The program “On Slava at Olivera’s House” was realized in the Legacy of Olivera Radojković Čolović – the Čolović family house, on Mitrovdan, Wednesday, November 8th, 2023, the day of family feast of the donor. Through the program realized by volunteers of the National Museum Kraljevo, art historian Jelena Marković and ethnologist curator Sofija Pršić, the memory of Olivera and her family is preserved and cherished, through the idea of a living legacy. The program “On Slava at Olivera’s House” was conceived as a reconstruction of the civic feast in the house of Čolović, which would gather her acquaintances and friends, which was preceded by the consecration of cakes and grain.
The host of the celebration was the historian curator Nemanja Trifunović, who in the previous year of 2022, when this program started, took over the Slava from Dragan Drašković, the long-time director of the National Museum Kraljevo, thanks to whom the Legacy of Olivera Radojković Čolović was created as a kind of museum branch. The bread was consecrated by priest Vladimir Jovanović in the morning hours.
The program for guests took place in the period from 5:00 pm to 08:00 pm, and among them were Olivera’s godson Marko Košanin and his mother Vesna, as well as Gordana Rašeta, who in the 1950s as a child was a neighbour of the Čolović family and came to their house every day. She told a series of warm memories especially related to Olivera’s mother Mileva – Milja, who allowed her to play with Olivera’s dolls and who was full of love for children. She pointed out that the house was entered through the back door, and that the large front door was opened only for the celebration, where only cakes, drinks and coffee were served. Art historian Marina Lukić Cvetić, from the Museum Spoonswets– Cvetić House, who was also among the guests and who supported the National Museum Kraljevo in organizing the program, spoke more about the customs of the civic celebration and its specifics in relation to celebrating in the countryside. A number of furniture elements from the interwar period were borrowed from the collection of the Museum of Spoonsweets, which enabled the reconstruction of this type of Slavic customs.
Art historian Marina Lukić Cvetić, from the Museum of Spoonsweets, spoke more about the customs of the civic Slava celebration and its specifics in relation to celebrating in the countryside, who was also among the guests and who supported the National Museum Kraljevo in organizing the program. She pointed out that the order of serving was always the same: first bread and grain, then sweets and coffee, and finally the cakes are served three times. She also demonstrated how the cakes were taken home by wrapping them in tissue paper. A number of furniture elements from the interwar period were borrowed from the collection of the Museum of Spoonswets, which enabled the reconstruction of this type of Slavic customs.
Jelena Marković, art historian and one of the organizers of the program, pointed out that the Museum’s desire is to form a community of citizens around the Legacy and to show the extent to which the Museum is inclusive and open to citizens participating in the creation of its programs. With the family icon and lamp, Oliver’s glory was transferred to the Museum, which on this occasion also begins the process of preserving civic glory, through the Čolović family tradition. Slava, as a living intangible heritage of the Serbian people, is under the protection of UNESCO.