Museum Night transforms Belgrade
2011-05-30By Bojana Milovanovic for Southeast European Times in Belgrade Photos by Nikola Barbutov
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Email this to a friendAbout 280,000 people visited Belgrade’s museums and galleries on May 14th during the 8th annual Museum Night in Belgrade. This cultural event attracts an increasing number of visitors every year.
Museums extended their hours from 6pm till 2am for the event. Visitors of all ages waited patiently in line for a unique opportunity to learn something new, have fun and see exhibitions and workshops designed especially for Museum Night.
Outside the Military Museum, the time of knights of the Roman Empire returned for the night. Visitors enjoyed watching the art of sword fighting.
Young visitors got an opportunity to try their hand at forging armor.
Street performance was also part of the event. Children were particularly attracted to the displays of dance and movement.
The well-guarded vaults of the National Bank of Serbia opened their doors to visitors.
The country that is no more, the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, was known for its shipbuilding. Those feeling nostalgic for past times were able to see scale models of some of the biggest ships made at the former Yugoslav shipyards.
As another reminder of the former state, Serbian National Theatre actors played the roles of presidents who came to Belgrade for the first Non-Aligned Movement summit in 1961. Josip Broz, Tito, Nasser, Nehru, Haile Selassie and many more came to life.
Visitors were taken back to ancient times by an exhibition of treasure and jewelry of Serbian rulers from the 6th to the 9th century AD.
An exhibition of old icons from Serbian monasteries included one of the biggest Madonnas of the 20th century, Marilyn Monroe.
The party moved from the museums onto the streets, with singing and dancing going on long into the night.
