42nd SALON OF ARCHITECTURE

42^nd SALON OF ARCHITECTURE PERSISTENTLY-RESILIENTLY

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

Organised by: Museum of Applied Art

The Museum of Applied Art is especially pleased to announce that this year’s 42^nd Salon of Architecture titled Persistently-Resiliently will be held from 10^th September to 3^rd October, 2020. The September opening of the Salon will take place instead of the traditional March-April opening which has been shifted due to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. As the living, working and gathering conditions are still not completely normalized, the Museum is unable to organize the usual opening ceremony in the presence of a large audience. Therefore, only the award ceremony is scheduled for Thursday, 10^th September, at 19.00, in the presence of the Jury’s representatives and the representatives of the awarded candidates. On that occasion, the Jury of the 42^nd Salon of Architecture, composed of – Anđela Karabašević, Mustafa Musić, Vanja Panić, Marija Simović and Eva Vaništa Lazarević, will award the Grand Prix of the Salon, prizes, acknowledgements and honours per categories.

The exhibition will be open to visitors under specific conditions, with the implementation of all safety measures to prevent the spread of Covid-19, such as: presence of not more than ten visitors in galleries at the same time, visitors having their temperature checked, wearing protective face masks, maintaining a safe distance and using sanitizing sprays.

The motto of the 42^nd Salon of Architecture Persistently-Resiliently was chosen in January, 2020, without anticipating all the peculiarities of the year 2020 which will be remembered as unpleasant, unusual and dramatic – as a year of upheaval, with many asked and open questions about the future that were laid before humanity. The original idea of the Persistently-Resiliently motto was to emphasize the importance of the event itself – the Salon of Architecture as an exhibition, as a reflection on the situation in the profession of an architect (in architecture), both locally and globally. The motto corresponds to the spirit of the Salon as an event that persistently-resiliently deals with the affirmation of architecture and architects and where, through decades, efforts have been made to preserve the dignity of this profession. And especially, in relation to the modern, opposite reality when many cities are on the lower amplitude of urbanity and architecture, to paraphrase Bogdan Bogdanović (Urbs&Logos).

Observed in the context of unforeseen circumstances caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the Salon’s motto Persistently-Resiliently has become even more significant. It seems that the general confusion, which has gripped the whole world causing a disturbance of the previous normalcy in all areas of life, has been anticipated in advance. The basic state of affairs has been revealed to us, the way it really is, in all its peculiarities, and unknown to us so far. And it is the abolition of freedom. In that sense, we must be even more persistent-resilient in order to absorb the long-lasting implications of the new world crisis, which will bring changes in the entire field of construction and planning, as well as in architectural culture and architectural theory. We are witnessing the fact that many questions have already been opened in the field of architecture, because architecture has never been created in the sterile conditions of a laboratory. On the contrary, it is always created in the broader and complex context of many parameters and tries to project responses to a range of existing conditions – to the context, social and climate changes, science, culture, landscape and place. Especially if we interpret architecture as the art and activity of laying the foundations that can be one of the springboards for the next new leap in the development of civilization of the 21^st century.

Two hundred and four works have been nominated for this year’s Salon of Architecture. The selection Jury has decided that 139 works deserve to be included in the official selection, out of which 115 works, classified in 4 categories, are eligible for awards (there has been no works from the field of urban planning, architectural review and architectural photography, whereas competition and students’ works are to be exhibited outside the category for awards). About three hundred authors, divided in 100 teams, will display their works that belong to the various fields of architecture – public buildings, residential and industrial buildings, interior designs, experimental and research projects, and writings on architecture.

Unfortunately, the Salon’s accompanying programme, which always brings a series of interesting events, topics, programmes and exhibitions, will not be held this year due to the restrictive gathering conditions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. After 3^rd October, when the Salon is over, the exhibition will be transferred to the virtual world as a web exhibition on the website www.salonarhitekture.rs and the Museum’s website.

The Salon curator and catalogue editor is Ljiljana Miletić Abramović, curator at the Architecture Department and Director of the Museum of Applied Art.

Detailed information regarding the 42^nd Salon of Architecture will be available in good time via the website of the Museum of Applied Art, www.mpu.rs.