Exhibition Decorations from the Legacies of the Historical Archives of Belgrade

Opening time: October 1st 2015 in the Gallery of the Archives
Editor-in-chief: Dragan Gacic MA
Author of the exhibition and the catalogue: Mirjana Obradovic
Associates: Jelena Mitorivc Kocev, Marko Peric, Isidora Stojanovic
Art and layout: Zorica Netaj
Technical support: Mica Gavrilovic, Violeta Jovanovic, Bojan Kocev, Svetlana Milic
Opening speech: Architect Dragomir Acovic, President of the Managing Board of the Historical Archives of Belgrade
Exhibition opened by: Prof. Dr Marko Popovic

 

On the occasion of the 70th anniversary of the Historical Archives of Belgrade, exhibition named Decorations from the Legacies of the Historical Archives of Belgrade was presented in the Archives. This unique archival exhibition, focused on the decorations and not on the individuals or documents from the past, is significant also for the fact that 88 medals and decorations out of 134 preserved in the Historical Archives of Belgrade are presented for the first time to the public.
Among 27 domestic medals, exclusivity of the exhibition is presented in the decorations of the post war Yugoslavia – the Order of the Freedom, Order of the Yugoslav Star and Order of the War Flag. The Order of the Freedom is exquisite for several reasons. It was awarded only nine times, seven times to the individuals from Yugoslavia and two times to the foreigners. It was made of gold and platinum, with 45 rubies and 61 brilliants. The Order of the Yugoslav Star is one out of two Yugoslav orders worn on the ribbon and ornamented by 10 rubies.

 

The exhibition shows also 61 foreign decorations originating from 38 countries. It presents French national decorations Order of the French Legion of Honor and Order for the Merits, Russian Order Suvorov, rare, exclusively women's order Greek Great Commander of the Royal Order of the Humanity and also other decorations from Europe, Africa, South America and Asia. Two orders from the Republic of Nepal are considered to be a real exotic.
The bearers of these decorations are nine individuals whose legacies are kept in the Historical Archives of Belgrade: Konstantin Koca Popovic and his wife Leposava Lepa Perovic, Dragoslav Draza Markovic and his wife Bozidarka Kika Damjanovic, Vicko Krstulovic, Vlajko Begovic, Slavko Zecevic, Dr Desanka Mijalkovic-Stambolic and Novak Novakovic, known as Novak Novak. Thanks to these legators, prominent individuals who left an inerasable trace in the culture, science, art or politics, this exhibition presents written documents, decorations, medals, memorial books, plaques and other awards. They decided to donate their life work to our institution in order to preserve it and to save it from oblivion, continuing also the tradition of the legacies. The exhibition Decorations from the Legacies of the Historical Archives of Belgrade represents the opportunity for visitors to acquaint the individuals and the time when they were decorated, but also to discover possibilities for scientific, critical and research activities.

 

Besides the decorations, the exhibition includes 25 exhibition panels containing basic information about phaleristics, short biographies of the legators with photographs showing their life and work, the very act of their decorations as well as decorating charters and diplomas. The exhibition is complemented by richly illustrated catalogue.

 

Special gratitude is owed to Mr. Dragomir Acovic, our prominent phaleristics expert, whose expertise, knowledge and help made this exhibition and catalogue complete.