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Nataša Mladenović Ribić, M.A. ethnologist and anthropologist, curator

Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance Republic of Serbia

E-mail: mladenovic.natasha@gmail.com

Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National

Significance: State Museum in mission to preserve and promote Serbian

cultural heritage1

Who we are

Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural

Institution of National Significance was established in

1901 by separation of the Ethnographic department

from the Serbian National Museum (founded in 1844).

Since the foundation, it has been striving to collect

artifacts of material culture of Serbian and other

peoples of the Balkans, conduct research on various

aspects of popular culture, improve working

conditions and museum storage facilities and to

expand its activities in order to reach the broad

audience. Museum’s mission is to be the best Museum

in the Region in next four years.

The Museum consists of several departments:

for curatorial work, documentation, conservation and

restoration, as well as the educational work and public

relations. Furthermore, the Centre for intangible

cultural heritage of Serbia was founded in 2012.

Museum’s Library has around 60 000 publications

from the fields of ethnology and socio-cultural

anthropology, museology, art and social sciences.

There are about 58 000 ethnographic artifacts

within more than 30 collections2 of the Ethnographic

Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National

Significance. Also, the Museum preserves sheets of

archival materials, glass negatives and collection of

old negatives and photographs. Up till now, the

Museum has arranged eight permanent and around

300 temporary exhibitions. In addition, the Museum is Figure 1: Main building of the Museum (up)

and Manak’s House (down)

1 This paper was presented on 10

th EMAC - European Museum Advisors Conference “Museum Work – Working

for Museums” that was held from 6th

till 10th

of July 2014 in Munich. 2 Museum has in its collections traditional and urban dress from different regions, both of Serbs and the ethnic

groups and national minorities that live in Serbia, elements of rural and urban architecture and households,

textile households, various elements of traditional economy (cattle breeding, agriculture, winegrowing, hunting

and fishing, traffic and transport of goods, crafts), devices for the manufacture of textiles, embroidery and lace,

jewelry, smoking accessories, traditional musical instruments, objects for rituals, toys, collection of folk dances,

as well as film and video materials and visual art collection.

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the founder and organizer of the International Festival of Ethnological Film.

Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance is

located in the city centre of Belgrade, situated in two buildings. The main building was built

in 1933-1934 for the Stock market and it was partly rearranged for the purposes of museum

(1982-1984). Another Museum’s building – Manak’s House, was built around 1830 in

Oriental-Balkan style. Since 1986 it is part of the Museum and it stores and exhibits artifacts

from the Ethnographic memorial collection of Hristifor Crnilović.

What we do and how we do it

Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance

conducts wide variety of activities, including scientific research, both in collections and in the

field, acquisition of objects and illustrative material, documentation and preservation of

ethnographic objects through conservation and restoration. Also, I would like to emphasize

Museum’s publishing activities since 1926. Besides annual “Bulletin of the Ethnographic

Museum”, we publish catalogues of exhibitions and collections, as well as the comprehensive

studies on various subjects of humanities and social sciences. Furthermore, Museum carries

out internship programs for future curators and conservators.

When it comes to the exhibiting activities, current permanent exhibition, Folk Culture

of Serbs in the XIX and the XX Century, displays Serbian traditional dress from different

regions, rural and urban architecture and households, various elements of traditional economy

and some elements of annual customs. Another permanent exhibition, National dress and

jewelry of Central Balkan area from the XIX and first decades of the XX century, is

displayed in Manak’s House. Museum also organizes temporary and traveling exhibitions.

Figure 2: Segments of Museum’s permanent exhibition Folk Culture of Serbs in the XIX and the XX Century

At the beginning of the 1990s, the Museum has founded the International Festival of

Ethnological Film, with a mission to promote cultural diversity and values of cultural

heritage.3 Besides this annual event, the Museum is organizing lectures, promotions, concerts

3 This Festival promotes films that explore both traditional and modern way of life of peoples from around the

world. Besides the main film program, which consists the films in competition, informative and Student film

sections, there are several special programs: round tables and discussions on (ethnographic) films, workshops,

program dedicated to a specific author or national film production. This year, XXIII edition of the Festival will

be held from 17th

till 21st of October.

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and film screenings. Another aspect of working with public includes workshops for children4

and adults5.

Figure 3: Workshops for children Figure 4: Course of weaving for adults

This wide range of activities is carried out by several departments. Curatorial staff

from the Department for Researching Popular Culture studies and interprets the phenomena of

the material, social and spiritual culture and it is in charge of selection of objects for the

collections.6 The Documentation Department stores and processes documentation, archive and

visual material on ethnographic objects in the Museum.7 Besides the activities on daily basis,

staff from the Department of Conservation and Restoration provides the professional help for

institutions, folk dance societies and individuals. Department of Educational work, Design

and Communication is, inter alia, in charge of design and installation of exhibitions.

Museum’s Library, which fund8 has been growing from the foundation of Museum, is part of

the network of Virtual library of Serbia.9 The main part of the work of the Centre for the

Intangible Cultural Heritage of Serbia, Museum’s newest department, is focused on the

4 Workshops on the following topics: Rural and urban home, Traditional dress – elements and motifs, Customs –

masked processions, Easter eggs, Christmas cake, Beliefs in traditional culture. 5 Courses of traditional crafts: weaving, ceramics and the original hand press.

6 Furthermore, it is working on promotion of cultural heritage of Serbia through exhibitions, appearance in

media, professional advising on subjects from the field of ethnology and socio-cultural anthropology and

museology. 7 Additionally, this department runs digital documentation on Museum's artifacts.

8 The Museum library fund contains a certain number of German publications in Gothic. In this fund one may

find monographic publication by Zeuss Kaspar “Die Deutschen und die Nachbarstämme”, published in Munich

in 1837, as well as the “ dost orschungen: internationale eitschrift f r eschichte, ultur und Landeskunde

dosteuropas” published by Institut f r Ost- und dosteuropaforschung and publication “ itzungsberichte”,

that we still obtain from Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-historische Klasse. 9 In this regard, the library staff is working on electronic catalogue of publications that one may search on the

following link: http://www.vbs.rs/cobiss/cobiss_sr-en.htm

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management of the National Inventory of the intangible cultural heritage and all the relevant

documentation in electronic, paper, video and audio file formats.10

Recent projects

Among the variety of Museum’s activities, I would like to focus on two aspects:

national and international cooperation achieved through exhibitions, round table and

conference; and gradual restoration of Museum’s building. irstly, I would like to mention the

exhibition about Zubun11

– a kind of sleeveless waistcoat, open in front that was on show in

2009. This exhibition inspired contemporary artists and designers, which resulted in

exhibition Zubun 2010. Serbian folklore in contemporary design. It was on show in the

Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance during

Belgrade Fashion Week and in Serbian Cultural Centre in Paris during the Week of Haute

Couture. This project marked the beginning of long-term cooperation between the Museum

and Fashion studio Click, the organizer of Belgrade Fashion Week, with the mission to

assemble Serbian fashion designers around the dress from traditional culture as a model for

production of contemporary fashion collections.

Figure 5: Zubun, vicinity of Pirot, Figure 6: Zubun, Metohija, Kosovo Figure 7: Zubun, Biočin, Raška Šopska region, Serbia. Made in the and Metohija, Serbia. Made in the region, Serbia. Made at the end of

mid-nineteenth century. second half of the nineteenth the nineteenth century.

Inv.No. 6028 century. Inv.No. 5927

Inv.No. 36286

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The Centre has submitted the nominations for inscription of the Slava (celebration of the family patron saint’s

day, national nomination) and St. George’s Day Traditions / Spring Celebration: Hıdrellez (multinational

nomination) on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity. The results

are expected in late november 2014. One can find more information on the activities of the Center on the

following link: http://nkns.rs/en/ 11

Exhibition Zubun – Collection of the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade from the XIX and the first half of

the XX Century, author Mirjana Menkovic, PhD, Museum Counselor and Acting Director of the Ethnographic

Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance.

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Figure 8: Exhibition Zubun 2010. Serbian folklore in contemporary design that was on show during Belgrade

Fashion Week in 2010, Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance

The good example of international cooperation is the fruitful collaboration with the

Museum of folk art and customs of Algiers. They were guests of our Museum with the

exhibition Everyday life in the city of Algiers, during the Days of Algerian culture in Serbia

in 2013. This year, the exhibition about the wedding customs in Serbia was on show in Palace

of Culture of the City of Algiers.12

Also, the Museum has participated, in cooperation with

partners from 12 Slavic countries, in the international exhibition Slavic carnivals, that took

place in the UNESCO Palace in Paris in 201413

. The exhibition was organized by the Forum

of Slavic cultures, which is celebrating its 10th

anniversary this year.

I would like to mention the round table on the audiovisual productions and the

safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage, that was recently organized by the Museum in

cooperation with the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe (Venice,

Italy) and the Regional Centre for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage in South-

East Europe (Sofia, Bulgaria).14

Furthermore, Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural

Institution of National Significance was the host of the ICOM Costume Committee Annual

Meeting in 2011. More than 70 participants gathered around the theme IN BETWEEN –

Culture of Dress between the East and the West. This meeting resulted in 27 papers, 30

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Exhibition Weddings in Serbia in the late XIX and early XX Century, authors Vilma Niškanović and Tijana

Čolak-Antić, Museum Counselors of the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National

Significance. 13

Serbian section on masks, processions and carnivals was presented by Vesna Marjanović, PhD, Museum

Counselor of the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance. 14

More information one may find on the following link: http://nkns.rs/en/2013/09/round-table-the-contribution-

of-audiovisual-productions-to-the-safeguarding-of-intangible-cultural-heritage/

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exhibitions, 5 poster presentations, one workshop and numerous discussions on centuries of

cultural exchange between East and West and its influence on the culture of dress. In

accordance to this prestigious event, September 2011 was designated as the Month of Dress in

Serbia.

Figure 9: Participants of the ICOM Costume Committee Annual Meeting in 2011, Ethnographic Museum in

Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance

In the period from 2009 till 2011, some of

the biggest restoration works on Museum’s

building were conducted. By virtue of The U.S.

Ambassadors Fund for Cultural Preservation

(AFCP), Museum managed to repair roof, gutters

and interior terraces. Also, restoration and

anchoring of granite cladding on the facade of

the Museum, replacement of windows and

reparation of blinds on textile collection were

conducted with the help of the Ministry of

Culture and Information of the Republic of

Serbia. Furthermore, Belgrade Municipality of

Stari Grad, in which the Museum is situated,

financed the equipment for video surveillance

system of Museum’s building. Museum financed

the reparation of a terrace on the last floor.

During this year, Museum shop was renovated

and Museum Bookstore opened.

Figure 10: Roof of the Museum before

reconstruction

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Figure 11: Roof of the Museum during reconstruction (left) and after reconstruction (right)

Figure 12: Doors,

windows and terraces of

the Museum before

reconstruction

Figure 13: Doors,

windows and terraces of

the Museum after

reconstruction

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Look into the future

This year, Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National

Significance received the award for the best Museum in 2013 from the Serbian Museum

Association. We are very grateful for this award, but it also obliges us to be even better in our

work. Therefore, Museum will be focused on several activities in the future. The primary aim

is work on standardization of Museum programs and introduction of new programs, which is

work on the new permanent exhibition and variety of temporary exhibitions15

. This also

includes realization of projects considering both tangible and intangible cultural heritage of

Serbia.16

Furthermore, Museum will intensify work with the audience through the community

outreach and active participation of young people in Museum’s activities, particularly

students of ethnology and socio-cultural anthropology. Further work on protection of

Museum’s collections will include the construction of a new depository and central

ventilation system, as well as reconstruction of Manak’s House.

The Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance

is open to cooperation on local, professional, inter-institutional, as well as regional and

international level.

Contact information:

Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance

Studentski trg 13

11000 Belgrade

Serbia

Website: www.etnografskimuzej.rs

E-mail: info@etnografskimuzej.rs

Facebook page:

https://www.facebook.com/EtnografskiMuzejBeograd.EthnographicMuseumBelgrade

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The variety refers to the subjects of exhibitions (considering artifacts of various Museum collections) and

methods of interpretation (employing new museum practices and theoretical approaches). 16

A good example is project about food culture in Serbia – from types of groceries to food consumption. It will

result in an exhibition that will be on show in Serbian Cultural Centre in Paris in autumn 2014 and in the

Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade – Cultural Institution of National Significance in 2015.