To mark the fifty years since the catastrophic earthquake that struck Banjaluka in 1969, the exhibition ''Earthquake in Banjaluka 1969: Solidarity, Recovery and Development'' was opened as a central event of the manifestation in the Cultural Center Banski dvor.
The exhibition is a joint project of the Archives of the Republic of Srpska, the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska, and the Association of Archivists of the Republic of Srpska. This exhibition is realized under the auspices of the City of Banjaluka.
The large exhibition consists of two main segments: historical-archival and artistic, with accompanying events. The historical and archival segment of the exhibition takes us through the story of Banjaluka’s history through its demolition, restoration and construction from the end of World War II to the 1980s. This segment is divided into several chapters and provides a variety of historical materials in the form of photographs, architectural designs, construction projects, newspaper covers, postcards, maps and documents. The major part relates to a series of devastating earthquakes and their immediate consequences, while the previous and accompanying sections talk about the development, i.e. the reconstruction and urban transformation of the city in the decades that preceded or followed the earthquake. Archive films and interactive elements are included in this segment.
The art segment of the exhibition includes selected works from the collection of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska, which arrived in Banjaluka as part of the "Action of Solidarity of Fine Artists of Yugoslavia and the World". The action of solidarity was launched in the first days after the earthquake as a noble gesture by artists from the territory of ex-Yugoslavia, and then from other parts of the world, who decided to support the endangered city in their own way by donating works of art. Due to this, approximately 750 works of art from various media were collected, which served as the basis for the founding of the Art Gallery of Banjaluka, today’s Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska, and made up its initial holdings.
The archival setup of the exhibition is signed by the archivist-computer scientist Saša Đukić (the Association of Archivists), and the artistic setup is signed by the senior curator Žana Vukičević (Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska). The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive bilingual publication with a historical exposition and a treatise written by Vladan Vukliš, MA, senior archivist and assistant director of the Archives of the Republic of Srpska, as well as a text by Žana Vukičević and a catalogue of selected works.