TREASURES OF SOCIALISM

The exhibition entitled  ''Treasures of Socialism'' consists of selected works from the art collection of the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina, originating from the period between 1941 and 1953, in which art was marked by socialistic realism. The period was characterized by intensified social control, but also by the artists' active participation in the construction of the socialist society. Art was supposed to glorify a heroic historical moment and meet the criteria of socialist ideology, party-mindedness and nationality. For those reasons representational art that relied on academic realist tradition in its figurative depictions, was favoured.

The exhibited works mostly consist of portraits of Bosnian and Herzegovinian People's Heroes, commissioned by the People's Liberation Museum in Sarajevo (now Historical Museum of B&H) right after the Second World War. Other works include paintings, drawings, prints and watercolours created during the war and with war themes. Even though they formally rely on the painterly tradition of socialistic realism, some of them show certain departures.

The period of socialistic realism is a neglected and insufficiently explored phase of Bosnian and Herzegovinian art. Historical distance and the displacement of the works from the Museum's depot into the Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina open up a possibility of re-evaluation of form and content of the exhibited works. At the same time, the exhibition opens up the question of what the cultural heritage of the aforementioned period means to us.


Installation-Shots
Paintings
List of works exhibited

Documents:
- Dodatni tekstovi


Curators:
Michael Fehr
Asja Mandic
Miran Mohar
Borut Vogelnik


Texts in the exhibition and research:
Mirela Ademovic, student of the 5th yars in art history
Andrea Baotić, art historian
Nada Berberovic, art historian
Selma Boskailo, art historian
Haris Dervisevic, art historian
Senada Isanovic, art historian
Ena Mulaomerovic, art historian
Aida Pekmez, art historian

Translation into English:
Ena Mulaomerović

In collaboration with:
History Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Art Gallery of Bosnia and Herzegovina
Institute for Art in Context, University of the Arts Berlin
Museumsakademie Joanneum Graz
Society for promotion of art and visual culture Kult Fakt

Sponzor:
Kafe Tito