European Aquatic Sports Championship Closing Ceremony: "Swim into the Patterns of Serbia"

Ethnographic Museum

The Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade was established in 1901 by separating the Ethnographic Department from the National Museum. The proposal and the conceptual-theoretical foundation for creating a museum dedicated to the study of folk life were developed by historian Stojan Novaković, a regular member of the Serbian Learned Society (now the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts). A diverse collection of ethnographic objects, including earthenware and metal vessels, jewelry, amulets, glass and textile items, weapons, tools, Easter eggs, and other artifacts, was transferred to the Stevča Mihailović Foundation—a house bequeathed by Mihailović in his will “to the Serbian people for the eternal memory of myself, with the intention of creating a museum for the Kingdom of Serbia.” Dr. Sima Trojanović was appointed as the first curator (director) of the Museum, and Nikola Zega was later appointed as the first curator. The early years of the museum’s existence were dedicated to acquiring objects and representing the Kingdom of Serbia to the world. Items were collected through field research conducted in what was then Serbia and neighboring countries inhabited by Serbs.

The grand opening of the first permanent exhibition of the Ethnographic Museum took place on September 20, 1904, to mark the centenary of the First Serbian Uprising. During World War I, a large number of exhibits, documentation, and the library were destroyed. After the war, new field research was undertaken to replenish the collections. During those years, the Museum had fewer international exhibitions.

The museum library was restored in 1920 and now holds approximately 60,000 publications, including about 33,000 books and around 27,000 journals in the fields of ethnology, anthropology, and related sciences. Between the two World Wars, a new inventory of all objects was compiled, an Alphabetical Register was established, a Department of Music Folklore and an Illustrative Department were created, and the objects were categorized according to the materials from which they were made.

From the founding of the Museum to the present day, the museum’s work focuses on the professional collection and study of museum objects and ethnogenetic processes, traditional material culture, social relations and family life, customs, beliefs, and folk creativity. During World War II, museum objects were packed and moved from the former museum building. After the war, the Museum was relocated to the Belgrade Stock Exchange building at 13 Studentski trg. Today, the Museum’s collections house more than 120,000 artifacts, including around 50,000 ethnographic items.

The Museum studies features of Serbian culture as well as those of other ethnic communities living in the vicinity. Since the 1960s, a new method of work has been introduced at the Museum: team-based research into the ethnographic regions of northeastern and western Serbia. Research results are published in professional and scientific journals and catalogs. The Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade organizes temporary and permanent exhibitions. To date, it has held eight permanent exhibitions and hundreds of temporary exhibitions both domestically and internationally.

The eighth permanent exhibition, titled "Folk Culture of Serbs in the 19th and 20th Centuries," was set up in 2001. Since 1992, the Museum’s regular program has included the International Ethnological Film Festival. The Museum also hosts workshops for children and adults, lectures, book presentations, and concerts.

Belgrade

Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Sava and Danube, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkan Peninsula. The urban area of Belgrade has a population of 1.23 million, while nearly 1.7 million people live within the administrative limits of the City of Belgrade. Its name means “white city.” One of the most important prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved within the Belgrade area in the 6th millennium BC. Throughout history, Belgrade was conquered several times. Due to its perilous strategic position, the city has taken part in over 115 wars and been destroyed 44 times. It has been the capital of Serbia since 1405 and it was the capital of Yugoslavia from its creation in 1918 to its dissolution.