The archaeological exhibition “Not Quite the Same, Not Quite Different” was created on the basis of the exhibition “Let Me Tell You a Story” of the Archaeological Museum in Zadar (Republic of Croatia), which visited 20 cities throughout Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. In Serbia, the exhibition visited five museums, including the National Museum Kraljevo. In each museum, the host museum participated in this exhibition with its own story and a reconstructed grave from the explored ancient necropolis. The venue of the aforementioned exhibition includes four Roman provinces that differed, but were also similar, in the manner of funeral rituals in the period from the 1st to the 4th century, that is, from the emperors Augustus to Constantine the Great. The values and way of life of the old communities can be read to the greatest extent from these rituals.That is why the author of the exhibition, Timka Alihodžić, museum advisor of the Archaeological Museum in Zadar, came up with the idea that all the host museums together organize an exhibition of a regional character, which would unite different funeral practices in the Roman provinces and show the richness of the common heritage.
In front of the National Museum Kraljevo, Tatjana Mihailović, PhD, museum advisor, participated in this project, who travelled to Zadar with Bojana Ilijčić, senior curator of the Homeland Museum in Knjaževac, also a participant in the project, where they represented Serbia at this event. They also took the opportunity to visit the archaeological sites and monuments of Zadar, one of the most important urban centers of Dalmatia since ancient times. The settlement was known as Jader from the pre-Roman period, and as Colonia Julia Jader from the Roman period. This city is also made special by the church of St. Donata from the 9th century, which, together with Peter’s church near Novi Pazar of the same chronology, is one of the two oldest churches in the Balkans, of the rotunda type (circular base). The church was built on the site of the Roman Forum, where the Archaeological Museum is located today, that is, on the site that is still the center of the old town of Zadar. A special place in the history of Zadar is also the Serbian community, from which the famous writer Vladan Desnica comes, and which is gathered around the church of Saint Prophet Elijah from the 18th century.
The exhibition “Not Quite the Same, Not Quite Different” was opened on June 26th, 2024, starting at 7:30 p.m., in the Gallery of the Archaeological Museum in Zadar. After the address of Morana Vuković, director of the Archaeological Museum in Zadar, the audience was addressed by Timka Alihodžić, the museum advisor of this institution and the author of the exhibition and spoke about cooperation with numerous museum institutions and the potential and power of ancient heritage to connect many regional museums. All museums participating in the project with their material were presented with one panel each at the exhibition. In addition to the National Museum Kraljevo and the Homeland Museum Knjaževac, the Belgrade City Museum, the National Museum Zaječar and the Museum of Srem in Sremska Mitrovica participated from Serbia. The project was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia.