The program “On Slava at Olivera’s House” was held at the Legacy of Dr Olivera Radojković Čolović, on the feast day of Saint Demetrius, Saturday, November 8th, 2025, the donor’s family slava. In addition to numerous artworks, Dr Radojković Čolović bequeathed to the Museum her family house, the family slava icon, a lamp for the icon, and a candleholder. These objects keep alive the memory of a bourgeois family and a way of life from a past era. Organized again this year by the National Museum Kraljevo, the program continues to honor Olivera Radojković Čolović and her family and to preserve the tradition of the bourgeois slava as part of living cultural heritage.
The celebrations began with the blessing of the slava bread and wheat, performed in the morning by priest Vladimir Jovanović. The host of the slava was Nemanja Trifunović, curator at the National Museum Kraljevo.
As in previous years, the program included a reconstruction of the slava table in the spirit of an interwar bourgeois home, arranged with authentic items from the collection of the Museum of Spoonsweats – The Cvetić House, whose collaboration ensured the reconstruction’s authenticity. Alongside the slava bread and wheat, guests were served traditional slava pastries, fruit preserves, and coffee, following the serving order characteristic of urban slavas.
Tatjana Mihailović, PhD, museum advisor of the National Museum Kraljevo and initiator of the program, highlighted the importance of maintaining this celebration as an example of preserving bourgeois cultural heritage and as testimony to the life of a family in Kraljevo. Art historian Jelena Marković, organizer of the program, spoke about preparing small pastries according to old recipes and about the greater complexity of their production compared with today.
The program featured contributions from museum staff and friends of the Čolović family. Milena Petrović and Jelena Stolić, goddaughters of Olivera Radojković Čolović, shared nostalgic memories of her and of the legate house. During the live conversation, guests recalled Olivera and her good deeds with warmth and smiles, evoking a deep and lasting impression on all who knew her. With the family icon and lamp now entrusted to the Museum, Olivera’s slava has been transferred into the institution’s care, reinforcing the idea of “living heritage”. The slava, as intangible living heritage listed by UNESCO, remains an important element of Serbian cultural identity. The program “On Slava at Olivera’s House” helps preserve the memory of the bourgeois slava as a significant part of cultural life, set within an old town house that still preserves the spirit of the era, the warmth of home, and the tradition of family celebration.