53^rd Children’s October Salon

Ceremonial Opening: Saturday, September 29, 2018 at 13:00, MAA

Program:

• Presentation of Diplomas and Awards
• Music performance by students of Music School „Petar Konjović“

Authors of the catalogue and the exhibition: Milica Cukić, museum advisor and Lea Zei, art pedagogue

Organizer: Museum of Applied Art

„Fairy Tales – Once upon a Time…“ motto of the 53^rd Children’s October Salon of Museum of Applied Art during October 2018.

Fairy tale is the oldest form of the human oral creativity. The word originates from the verb „to divine“, meaning to narrate, make up, and perform magic. Fairy tales play an extremely important role in the process of growing up of every child, helping it to find its own way and the meaning of life. Fairy tales teach us, in a good way, how to distinguish good from bad, as their lessons are clear even to children. Fairy tales teach children critical thinking by clearly showing them the consequences of decisions and actions of their main characters. Fairy tales widen the perspectives and inspire children’s imagination. Fairies, sorcerers or giants enter our real world provoking us to consider how it would be if they were real, and what would happen then? Although we know that fairy tales are not true, we like to believe in their magic. This is why we suggested this grand subject to art pedagogues for this year’s Salon, the subject that is especially important for the development of children and their creativity.

According to the propositions of the manifestation, children between 4 and 14 years of age (preschool institutions, schools, children’s art studios, children’s cultural centers and similar children’s institutions and associations) are eligible for the competition announced by Museum of Applied Art. To the 53^rd Children’s October Salon competition there applied 113 institutions with 1000 works. The selection jury selected 270 works for the exhibition.

The works that arrived show an enviable level of artistic skills in various techniques of fine, and especially applied arts. As for the subjects, the situation is different. In the majority of the works, characters and motifs were either imagined or inspired by cartoons, TV shows, or magazines. Traditional characters from the famous fairy tales on which generations of parents or grandmothers and grandfathers of the today’s participants grew up, are present in smaller number. The age we live in gives precedence to telephones, computers, and to fast flow of information and sensations, while there is neither time nor interest for „old fashioned“ reading of fairy tales. As if both parents and pedagogues failed, lacking enough patience and motivation to overcome the challenges of the new age. And, at whose expense?

By the workshop program we are organizing within this year’s exhibition we wish to revive the good practice of reading of fairy tales, which would serve as inspiration for the practical works done by children. The works created at the workshop will be shown at a special exhibition that will complement the exhibition of the works selected at the competition, by the end of the Salon. The designers and organizers of the workshops are art pedagogues Mirjana Dimitrijević, for preschool children, and Katarina Bulajić Pavlović. M.A. for grade school children.

Author of the photographs: Veselin Milunović