another winter day in belgrade

Photo https://msub.org 

MSUB MOCAB, 'Fallers 1', 200x200cm, oil on canvas, 2023, copyright Mihael Milunović / ADAGP

This article was developed within the program Venture an Idea funded by the USAID.

 

Here's a few handy ones: I'm burnt out, I deserve some me time, my cat needs a day off, etc.

But really, you don't need an excuse to skip work for a day and go exploring the dense cultural fabric of Serbia's capital. All you need is a pair of shoes with inverted soles for better durability and you're set.

With that out of the way, let's take you through the roadmap of things to see, exhibits to touch, and coffees to gulp in one day.

 

Morning Coffee at L'espresso

Provisionally, we start at Belgrade Waterfront in a newly opened coffee place for some morning coffee, juice, and croissants. Our vote goes to L'espresso's very own specialty blend, which, coupled with its modern minimalist interiors, provides the perfectly relaxed backbone of an eventful day to come.

Hedgehog's House at Museum 25th of May

Remember those soles we mentioned? You're going to need them.

Our daily adventure takes us to the Museum of Yugoslavia, where the exhibition titled Hedgehog's House – Inventing a Better World has taken Belgrade's art scene by storm. Borrowing the title from a well-known and oft-recounted children's poem, the show follows its reception through time and considers the cultural shifts that influenced its ever-expanding interpretation.

The show touches on the topics of home, memory, identity, and collective experience of the recent past. The main crux are impromptu drawings by children from Belgrade, Zagreb, and Sarajevo as reactions to the poem, in which fiction shapes, blends with, and, at times, overtakes reality.

The exhibition is on view through April, and try to make it at 11 A.M sharp for a guided tour in English.

Lunch at Rustique

Every sumptuous museum visit deserves an equally sumptuous post-museum lunch break. A couple of miles from the museum, there is a sweet little restaurant with a distantly Italian flavor in both its choice of food and its esthetic approach.

Rustique restaurant specializes in an Italian-style menu, with all the wood-fired oven-baked pizza, handmade ravioli, and their special al dente pasta. Conversely, if you're in the mood for Serbian national cuisine, the nearby Grafičar and Košuta restaurants get our editorial nod.

Stroll through the Park

All three places are located in or near one of the most picturesque parks in the capital. Take a walk through Topčider Park's lush greenery and marvel at the scenery. Personally, the park is at its best around the old tram line.

See, Touch, Feel at The Museum of African Art

Our final stop is located in the heart of the Senjak district and is the only museum of its kind in the Balkans. The very entrance betrays its purpose – to present the most vivid sculpture, ceramics, and tapestries coming from the African continent, primarily its western part.

See, Touch, Feel is the title of the current exhibition at the MAA. It aims to bring the items from the museum's permanent collection into the tactile realm – meaning that you're encouraged to actually touch the exhibits recreated by Milica Jasimov for that very purpose.

You can see and touch (and feel) 15 West African replicas such as ceramic bowls, totemic masks, bronze animal sculptures, and the like. It's a whole new exhibition concept that's sure to kick on in the future. You can also install the izi.TRAVEL app for either Android or iOS and enjoy audio tours of the museum's permanent collection in four different languages.

Bonus

If you still feel your legs, consider visiting the nearby House of Flowers – the former presidential palace of Josip Broz Tito, now turned into a museum. Also, The Milica Zorić and Rodoljub Čolaković Legacy Gallery is staging a Mihael Milunović show that cuts through the layers of fleeting imagery and exposes the truth behind them. Well worth a visit!

This article is made possible by the support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents of this program are the responsibility of Nova Iskra and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government