Discreet Hero of Heritage: Milorad Miki Mihailović, Art Historian and Director of the National Museum Kraljevo

Exhibition “Discreet Hero of Heritage: Milorad Miki Mihailović, Art Historian and Director of the National Museum Kraljevo” will be officially opened at the Gallery of the National Museum Kraljevo, as part of the Žiča Spiritual Assembly “Transfiguration 2025,” on Saturday, August 16, 2025, starting at 8 p.m.

Milorad Miki Mihailović was the first art historian, curator of the Art Collection of the National Museum Kraljevo, and director of the institution from 1979 to 1995, when he passed away unexpectedly. September 2025 marks 30 years since his passing, which is one of the reasons why, in the year celebrating 75 years of the Museum’s work and 30 years of the new Gallery located on the ground floor of the old school building, an exhibition is being organized in honor of one of the most significant curators of this museum institution, which he successfully led for sixteen years.

From the beginning of his work in 1973, Miki distinguished himself as a key figure in the development of the city’s art scene—a driving force behind numerous projects, exhibitions, publications, and initiatives. He introduced the Museum into the joint publication of the journal “Naša prošlost” (Our Past), actively participated in scientific research projects, and contributed to the formation of art associations.

As director, he tirelessly fought for a new museum building, thereby resolving one of the institution’s greatest challenges. The year 1995 was the culmination of his long-standing and selfless effort and work, when the first phase of adaptation was completed and the new Gallery of the National Museum Kraljevo was officially opened. The institution stepped into a new chapter with great strides – hosting two international scientific conferences, organizing four major exhibitions, and preparing a fifth that was still in progress.

Then something occurred that was difficult to comprehend for his family, the institution, the city, and the broader cultural community –his unexpected passing on September 20th, 1995, at the age of forty-eight: just six months after entering the adapted museum building, and only a month after the completion of the scientific conference “Žiča – History, Art,” at the very beginning of a new museum era.

This exhibition is a modest tribute to the memory of Milorad Miki Mihailović, a man who pushed boundaries in heritage preservation—quietly but thoughtfully, consistently and without signs of fatigue, always moving toward his goals.

The exhibition is authored by Tatjana Mihailović, PhD, museum advisor at the National Museum Kraljevo, and Dragan Drašković, retired museum advisor of the same institution.