09.12.2021.

Exhibition “Lubarda – One Story“ opened

The exhibition of works by famous artist Petar Lubarda, entitled “Lubarda – One Story” has been opened today at the Central Military Club’s Grand Gallery. The exhibition containing 29 paintings by the great artist and rich archival material has been organized by the Media Centre “Odbrana” (Public Relations Department, MoD), the Heritage House and the Museum of Yugoslavia.

Opening the exhibition, Assistant Minister of Defence for Human Resources Katarina Tomašević expressed her satisfaction at the opportunity to greet numerous visitors at the magnificent Central Military Club building, the former House of Warriors, which testifies to Serbian military glory and preserves the tradition and culture of our people and represents a cultural monument and an ultimate symbol that connects the military and the people.

- The mission of the Public Relations Department’s Media Centre "Odbrana" is to preserve values in the rooms of the monumental House of Warriors, revive memories, but also light the way for the important symbols of our time and help them leave a mark on the future. And that is why this building, inspired by tradition just like our armed forces, keeps pace with the phenomena of our time, wanting to contribute to creating new values and creating events for the most demanding audience - said Tomašević.

She noted that this year, the Central Military Club’s galleries, have had more than thirty thousand visitors, and highlighted the exhibits about the Jasenovac Concentration Camp, the War image of Serbia in the Second World War, and the exhibition “Best Stories" by Momo Kapor.

Tomašević pointed out that this is not the first exhibition of Petar Lubarda’s work at the Central Military Club and noted that Petar Lubarda exhibited his hometown landscapes for the first time for the Belgrade audience in May 1933, when 33 oil paintings were displayed, and again in 1962 and 1964.

- Lubarda lives under this roof, the art collection of the Central Military Club’s Gallery contains eight of his works. And since one house is not enough for such a great artist, today you can also see his works kept by the Heritage House that bears his name, and the Museum of Yugoslavia, which has contributed selected works by Petar Lubarda from its own collection. Everyone has agreed that this is the right time for this exhibition. Let us end this year, which we have reasons to forget, and start a new year filled with hope with the exibition of Lubarda’s work - said Assistant Minister Katarina Tomašević

On behalf of the Heritage House, which preserves the great artist’s legacy, the director Filip Brusić Reno addressed the audience. Speaking about the artist’s life and work, he said that Petar Lubarda was an artist who received numerous awards and recognitions during his lifetime.

- He is the only Yugoslav artist whose art reproductions are included in the "History of Modern Painting" by Herbert Read. He was a member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts and the Yugoslav Academy of Sciences and Arts. He was our first artist to make a departure from the hitherto ingrained socialist realism with the famous exhibition mounted in 1951 in the gallery of the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia - said Brusić Reno.

According to the director of the Museum of Yugoslavia, Neda Knežević, Lubarda has called again for the cooperation between the cultural institutions. She
read a fragment of the review of the artist’s first exhibition held at the same place in 1933.

- Lubarda’s works kept in the Museum of Yugoslavia’s collection, testify to his post-war work and changes in his art, from social realism to his final change following his return from India in 1963, which had a great influence on the artist’s work - Knežević said.

The Acting Assistant Minister for Defence Policy Predrag Bandić, the Rector of the Defence University, Lieutenant General Goran Radovanović, PhD, and the Head of the Public Relations Department, Colonel Mihailo Zogović, PhD, attended the exhibition opening.

The exhibition "Lubarda - One Story" was prepared by Jelena Knežević, curator at the Media Centre "Odbrana", Dina Pavić, curator at the Heritage House and Ana Panić, curator at the Museum of Yugoslavia.

The exhibition for the Belgrade audience contains 29 of Lubarda’s paintings, eight of which belong to the Central Military Club’s art collection.

In addition to paintings, the exhibition also features documentary material from the House of YNA’s archives (the present Media Centre "Odbrana"), and numerous photographs depicting the artist’s life and work from the Heritage House’s collection and works by Peter Lubarda given as presents to President Josip Broz Tito, which are housed at the Museum of Yugoslavia.

The exhibition will be open until February 5, 2022.