The exhibition Sculptural: Journey… Space… Context…, organized by BelArt Gallery, was installed on October 30, 2025, at multiple locations in Novi Sad – including Galerija SULUV, Mali Likovni Salon, as well as Distrikt (Atelje 61, Biro, and open space).
The exhibition was curated by Svetlana Mladenov.
The project explores how the experiences and challenges of the 1990s are reflected in contemporary sculpture, and how ideas of sculptural practice today are reconsidered through space, material, and the processual nature of the artistic act.
The exhibition presents works by 56 artists:
Dušan Otašević, iz arhive umetnika
Vesna Perunović, iz arhive umetnice
Spaces and Artists
Distrikt – Atelje 61 Gallery, No. 2 (Bulevar despota Stefana 5)
Exhibition open until November 16
Artists: Zdravko Joksimović, Božica Rađenović, Dragana Ilić, Olivera Parlić Karajanković, Goran Despotovski, Vesna Perunović, Dejan Dimitrijević, Igor Antić, Maja Rakočević Cvijanov, Milorad Mića Stajčić, Gabriel Glid, Mileta Prodanović, Milica Ružičić, Jelica Radovanović, Dejan Anđelković, Čedomir Vasić, Slavoljub Caja Radojčić, Željka Momirov, Đorđije Crnčević, Vladimir Perić, Nina Kocić, Dragoljub Raša Todosijević, Selman Trtovac
Distrikt – Biro (Bulevar despota Stefana 5)
Exhibition open until November 16
Artists: Srđan Apostolović, Dobrivoje Krgović, Rastislav Škulec, Dragan Rakić, Saša Pančić, Predrag Kešelj, Bosiljka Zirojević, Kosta Bogdanović, Olga Jevrić, Mira Brtka, Ana Bešlić, Miroslava Kojić, Dragoslav Krnajski, Tomislav Todorović, Nada Denić, Zvonimir Santrač, Slobodan Kojić, Dragan Vojvodić, Dušan Petrović, Slobodan Era Milivojević, Gordana Kaljalović, Zoran Todorović, Lana Vasiljević
Distrikt – Open Space (Bulevar despota Stefana 5)
Artists: Branislav Nikolić, Aleksandar Stanojević Kempa
Galerija SULUV (Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 9)
Exhibition open until November 8
Artists: Adrien Újházi, Radoš Antonijević, Ivana Ivković, Stevan Kojić, Marica Radojčić, Ivana Rakidžić, Lea Vidaković
Mali Likovni Salon (Bulevar Mihajla Pupina 9)
Exhibition open until November 21
Artists: Dušan Otašević, Mrđan Bajić
Concept:
The exhibition covers the period from 1990 to 2025, during which sculptural concepts from the 1990s, those at the turn of the century, and those of the 21st century establish mutual relationships, creating dialogue and offering new, meaningful communication. The project emphasizes the importance of sculpture within the Serbian artistic space and the place it deserves within it.
The exhibition examines whether and how the challenges of the 1990s, accumulated in the sculpture of that period, are reflected in the sculpture of the new millennium.
At the beginning of the 1990s, new sculpture initiated and anticipated changes and new artistic research that followed throughout the decade. For the first time, sculpture gained primacy over other media, asserting itself through new ideas and a new spirit. The new sculpture employed a more rationalistic approach, reduced forms, geometrism, neo-constructivism, and references to minimalist traditions.
The postmodern atmosphere of the 1980s continued into the 1990s through pronounced individualism and a strong subjectivist approach, where the artist as an individual held a central role. During the 1990s, sculpture expanded into the broader field of art, exploring new modes of presentation through monumental objects and installations. The introduction of new media allowed the combination and intersection of different materials, methods, and disciplines, opening a rich field for artistic exploration.
The echoes of these efforts by 1990s sculptors culminated at the turn of the century, when numerous spatial projects were realized not only in gallery spaces but also in alternative and open public spaces, which can be categorized as contextual art. During the new millennium, after a temporary fascination with new technologies, there was a return to sculpturality, sculptural form, and its interaction with space. Sculptures, objects, and installations emerged, building on the achievements of 1990s sculpture but infused with the different context of the contemporary moment. They carry new ideas and a new spirit, discernible through conceptually guided and arranged forms driven by the artist’s original idea, through processuality and dialogue with space.
Lea Vidaković, iz arhive umetnice
Dragoslav Krnajski, iz arhive umetnika
Acknowledgments:
We extend our gratitude to the City of Novi Sad, the Secretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities of APV, the Terra Center for Fine and Applied Arts in Kikinda, the Museum of Contemporary Art of Vojvodina, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, the Atelje 61 Tapestry Workshop, the Mira Brtka Foundation, Ivana Markez Filipović – curator of the Pančevo Gallery of Contemporary Art, Dejan Kažić, Verica Nemet – curator of the Terra Museum in Kikinda, SULUV, the City Cultural Center, and the Mali Likovni Salon.