Learning & fun

The Department for Education and Public Relations of the Homeland Museum of Knjaževac was founded in the year 2001. Although during many years of the Museum activity, besides regular museological activities, a number of various educational programs had been realized, only with the establishment of this Department, did the systematically organized activities start and their objective is to make the Museum and the Museum programs more familiar to broad public and in that way create faithful museum visitors and to, through the Museum collections and exhibitions and an interactive relationship, inform and educate the visitors. The Department for Education, in cooperation with the Museum experts, realized numerous educational and creative programs which were most often related to current exhibitions and other museum activities, as well as various “non-museum contents” – concerts, lectures and the like. In this way, through various programs the Homeland Museum of Knjaževac attracts numerous visitors.

 
Ten years ago a program was created on the occasion of March 8^th under the name “Give a pretty thing to mum or a lady” initiated by the curator and art historian Milena Milošević Micić. The objective of this program is to develop creativity and good taste in children, to emphasize the art and joy of giving and to take part in the International Women’s Day. By organizing different activities the Homeland Museum addresses not only children, but also their parents and all fellow citizens. Within this program creative workshops were realized in which children themselves made presents for their mothers, and auctions where they learned about selling and competing skills, sales exhibitions, cooperation with the Class for Children with Disabilities in “Dimitrije Todorović Kaplar” Primary School and organization of humanitarian activities and also small theatre and puppet shows, TV programs, etc.

At Easter time an auction of Easter eggs was organized at the town level and all contributions were given to charity. In May we celebrate the Knjaževac Municipality Day and the International Museum Day and Night of Museums and that is the period when the Homeland Museum of Knjaževac realizes quality programs like exhibitions “Japanese graphics from the collection of the National Museum in Belgrade”, “Montparnasse in Knjaževac” and many others.

The Homeland Museum presented, in cooperation with similar institutions, extremely attractive guest exhibitions like: “We are well and wish the same to you” in 2007 which is the result of the cooperation of numerous museums in Serbia as part of the project of Clio publishing house – Private life in Serbia, an exhibition of the National Museum in Belgrade “1883-the founding of the Serbian Archaeological Society” made by Vera Bogosavljević Petrović and Divna Gačić in 2008. An extraordinary exhibition of the Natural History Museum in Belgrade called “The Ice Age Animal World” sponsored by the National Lottery of Serbia was seen in the Knjaževac Museum by over 1,400 visitors. The exhibition “Art works of Russian emigrants from the collection of the National Museum in Zaječar” whose author is Nina Pogarčić, accompanied by an extensive catalog made by Leposava Milovanović attracted a lot of attention of the public owing to their extraordinary artistic quality of the presented works and also the fact that some of them, like Anatoly Baev, lived and worked in Knjaževac for a period of time. For that reason there was a painting by Anatoly Baev at the exhibition with the house of Djordjević family in which he lived and worked during his stay in Knjaževac.

The Homeland museum of Knjaževac also realizes numerous “non-museum” contents whose objective is to establish contact and attract broad public, create and develop the habit and need to participate in cultural programs. They are most often realized in cooperation with other related institutions, citizens’ associations or youth organizations. A special convenience for the organization of accompanying contents is the Archaeo-Ethno Park in Ravna. For five years now in the Archaeo-Ethno Park in Ravna an International Volunteer Camp has been held organized by the Young Researchers of Serbia and Centre for Sustainable Future “Green Zone” from Knjaževac. The volunteers, in addition to the compulsory socially useful work, deal with certain topics and activities which may contribute to the presentation of our region. For the participants in the camp lectures about the cultural history of the Knjaževac region are organized. The camp ends with a festive international cuisine, and the participants in the camp themselves prepare specialties from their countries.

In cooperation with numerous tourist organizations from the region of Serbia in this museum annex, a table with national food is prepared which, together with the traditional architecture objects, and the museum exhibition illustrates the traditional life in village households and represents a special cultural and tourist offer. This complex is an official point on the Wine Routes of Serbia. In this park and in cooperation with the Department of Ethnology and Anthropology of the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, students practice and field work have been organized for eight years now. 

The Knjaževac Museum since the year 2003 takes an active part in the celebration of the European Heritage Day, International Museum Day, The Night of Museums and a national event Museums of Serbia, for ten days, from 10 to 10.