IMG-2204The house of Rastka and Nadežda Petrović on Palilula is a legacy that should be taken care of by the National Museum in Belgrade. However, it has been deteriorating for more than 30 years, the windows are destroyed, the walls are damp due to leaks. In a country where Serbianism is being pounded in the chest, the state does not care about the legacy on which the Serbian national identity rests
Somehow at the same time, the media reported that a cake was thrown at Da Vinci in Paris Mona Lisa and that the legacy of Nadežda and Rastka Petrović has been decaying in Belgrade for more than 30 years. Both news items are examples of the state's attitude towards cultural heritage and creativity.
A lady in a wheelchair who entered the Louvre with other tourists on Sunday as soon as it opened was not noticed until she approached Mona Lisa, got up from the cart and threw the cake at her. It soon turned out that it was a man in disguise and that he was an activist who wanted to draw attention to the destruction of planet Earth.
The remains of the cake were immediately removed from the famous picture, the activist was detained and taken to where he needed to go, and everything was fine, because Mona Lisa has been protected by glass since 1956. The Louvre, therefore France, protects the works of art it keeps, even from such incidents.
The family house of Rastko and Nadežda Petrović on Belgrade's Palilula was donated to the National Museum in 1967 by their sister Ljubica Luković as a bequest. At one time, it housed the Memorial Museum of Nadežda and Rastka Petrović. one of the greatest Serbian painters and one of the greatest Serbian writers.
For the last 30 years, this legacy has been unsafe. The roof is collapsing, the windows are destroyed, the walls are damp. The house is empty, because the exhibits were moved to the National Museum in 1986, when the display was called into question due to a leak.
The National Museum is silent.
Since Monday, the National Museum has not answered the questions of "Vremen" about this Legate, and in a telephone conversation we were told that it is the Legate of Ljubica Luković and not of Nadežda and Rastko Petrović.
First: it is true that the Petrović family house was donated to the National Museum by the heiress of Nadežda and Rastka, their sister, but with the intention that it be their legacy. And secondly, if the National Museum does not link this gift to the two of them but to their sister, does that release it from the obligation to take care of it?
In an earlier explanation to the journalist's interest as to why the National Museum allows its bequest to lapse, it was said that objects from the house of the Petrović family were transferred to the museum building, that Nadežda Petrović's most famous works can be seen in the museum's permanent exhibition, and that from its collections very often they borrow her works for thematic exhibitions realized by other institutions.
All this is, of course, both accurate and visible. But the fact that the National Museum takes care of Nadežda Petrović's works has nothing to do with the story of the decay of the Petrović house, which, like their works, is part of the legacy that was given to them and entrusted for safekeeping.
What the state does (or doesn't) do
However, the ultimate responsibility rests with the state. When the National Museum received the house of the Petrović family, it was unconditional. The house was revitalized, the project was done by Milan Pališaški, and in 1975 the Memorial Museum of Nadežda and Rastko Petrović was opened in it. However, dampness broke out, the setting was removed, and the house was forgotten.
A year and a half ago, the National Museum announced that the repair of this house would come after the Gallery of Frescoes, noting that they had just renovated the Vuk and Dositei Museum.
Of course, no one thinks that the National Museum can repair anything on its own, using its own resources. Also, although we were not able to verify, we assume that the National Museum has been trying to get money from the state for the rehabilitation of its legacy for the past 30 years, but that the state had more work to do.
The conclusion is that everything depends on the criteria by which Serbia determines what is important and what is not. For example, is it the cultural heritage that he considers the identity of the Serbian people or is it one of the failed projects - say the production of a Chinese vaccine that, possibly, soon no one will need anymore. In France, they made up their minds a long time ago.
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