40^th SALON OF ARCHITECTURE

Opening night and awards presentation ceremony: Thursday, 29^th March, 2018, at 7 p.m.

Salon curator and catalogue editor: Ljiljana Miletić Abramović, MA, Curator at the Architecture Department and Director of MAA

Organised by: Museum of Applied Art

Fields of the Future is a somewhat romantic title, or rather a poetic title, under which the 40^th jubilee Salon of Architecture will be held at the Museum of Applied Art, from 29^th March to 5^th May, 2018. The chosen motto Fields of the Future marks the Salon as a place and an event where opinions of architecture and architectural culture are articulated with a clear tendency to show that the Salon, as an exhibition, is an affirmative and activist critique of the current state from the point of view of an architect exhibitor and, at the same time, from the public’s point of view, and with the aim of opening a new perspective for new fields of architecture.

The thematisation of this year’s 40^th Salon of Architecture emphasises the issue of naming this manifestation in the sense that it has existed and “breathed” continuously for forty-four years. A small paradox lies in the fact that the jubilee number of this year’s Salon does not correspond to the number of years passed since the Salon was founded (at the Museum of Applied Art, in 1974). In a certain manner, the very topic, as well as the exhibition itself, implies the idea of time flow and apparent flows of architecture that are being read in such a long period of forty-four years of the Salon’s existence. That is, it opens a critical question about what the influence the Salon has on the work’s later life. There are two possible codes: one is positive and it points to the important, permanent works of architecture, while the other is less affirmative as it testifies to the abundance of short-lived production. In general, it might be possible to draw a parallel between the exhibition of architecture and the buildings themselves. The building exists as long as it serves its purpose, solely in the present, and then when it collapses or is rebuilt, it leaves a mere trace preserved for the future in the historiography of architecture. It is the same with the exhibitions of architecture which, being always held at a certain point in time and afterwards disassembled, document the messages about the present, the past, but also about the future in the memory of architecture.

In addition to its competitive part, the Salon of Architecture, as the most important and popular national architectural manifestation, always prepares a rich accompanying programme with interesting topics. Special attention has been given to the competition for the additional accompanying programme established by the Salon Council two years ago. It refers to the following: thematic panel discussions, thematic seminars, thematic lectures, thematic workshops, and similar adequate formats for the presentation of affirmative ideas, opinions and actions. The competition will be open from 3^rd to 14^th April, 2018, and the selected projects will be presented on a daily basis during the last week of April. The student programmes are present at the already traditional manifestation “Pre-Salon” through an array of workshops created by cooperation among the Faculty of Applied Arts from Belgrade, the Faculty of Architecture from Belgrade and the Faculty of Civil Engineering and Architecture from Niš (26^th March – 8^th April, 2015). The attractive exhibition “Baroque Belgrade” that will show what Belgrade looked like in the period 1717-1739 is scheduled for the second half of April, and it will last until the end of the Salon of Architecture.

The Jury of the 40^th Salon of Architecture, consisting of distinguished experts – Ružica Bogdanović, Branko Belaćević, Predrag Milutinović, Veljko Radulović and Snežana Ristić – will award the Grand Prix of the Salon, prizes, acknowledgements and honours per categories.

One hundred and eighty works have been nominated in all categories for this year’s 40^th Salon. The Jury has decided that 106 works deserved to be included in the official selection, out of which 75 works, classified in 6 categories, are eligible for awards (competition and students’ works will be exhibited out of the category for awards).

During the 40^th Salon of Architecture, the Museum publications dealing with the topic of contemporary architecture and design will be sold at significantly lower rates.

Detailed information regarding the programme of the 40^th Salon of Architecture will be available in good time via the website of the Museum of Applied Art, www.mpu.rs.

Author of the photographs: Veselin Milunović