‘Highlights: The Collection of Foreign Art of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska’ was conceptualised and first shown at the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska (MSURS), in celebration of 2018, announced the European Year of Cultural Heritage by the European Commission, with events organised under the slogan ‘Our heritage: where the past meets the future’ and aimed at promoting Europe’s rich and diverse cultural heritage.
The ʻHighlights’ exhibition was held with the aim to emphasise the importance of the collection of foreign art and launch activities to promote the European cultural heritage safeguarded by the MSURS.
The MSURS collection of foreign art contains more than 360 pieces, out of which one hundred works by 80 artists from seventeen European countries (Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, the UK, Georgia, Italy, Ireland, Hungary, Norway, Germany, Poland, Russia, Turkey, France, the Czech Republic, Switzerland and Spain) were selected for the exhibition. The show at the Gallery of Matica Srpska includes a selection of major works of art by 37 artists. Today, the MSURS collection of foreign art boasts works by Europe’s finest artists of the second half of the 20th century, such as Otto Piene, Günther Uecker and Heinz Mack from the Group ZERO, Friedensreich Hundertwasser, Hans Hartung, Pierre Alechinsky, Stanley William Hayter, Jean Messagier, Zao Wou-Ki, Yasse Tabuchi, Antonino Virduzzo, Alberto Biasi, Gastone Biggi, and many more.
The works were selected and the exhibition designed by Professor Lidija Merenik from the Chair of Modern Art of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, and Žana Vukičević, senior curator of the MSURS.
The speakers at the exhibition opening were Tijana Palkovljević Bugarski, Ph.D., director of the Matica Srpska Gallery, Tanja Đaković, Assistant Minister of Culture of the Republic of Srpska, Sarita Vujković, Ph.D., director of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska, Professor Lidija Merenik, Ph.D., art historian, and Dalibor Rožić, member of the Novi Sad City Council in charge of culture.