The exhibition includes the remaining drawings from the WWII/Partisan portfolio of the Slovene artist Božidаr Jаkac, property of the Museum of the 2nd AVNOJ Convention in Jajce, which have been kept in the depot of the Museum of Contemporary Art of the Republic of Srpska since 1995.
Following a decision of the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science of the Republic of Srpska, to avoid their getting damaged or destroyed, the drawings were temporarily deposited at what was then the Gallery of Fine Arts of the Republic of Srpska. This exhibition is being staged to mark the return of the artworks to their home museum.
Božidаr Jаkаc, a distinguished painter and printmaker, joined the WWII liberation movement at the peak of his career. On 7 September 1943, together with his wife Tatjana, he joined the Partisan movement. Being a tireless artist and a keen observer, Jakac began filling his war portfolio with drawings from day one of his time with the Partisans, creating a rich visual journal of this important historical period.
Jаkаc attended the 2nd AVNOJ Convention in Jajce as member of the Slovenian delegation. During his strenuous forty-day journey from and back to Slovenia, he made about a hundred and fifty drawings. He made sketches of the participants and speakers in the night session that took place between 29 and 30 November, when the supreme commander of NOV (People’s Liberation Army) and POJ (Yugoslav Partisan Detachments) was proposed for the position and rank of Marshal. It was on this occasion that Jakac drew Tito’s well-known war portrait in red chalk, which had a special place in the collection of the Museum and is missing today.
Exhibition curator: Žаnа Vukičević
