Author's guidance through the exhibition “Cities: A Certain View. From the Collection of Graphics by Foreign Authors of the National Museum of Serbia” was held in the Gallery of the National Museum Kraljevo, on Friday, October 4th, 2024, starting at 7 p.m. Dragana Kovačić, PhD, museum advisor of the National Museum of Serbia, guided the visitors through the exhibition.
Dragana Kovačić emphasized at the beginning of the author's presentation that she is extremely proud of the Collection of graphics by foreign authors, which includes over 2,500 works, however, one significant part of the collection is not known to the public. This fact is also among the important motives for the preparation of the exhibition, which includes 48 works by 36 artists. Works from the Collection of graphics by foreign authors of the National Museum of Serbia tell the story of the city as a place of origin, as well as the dramatic and accelerated development of modern culture and art, first at the transition from the 18th to the 19th century, and then from the 19th to the 20th century. The authors of the exhibited works are the authors of the so-called middle current in artistic trends. That is why their representations of the city are “certain”, and there are no turning points in the story. The city is a metaphor for the modern age.
The author's guidance of Dragana Kovačić pointed out the ways in which the composition and plans of graphics of city environments changed over time, due to changes in the city itself brought about by industrialization, as well as the influence of photography that appeared during the 19th century. The audience could get acquainted with striking details, which over time become symbols of cities or accents used in the artistic presentation of city spaces. Through the tour of the exhibition, the verticals, ground floors, striking spaces and street art are treated as landmarks from which one can “read” the city through different scales - from pedestrian observation (frames) to panorama.