kostić Palanski, writer, Ljubiša Brković, artist and Radmila Kostić, author of the monograph
MIODRAG DAJA ANĐELKOVIC was born on 6 April 1945 in Jelasnica.
He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Belgrade in 1970 in the class of Professor Miodrag Rogić. He completed his postgraduate studies at the same Academy in 1972 in the class of Professor Boško Karanović. While still a student, he participated in the conservation of churches in Kuršumlija, Tutin, Crna Rijeka, and Prizren. He was a member of the ULUS and the Society of Serbian Artists "LADA" and Group A. As a scholarship holder of the "Moša Pijade" fund, he attended professional training in Paris (1980).
In addition to participating in exhibitions, he actively participated in the artistic life of the city and wrote professional texts for "Narodne novine".
He published the textbook "On Graphic Arts" (1986), and much later published the book "Memory as an Incidental Occurrence" published by the NCC (2011).
He regularly participated in the work of the Art Colonies "Classic" (1994 - 1995), the Art Colonies "Sićevo" (1976, 1993 and 2014), and the Graphic Workshop Sićevo (2007).
Since 2018, he has been a member of the editorial board of the "Architect" newsletter of the Society of Architects of Niš. He has spent his entire working life as an expert advisor at the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments in Niš.
In addition to painting and drawing, he has been engaged in essay writing and art criticism.
He has held 35 solo exhibitions and more than 300 collective exhibitions.
He has been awarded 12 times for his work. He has exhibited abroad at collective exhibitions in Lucerne, Basel, Aarau, Rheinach, Bucharest, Paris, Varna, Kuwait and Jordan.
He passed away on September 15, 2021 in Niš.
Through Miodrag Anđelković's layered oeuvre, we are introduced to a multitude of styles and techniques, following his desire to experiment, for new, more dynamic content.
In search of new challenges through the eternal dilemma between the beginning and the final form, he reduces his artistic language by taking from nature only what suits his current meditative state. During the process of creation itself, he determines the degree of expressiveness, complexity, liveliness and authenticity.
The basic idea guiding the entire creative act of Miodrag Anđelković is the creation of an authentic work of art that, in its hidden meanings, carries the truth and reality of the experienced. With a recognizable artistic language, he softens the boundaries between the visible and the invisible, confronting imaginary worlds.
Exploring new artistic paths, he forms unexplored secret passages into his own universe, combining the organic and the inorganic, the concrete and the irrational.
The motifs of his graphics, drawings, watercolors and paintings are inspired by imagination, memories, literature or everyday events, giving them dimensions of the timeless, eternal.
During the creative process, he forms his own imaginary in an original, imaginative way as a complex visual expression that stimulates various associations.
Bringing the thought and the emotion into a harmonious, mystical balance, he skillfully moves in a wide range from the figurative, through the associative, to the completely abstract.
Setting high professional standards, he always returns to pure, original visual expression.
As an accomplished artist and Eurydice, in addition to working in painting and graphic techniques, he also dealt with painting, conservation and restoration of frescoes, essay writing and art criticism.
Standing out with its carefully constructed, mature, artistic expression, the work of Miodrag Anđelković represents a significant segment in the consideration of not only Niš, but also the entire contemporary Serbian painting.
Seven decades of dedication - Gallery of the Serbian Army Home 1953–2023
Seven Decades of Commitment - Gallery of the Serbian Armed Forces
1953–2023, organized in cooperation with the Defense Media Center of the Public Relations Department of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Serbia.
The exhibition premiered in December 2023 at the Gallery of the Serbian Armed Forces in Belgrade, and is dedicated to marking 70 years of its existence and work. The exhibition consisted of 70 of the most representative works of fine and applied art from the rich collection, which includes about 1,500 works of national art. After the Belgrade premiere, the exhibition also visited the Kikinda National Museum in 2024.
The Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts Niš, in the Officers' Hall, will exhibit several works created in the first half of the last century, such as paintings by Vlaho Bukovac, Ljubo Ivanovic, Marin Tartalja, Milo Milunovic, Kosta Hakman, Jovan Bijelic. The majority of the exhibition will consist of works by Serbian and Yugoslav artists from the second half of the 20th century, such as Petar Lubarda, Zora Petrovic, Milan Konjovic, Mica Popovic and many others. Visitors will also be able to see sculptures by prominent sculptors Nandor Glid, Tomo Rosandic, Angelina Gatalica, as well as works by applied artists Velimir Vukicevic, Borivoj Dedic, Aranka Mojak (ceramics) and Vanja Zanko (tapestry).
The author of the exhibition is Jelena Knežević, museum advisor and head of the Gallery of the Serbian Army House, Belgrade. The visual identity was taken care of by Maja Vučković from the Media Center Odbrana, and the reviews are signed by Dr. Marijana Mraović from the Military Archives and Dr. Katarina Živanović from the Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts.
The exhibition will be open to the public until October 5, 2025.
Art colony Sićevo 2025
On September 1st, the Art Colony ''Sićevo2025'' began operating in the colony building in the village of Sićevo
This year marks the 120th anniversary of the First Yugoslav Art Colony, the predecessor of the Art Colony Sićevo. On the occasion of marking this significant anniversary in our cultural history, in order to reconstruct the appearance of Niš and Sićevo during the first stay of Nadežda Petrović and her colleagues from their Munich school days, we have organized a documentary exhibition, authored by Milica Todorović, museum advisor, which, along with accompanying texts, consists of photographs and postcards presented in print form, which belong to the collections of the National Museum of Niš, the Stevan Sremac National Library Niš and private collections. An AI-generated video on the same topic, created by Aleksandar Dević, MA, was also broadcast at the opening ceremony.
The participants of the 62nd edition of the event, which will be held until September 10, are: Gordana Kaljalović, Đorđe Odanović, Ivan Petrović (Belgrade), Đorđe Simić, Jovana Đorđević (Loznica), Joškin Šiljan (Grdelica), Dragan Momčilović, Olivera Dodić (Niš) and Ana Sluga (Ljubljana, Slovenia). In addition to their stay and work, they will have the opportunity to visit the Sićevačka Gorge, the surrounding monasteries and the cultural and historical monuments of our city during the colony.
The artwork created during this year's event will be exhibited in the Pavilion in the Fortress in November 2025.
https://youtu.be/jcn68-jQW9w?si=HS47GZ_grOPDJGQr
Nevena Kostić "The Other Face of Silence"
Nevena Kostić
The Other Face of Silence
Salon 77, August 26 - September 21, 2025
An excerpt from a dozen drawings from the landscape cycle by artist Nevena Kostić forms a new exhibition at Salon 77. Predominantly using the technique of charcoal on paper, which she mixes with watercolor, pastel, ink and collage, the artist assumes systems of expressive lines with small colored accents, painted or glazed passages, but most often with inverse drawing with an eraser. The tension of the scene in some works manifests the aesthetic category of sublimity, which is somewhat limited today, while in others, the sequence of plans in depth leads the observer to meditative reflections. One gets the impression that the works in which these two treatments meet are particularly successful because they seem to support the thesis that beyond tense situations lies a world of peace, completely immune in its ignorance.
Nevena Kostić (Kragujevac, 1988) completed her undergraduate and master's studies in mural painting at the Department of Applied Arts of the Faculty of Philology and Arts in Kragujevac, in the class of Professor Zoran Ivanovic. She has participated in the work of numerous domestic and international art colonies. She has exhibited in a large number of collective exhibitions, and has realized seven solo exhibitions. She has won four awards for drawing and mosaic. She has been a member of ULUS since 2015.
The exhibition "The Other Face of Silence" can be visited by the public until September 21 at Salon 77.
In Between
Pavilion in Tvrđava, exhibition by Mia Arsenijević – artist from Kragujevac.
The exhibition titled In Between consists of acrylic paintings and works made in the embroidery technique.
Mia Arsenijević was born in 1985 in Kragujevac. She completed her undergraduate and master's studies in painting at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. She received her doctorate in 2015 at the University of Arts in Belgrade. She is employed as an associate professor at the Faculty of Pedagogical Sciences in Kragujevac, teaching courses in the field of fine arts with methodology. She is also engaged at the Faculty of Arts in Niš for the course Methodology of Fine Arts Education. She is actively engaged in artistic, scientific and pedagogical work. She has exhibited her work 23 times in many cities in Serbia. She has participated in more than 50 collective exhibitions. She has won 3 awards for her artistic work. She is the author of more than 20 scientific papers in the fields of theory, art history and art pedagogy, as well as the textbook "A Brief Overview of the History of Art" intended for students of pedagogical faculties.
Encouraged by her own emotional and intellectual process, and her personal role as a mother and educator, Mia Arsenijević develops a unique artistic oeuvre, in which children are the main characters. Representing them in moments of play or various actions (skiing, walking, snowshoeing), the artist emphasizes the idea that play is for children the primary source of acquiring knowledge and experiences, establishing a relationship with reality, and not just harmless leisure, as the adult world usually perceives and interprets it. Children are generally synonymous with the primordial meaning of life and lasting values, but in Mia Arsenijević's paintings, children are depicted in an environment that is only indicated by some detail or on a simple, often monochrome background, that is, in an undefined space. Displacing the scene from concrete reality, the artist elevates her works to the metaphorical level of speaking about the antagonism between the exciting present and the uncertain future, in the context of personal but also collective concern for the fate of today's young generation.
The exhibition will run until September 11.
EXHIBITION OF WORKS BY JELENA SIMIĆ
“PERSONAL SYMBOL – CIRCLE DISTORTION”
Jelena Simić was born in 1995 in Blace. She completed her undergraduate and master’s studies at the Faculty of Arts in Niš in the class of Prof. Bratislava Bašić. She is the recipient of the “Diploma to the Best Graduate Student” award from the Faculty of Arts in Niš for the 2020-21 academic year. She is currently pursuing her doctoral studies at the Academy of Arts in Novi Sad. She is a member of ULUS and SULUV. She has participated in around 40 collective exhibitions and has organized six solo exhibitions in Niš, Vranje, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Vrbas and Opovo.
The exhibition “Personal Symbol – Circle Distortion” is closely connected to and inspired by nature, from which the artist accumulates and draws inspiration. Distortion of the Circle, as a symbol, is represented in almost all works, occupying a central place in the composition along with abstract forms. In her works through drawing, graphics, collage and sculpture, the circle transformed into an ellipse connects the entire story, like an invisible thread, building a picture of reduced coloristic value. She uses color selectively as an accent (red and blue). On large surfaces that calm the entire composition, the work is partially divided by areas of applied textile or paper surfaces. By using them, the author emphasizes rusticity and texture, and the visual art itself is richer. We notice the ease in the expression of strong drawing parts that transition into the destruction of the material, by sewing, stabbing, tearing, hatching, gluing, scratching the surface of the painting or drawing, Jelena in this way indirectly suggests and warns of the destruction of nature by man. While on the contrary, by using natural non-painting materials: cotton, jute, papyrus, she explores their artistic, conceptual and communicative powers. The symbolism of the entire project or the artist's message is actually an appeal to the excessive use of plastic waste instead of natural ecological materials. The ellipse is a symbol, a bridge between the conscious and the unconscious. Her communication with nature is continuous, she transposes it into a drawing, painting, sculpture. She transfers her empathy, experiences, feelings to the canvas through line, surface and even color, in her own unique way, she boldly depicts everything she feels, sees and what surrounds her.
The exhibition can be visited by the public until August 3, 2025.
Double naked
Joškin Šiljan
Double Nude
paintings and drawings
Fortress Pavilion
Joškin Šiljan is exhibiting at the Gallery of Contemporary Art Niš from June 19 to July 13. The exhibition of his paintings and drawings, entitled "Double Nude", will be officially opened on Thursday at 8 p.m., at the Fortress Pavilion.
The exhibition in Niš includes works from several different cycles, and the title is due to the most recent one.
“Through his creative work, Joškin Šiljan creates new worlds, while simultaneously expressing the philosophical nature of his thoughts. His painting constantly explores pure art, which expresses freedom and spontaneity both through the iconography itself and authentic visual language, as well as through reflections and the artist’s understanding of the world, which is as such light and simple, unburdeningly fresh.”, observes art historian Ana Kršljanin, curator of the ŠTAB gallery. She sensitively concludes that the artist “swims in the limitlessness of themes, movements and beings that, with witty and long titles, give the viewer an impulse that he needs to feel and convey, allowing him to be the one who completes the picture and the story.”.
Joškin Šiljan (Nebojša Stojković, 1953, Pirot) belongs to the generation of artists who emerged on the art scene in the 1990s. He is one of the most famous and active authors on the regional art scene, and his exhibitions in world museums and galleries make him internationally visible and recognized. He is a participant in a large number of art colonies and residency programs in the country and abroad. His works are in significant museum, company and private collections around the world. He has won several significant awards, including: the Golden Palette of ULUS (2006), the Grand Prize at the 14th Biennial of Naive and Marginal Art (2009), the Main Prize for Painting on Paper OSTEN (2016), and the Golden OSTEN for Drawing (2018).
He lives and works in Grdelica.
The public can visit the exhibition of his works until August 5th, at the Pavilion in the Fortress.
EXHIBITION YUGOSLAV PERIOD OF THE ART COLONY SIĆEVO - SELECTION OF WORKS FROM THE GSLU NIS FUND
This year marks the 120th anniversary of the founding of the First Yugoslav Art
Ethnic Colony. The founder of Serbian modernism, the famous painter Nadežda Petrović, and her colleagues from her Munich school days, gathered around the idea of cultural unification of the South Slavic peoples, by coming to a village in southern Serbia and working in the open air, they left a significant legacy for this part of the country. The idea of an artist’s stay in Sićevo every summer did not take root, so it was renewed under the name of the Sićevo Art Colony six decades later and has been continuously held since then to this day. 545 domestic and foreign authors of different generations and styles participated in the work of this now public city event, who enriched the Gallery’s collection with 912 paintings, graphics, new media and sculptures. These works represent a lasting value and are a significant cultural heritage of the city.
The anniversary is an opportunity to gain insight into the rich, carefully formed collection from the 1970s to the present day, to point out the significance of the artistic undertaking of that time and, in the context of the wider cultural space, tradition, social and political circumstances, to examine the influence on contemporary artistic thinking, understandings of fine arts and echoes in creativity. The concept of the exhibition in gallery 73 reflects the idea of unity and Yugoslavism through the selection of paintings and sculptures created during the existence of Yugoslavia and the participation of authors from the former republics. The artists enjoyed the freedom and work under the open sky, so they were encouraged by the surroundings, the Sićevačka landscape, the beauty of the gorge, the rocks, and the sumptuous palette of colors, general impressions and visual sensations, each in their own unique way, applying individual artistic expression, they woven into their works (Milenko Šerban, Mihajlo Petrov, Stojan Trumić, Čedomir Krstić, Boža Ilić, Stojko Stojković, Miroslav Anđelković, Perica Donkov, Velizar Krstić, Miodrag Protić, Momčilo Antonović, Kosta Bradić, Rada Selaković). Some authors used the rich cultural and historical heritage of this region as a starting point for research and expression of personal reflections (Ivan Tabaković, Bata Mihailović), the dialogue between nature and historical and artistic heritage (Mladen Srbinović, Čedomir Vasić, Tomaž Kržišnik), or by questioning their inner worlds, they introduced a dose of mysticism into idyllic landscapes (Bojan Bem, Ređep Feri), and imaginatively, almost uninhibitedly, indulged in the world of fairy tales and mythology (Radomir Reljić). For some, Sićevo was an opportunity to express their own preoccupation and critical attitude towards social and socio-political circumstances in a new environment, without communicating the impressions of their immediate surroundings (Mića Popović, Zoran Pavlović), a rational and analytical approach in the spirit of new geometry (Stojan Ćelić, Bora Iljovski, Borko Lazeski) or expressive representations of the experienced (Velizar Krstić, Petar Mazev).
The exhibition presents the sculptor’s works created during the 1970s and 1980s. Forming mainly in traditional materials, within the framework of figuration, they found their expression in the classical anatomical form (Aleksandar Šakić, Viljem Jakopin) or archetypal form (Nikola Antov), skillfully combining forms within the framework of geometric stylization (Momčilo Krković) or suggestively breaking down the classical view of sculpture while experimenting with more contemporary materials (Olga Milić) to the depiction of reduced associative forms (Ivan Felker, Dušan Donkov, Nikola Njirić). By presenting paintings and sculptures by prominent protagonists of the Yugoslav art scene, the impact of the unique cultural space and the importance that the Sićevačka colony, which originated on the achievements of the First Yugoslav Art Colony, had, was to some extent perceived. Its noble mission and value oblige us to preserve tradition, carefully select participants, adequately care for and preserve exhibits, and create opportunities for their presentation on a larger scale.
June 19 – July 1, 2025
Maja Đurović "Next Time"
Opening of the exhibition on June 26th at 8pm
Exhibition of mosaics by Maja Đurović: “Next time”
Maja Đurović (1977) graduated from the Faculty of Fine Arts in Belgrade, Department of Graphics, in the class of Professor Biljana Vuković. She has been a member of the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia since 2009. She has exhibited at seven solo and over seventy group exhibitions in the country and abroad. She has won several awards for mosaic: FLU Award for Mosaic at the Exhibition of Awarded Students 2005/2006; Plaque for Artistic Contribution to Contemporary Mosaic by the group of fine artists Ametist in Belgrade 2007; Honorable mention at the exhibition of small-format mosaics by the “Ametist” art group in Belgrade in 2011 and an award for exceptional artistic work at the exhibition of the 5th Biennial of Mosaics, organized by the Student Cultural Center New Belgrade in 2012.
She received a commendation for graphics at the 25th October Art Salon in Kovin in 2007; Special recognition for merit at Art Fest & Doral, Miami, Florida, USA, 2012, as well as Plaques from the “Heritage of Metropolitan Pitirim” Fund for the contribution and progress of Serbian art in the Slavic world for participation in the exhibition “1150 Years of Slavic Literacy and Culture”, Moscow, 2013.
For the Tourist Organization of Serbia, she realized replicas: the Medusa mosaic from the ancient settlement of Mediana near Niš and the Venator mosaic from the Felix Romuliana palace near Gamzigrad, 2013. Maja Đurović’s research focuses on the analysis of the inner life of an individual, that is, the state of his or her own being in relation to the environment. Through portrait motifs and human figures, she visualizes the character of the portrayed, emphasizing their individual characteristics. Skillfully handling the technique of mosaics made in natural stone, Maja Đurović presents in a special way her story about passivity, alienation, and apathy in the time and society that surrounds us. The atmosphere is almost elegiac, stopped in a moment that indicates a deep thoughtfulness about one's own existence. All the exhibited works deal with the fate of an ordinary person through visions of lonely, depressed characters who move through the silence of space, wandering aimlessly.
The artistic program of the opening of the exhibition includes:
soprano: Katarina Simonović Ivanković, full professor at the Faculty of Arts in Niš
pianist: Staša Stamenković, professional piano associate, Faculty of Arts in Niš