The exhibition “City Museum Rankovićevo – National Museum Kraljevo: First 30 Years of Work” was officially opened at the Gallery of the National Museum Kraljevo on Friday, June 27th, 2025, at 7 p.m. The exhibition was organized to mark a significant anniversary – 75 years of the institution’s existence. It was curated by senior curator Slađana Spasić and museum advisor Oleg Romanov.
The exhibition was opened by Tatjana Mihailović, PhD, museum advisor of the National Museum Kraljevo. She welcomed the attendees and reflected on the long-standing research work of the exhibition’s authors and their dedication to the museum’s history. She noted that the exhibition focuses on the first three decades of the museum’s work—its founding and early development – describing it as a period of formation and generation of both the institution and its collections.
The first decade was marked by the personality of the founder and first director, professor Milorad S. Jović, who, along with his associates, worked under modest conditions. Nevertheless, it was an exciting time when the first collections were being formed. One of his collaborators was the renowned painter Vladislav Maržik, who, at Jović’s request, created a series of museum exhibits that served as educational tools, as Jović was a pedagogue by profession. Some of these exhibits—such as panels of rulers and nobility, artistic representations of noble coats of arms, and motifs from kilims inspired by medieval Žiča—are on display in the exhibition.
The first decade of work ended with the political persecution of Professor Jović. In the early 1960s, the museum temporarily ceased operations due to the renovation of its building –
Lord Vasa’s Residence. This was a difficult period for the museum, as the artifacts were inadequately stored in a building that later housed the Ibar Garden. After operations resumed, the museum began employing professional curators. The first among them was Miroslav Stamenović, who led the institution until 1979. Tatjana Mihailović listed all the professional staff who, during the 1960s and 1970s, contributed to the museum’s development through their work. She particularly highlighted the opening of the Gallery of Frescoes in 1965, located in the building of today’s Historical Archive, as a significant collection of 13th-century painting. She then spoke about the continuity of Professor Jović’s vision, who believed that the Kraljevo museum should be a Museum of the Raška State—a concept that was difficult to realize during the socialist era—and its connection to the Fresco Gallery. She emphasized that visitors to this exhibition have the opportunity to see fascinating items that rarely leave the museum’s storage, such as replicas of medieval manuscript books, 12 folios from Miroslav’s Gospel, and numerous important miniatures from the 12th to 16th centuries.
The 1970s represent a time of professionalization, the consolidation of the expert team, and significant exhibition activity. She noted that the authors structured the exhibition according to the collections that still exist today and were initiated in the 1950s: Historical, Art, Ethnological, Natural History, Numismatic, and Archaeological. The exhibition is dedicated to the process of heritage building and institutional formation. In closing, she recalled the words of Professor Jović, who said that before the museum’s founding, Kraljevo was just a dot on the map, and that from that moment on, it became a place with history and memory.
Afterward, one of the authors, museum advisor Oleg Romanov, addressed the audience. He took the opportunity to thank the entire staff of the National Museum Kraljevo, who actively participated in the preparation and realization of the exhibition. He specifically mentioned works that had not been exhibited before, such as Maržik’s drawing of Karanovac from 1805. He then guided the interested audience through the exhibition, revealing a series of intriguing details about the first exhibitions, permanent displays, and individual artifacts.