Organized visits for pupils and students

Continuing its mission of enlightenment that began in 1826, Matica Srpska, in cooperation with the Union of High Schools of Serbia, created a special program for group visits of grammar school and vocational high school students. The goal of this program is to familiarize younger generations with the true and lasting values that have been created for two centuries in the oldest Serbian literary, cultural and scientific institution.

The program includes a visit to the headquarters of Matica Srpska in the Marija Trandafil endowment building, to the Gallery of Matica Srpska and Jovan Jovanović Grammar School in Novi Sad.

The following activities are planned in the Marija Trandafil endowment building for groups of up to 50 students: a film projection about Matica Srpska (either in the Assembly Hall or in the Multimedia Hall), sightseeing of the Pantheon that is home to approximately a hundred portraits of honorees, benefactors and members of Matica Srpska (Jovan Hadžić, Sava Tekelija, Jovan Jovanović Zmaj, Laza Kostić, Mihajlo Pupin, Nikola Tesla and others) as well as a collection of manuscripts. Visits to the Scientific Departments where capital editions are prepared (Serbian Biographic Dictionary, Serbian Encyclopedia, Orthography of the Serbian Language, the Dictionary of Serbian Language), to the Editorial Office of the Chronicle and the Manuscript Department can be organized for smaller groups. For groups of over 50 students, film projections about Matica Srpska and brief addresses of associates are organized in the Assembly Hall (with 150 seats).

The Gallery of Matica Srpska, at Trg Galerija (Gallery Square) in Novi Sad, has an impressive fund of 7,000 works of art. Visitors can see a permanent exhibition that illustrates the development of Serbian art from the 16^th to the 21st century. Apart from this, the Gallery organizes exhibitions in cooperation with other museums and cultural institutions in the country and abroad. As for activities with the general public, along with popular interpretations of the permanent exhibition, the Gallery organizes professional lectures, book promotions, concerts, film projections and the like.

In the monumental building of Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Grammar School visitors can see the Biology Cabinet which represents a rarity since most of its original furniture and equipment from the beginning of the 20^th century has been preserved. The school museum is in the loft of the school and it is the oldest pedagogical museum unit on the territory of former Yugoslavia. Visitors can get acquainted with the glorious history of the school in detail, based on archive documents, photographs and numerous artefacts.

The entire program, including the promotional publications of Matica Srpska and the Gallery of Matica Srpska that accompany it, is free of charge.

Visits can be arranged with the Office for protocol and public relations of Matica Srpska at least fifteen days in advance. A visit should be announced by direct mail to the following address: Matica srpska, ulica Matice srpske 1, noting on the envelope: organized visits, or to the following electronic mail address: ms@maticasrpska.org.rs

A list of students, information about the teachers and other responsible persons accompanying them should be sent to the Office for Protocol and Public Relations of Matica Srpska.

Detailed information is available by telephone: 021 527 622.

---

APPENDIX

MATICA SRPSKA

Matica Srpska is the oldest literary, cultural and scientific institution of the Serbian people that has been continuously active for nearly two centuries. It was founded in Pest in 1826. The founders of Matica Srpska believed that after several centuries of Ottoman occupation, Serbs should return to the path of contemporary European trends. This was the reason that from the very beginning the activities of Matica Srpska were aimed, on one hand, at the presentation of Serbian culture to Europe, and, on the other hand, at the enlightenment of Serbian people. For that purpose, Matica developed a rich publishing activity. The basis of this activity was the famous Letopis (Chronicle), first published in 1824 and considered to be the oldest living literary magazine in the world today. Later on, numerous other editions were published, and among them one with a particularly educational role, appropriately named Books for the People. During the 1840s, it was decided that Matica should create conditions required for scientific work. It was then that a library containing book funds from various scientific fields and a manuscript collection which was a testimony to the history of the nation was formed. At the same time the collection of portraits was coming into existence. In it there was room for people’s tribunes, world famous scientists but also for less known citizens who supported the enlightenment mission of Matica Srpska with their contributions. It was because of this widespread support among the people, that Matica was, for a period of time, the richest endowment institution in Hungary. Capital projects of great significance for the standardization of the Serbian language and the development of different scientific disciplines were financed from its funds. At the same time, Matica oversaw the education of gifted students and scholars, and thereby the creation of a Serbian intellectual elite.

In 1864, Matica Srpska relocated its headquarters from the Tekelijanum palace in Pest to the Platoneum palace in Novi Sad. It was then that the city of Novi Sad became known as the ’Athens of Serbia.’ The city was given this name because Matica Srpska was considered as the gathering point of the wisest and the most educated people.

Today, Matica Srpska has almost 2,000 associates. They are included in dozens of scientific and development projects within seven scientific departments. Associates prepare articles for Matica’s ten periodical publications and work on the preparation of publications of great significance for Serbian culture and science, such as the Serbian Encyclopedia, Serbian Biographic Dictionary, the Dictionary of Serbian Language, Orthography… The Library of Matica Srpska has over 3,500,000 books, and the Gallery of Matica Srpska houses a rich collection of Serbian eighteenth and nineteenth century paintings. The Publishing Center continues the tradition of the former Publishing Company of Matica Srpska, whose editions were, for decades, recognizable throughout Southeastern Europe by the emblem MS, which signified high-quality and carefully selected literature from various fields.

Matica Srpska awards worthy accomplishments in various fields of culture and science every year.

Scientific Departments of Matica Srpska

• Department of Literature and Language

• Department of Lexicography

• Department of Social Sciences

• Department of Natural Sciences

• Department of Fine Arts

• Department of Performance Arts and Music

• Manuscript Department

 Scientific Journals• Matica Srpska Journal of Literature and Language

• Matica Srpska Journal of Philology and Linguistics

• Matica Srpska Journal of Slavic Studies

• Matica Srpska Journal of Classical Studies

• Matica Srpska Journal of Social Sciences

• Matica Srpska Journal of History

• Matica Srpska Journal of Natural Sciences

• Matica Srpska Journal of Performing Arts and Music

• Matica Srpska Journal of Visual Arts

• Matica Srpska Temisuara Journal

Matica Srpska has been an example to many Slavic nations. Based on this model the following institutions were established: Czech Matica in 1831, Illyrian Matica in 1842 (in 1874 renamed to Matica Hrvatska); Matica Lužičkosrpska in 1847, Halych-Russian Matica in Lviv in 1848; Moravian Matica in 1849; Matica Dalmatinska in Zadar in 1861; Slovak Matica in 1863; Slovenian Matica in 1864; Matica Opava in 1877; Matica in the Teschen Princedom in 1898. (from which Silesian Matica came to be in 1968); Polish Matica in Lvov (1882); Educational Matica in the Teschen Princedom in 1885; Educational Matica in Warsaw in 1905; Bulgarian Matica in Constantinople in 1909 and the new Bulgarian Matica in 1989.

In the meantime, Matica Srpska has developed cooperation with many institutions and individuals from around the world.

The Gallery of Matica Srpska

Тhe Gallery of Matica srpska was founded in 1847 in Pest (former part of Budapest, Hungary) under the auspices of Matica Srpska, the oldest cultural, literary and scientific institution of Serbian people. The proposal to establish the Serbian National Collection (Museum) was given by Teodor Pavlović, the Secretary General of Matica Srpska at the time. The core of the future art collection of the Gallery of Matica Srpska was a collection of Sava Tekelija’s family portraits. Being a great Serbian benefactor, Sava Tekelija bequeathed all of his belongings to Matica Srpska in 1840 and remained its president until the end of his life. The establishment of the Museum was publicly announced in the Serbian National Newspaper, which was at the same time, a call to all “patriotic citizens” to give donations to the newly established Museum or “to entrust it with all those things which contribute to enrichment of the national spirit and serve its cultural progress”.

The Museum collection was growing steadily thanks to frequent appeals to patriotic citizens. After Matica Srpska was relocated to Novi Sad in 1864, the collection was also transferred and shown to the public for the first time in 1933, when the Museum of Matica Srpska was finally made official. The Museum operated as a complex collection made of archaeological, numismatic and ethnographic objects, while the art collection constituted a separate part. In 1947 this collection, except for art, was granted to the newly opened Museum of Vojvodina, while the works of art formed a special collection called the Gallery of Matica Srpska. When it was moved to its present building (the building of the former Stock Exchange from 1926/1927) in the city center in 1958, the Gallery of Matica Srpska opened the permanent exhibition of Serbian paintings of the 18^th and 19^th century, thus becoming an independent institution. With the extension of the hall on the second floor in 1992, the conditions for displaying the collection of the Serbian art of the first half of the 20^th century were fully met. The permanent collection is exhibited in three parts, chronologically presenting the Serbian national art from the 16^th to the 20^th century and its integration into the mainstream of modern European art.

The noble gesture of giving initiated by Sava Tekelija was continued by many involved: chairmen and presidents, members and supporters of Matica Srpska, patriotic citizens, collectors and artists whose intention was to enrich the Gallery’s art collections with gifts, legacies and donations. During its existence, the Gallery has grown into a unique national institution whose art fund, with its rich collection of Serbian art from the 16^th to the 21^st century, shows the beginning, the progress and the achievements in Serbian art and indicates the position of Serbian culture and art in the European context. Out of the total number of works of art (approximately 7,000) in the Gallery of Matica Srpska, one-third comes from gifts and bequests, thanks to which 58 gift collections bearing the names of their benefactors were set up.

In addition to the permanent exhibition temporary ones are organized by the Gallery based on its own art fund: exhibitions devoted to phenomena related to the national art from the 16^th to the 21st century, exhibitions of donors’ collections and exhibitions in collaboration with other museums and cultural institutions in the country and abroad. Apart from popular interpretations of the permanent collection, lectures, book presentations, concerts, films and similar events are organized by the Gallery as part of its activities for the general public. Moreover, as part of its numerous publishing activities, the Gallery publishes exhibition catalogs and other appropriate publications and monographs dedicated to specified periods of the national art.

The Gallery of Matica Srpska actively participates in larger projects on heritage protection with other institutions and continuously promotes results and achievements at conferences and workshops organized by the Gallery.

A special segment of the Gallery’s activities is devoted to educational programs and creative workshops for children, which gives an interesting and appropriate approach to Serbian national art and cultural heritage. Most of these activities take place in the Children’s Room, an area specially equipped for the youngest population.

For the works of adaptation and creation of the new permanent collection of the 18^th, 19^th and the first half of the 20^th century, the Gallery of Matica Srpska was awarded project of the year by NC ICOM Serbia in 2010.

JOVAN JOVANOVIĆ ZMAJ GRAMMAR SCHOOL, NOVI SAD

The monumental building of Jovan Jovanović Zmaj Grammar School, work of the famous engineer Vladimir Nikolić from 1900, is in number four in Zlatna Greda Street. The story of education in this part of Zlatna Greda Street dates back to the beginning of the 18^th century. According to written historical sources known today, the school is first mentioned in this location in 1703 as Serbian Orthodox Elementary School.

On the foundation of that elementary school, the Bishop of Bačka, Visarion Pavlović, founded the Latin-Slavic school Petrovaradinska Roždestvo-Bogorodičina Gimnazija (Nativity of the Mother of God Grammar School of Petrovaradin) in 1731. Ten years later, with enormous dedication of Bishop Pavlović and the Orthodox Community of Novi Sad, the grammar school grew into the Spiritual Academy under the name of Collegium Vissariono-Pavlovicsianum Petrovaradiniense. This academy was the predecessor of the first institution of higher education of the Serbian people.

The following important milestone in the development of the Grammar School occurred in 1810 when noble Sava Vuković made the reviving of the orthodox grammar school possible with a large donation. Centuries passed by, various countries and governments came and went, however the educational process never came to a halt at that location. Over the many centuries of its work the Grammar School educated numerous generations who, through their work, left a permanent mark on the development of Serbian culture and science.

The edifice, home to the Grammar School today, was built in a Neo-Renaissance style. The hall in the ground floor exhibits medallions depicting Dositej Obradović, Baron Miloš Bajić, Jovan Tekelija, Sava Vuković, Baron József Eötvös and John Amos Comenius. Commemorative plaques dedicated to the former principal and professor of the grammar school, Pavel Jozef Šafaárik PhD and Baron Miloš Bajić, the great benefactor, are located in the vestibule leading to the Assembly Hall. The flag of the Grammar School, from the year 1816, flutters proudly above the commemorative plaques. Portraits of people important for the development of the school and school system (Saint Sava, Sava Vuković, Baron Miloš Bajić, and King Aleksandar I Karađorđević) can be seen in the Assembly Hall that was built in the style of Italian Renaissance palaces. Biology Cabinet which represents a rarity since the furniture and equipment from the beginning of the 20^th century has been preserved. The school museum is in the loft of the school and it is the oldest pedagogical museum unit on the territory of former Yugoslavia. Visitors can get acquainted with the glorious history of the school in detail, based on archive documents, photographs and numerous artefacts.