At the end of August last year, when the Ministry of Culture and Information asked 55 state museums and galleries for a list of exhibits that were stolen from their collections, only the Matica Srpska Gallery and the National Museum from Čačak responded immediately, and the others only after being warned.
This attitude of the museum staff towards the national cultural values entrusted to them for safekeeping is largely the result of the state's lack of interest in returning stolen and alienated cultural heritage items. Namely, Serbia has only now, with the mentioned letter to the museums, undertaken a systematic search for stolen heritage, while recording the values found in the museums and collections of other countries is not yet in the plan.
It is believed that the search for stolen exhibits was initiated by the accidental discovery of a painting by Paja Jovanović Guard in the suitcase of Nikola Kovačević, Belgrade's secretary for communal and housing affairs, in mid-July at the Belgrade airport, probably because Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Culture Maja Gojković said something to that effect.
Last week it was announced that Guard hidden in the vault of the National Bank of Serbia until the end of the proceedings before the competent court, and shortly before that, the judge of the Provincial Court, Đuro Pavlica, who led the proceedings against the city secretary, was dismissed from the case after he issued an order to the police to search for Kovačević because "there are circumstances that indicate that the defendant is clearly avoiding bringing." appreciated by the Museum of the City of Belgrade, where Deputy Mayor Goran Vesić wishes to see it.
So far, the Ministry's action has revealed that 32 museums have been stolen, that 23 of them have started an investigation into the theft, and that three objects have been found.
A dagger from 1918 with a silver-plated blade and the coat of arms of the Kingdom of SHS was found, one of 41 items stolen from the Museum of Applied Arts in 2019 by a night watchman hired through the Dobergard security agency, which is linked to fan groups. The dagger was found in the suspect's apartment during the SBPOK investigation, after it was established that he was taking it out of the Museum based on security camera footage.
Tito's gold watch owned by the Museum of Yugoslavia, stolen more than ten years ago from an exhibition of his watches, was also discovered in Hong Kong, where it was supposed to be sold at auction. Negotiations are underway to return this watch to the country.
Picture of Vlaho Bukovac Annunciation Council 1861 it was found in Switzerland by being offered to the Museum of Vojvodina for 600.000 euros. It was stolen in 1993 from Dunđerski Castle in Čelarevo, where it was an exhibit of a permanent exhibition of stylish furniture. Last August, members of the SBPOK arrested in Makedonska Street in Belgrade those suspected of mediating the sale of this painting to the Museum of Vojvodina.
The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Interior are satisfied with the results achieved, given that it is known that the search for stolen cultural values lasts for tens of years. In order to justify this assessment, let's remember that the German police have been searching for 42 works of art for 1700 years, among which are paintings by five European masters, including Hans Holbein the Elder and Franz Hals.
The second part of the story about the cultural treasure that is ours and not with us, is about the artifacts that are in the museums and collections of foreign countries. Their exact number is not known, but it is estimated at several thousand. According to our law, the care of cultural heritage in Serbia and beyond its borders is in the hands of the Archives of Serbia, the National Library of Serbia, the National Museum, the Republic Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments and the National Theater in Belgrade, whose obligation is to maintain the Central Register of Cultural Property. According to some information, they do not fulfill it properly.
The cross of King Aleksandar Obrenović was our last item that was returned from abroad - in 2010, from Germany.
It was expected that the 166th page of Miroslav's Gospel, which is kept in Saint Petersburg, would be returned two years ago, but not even after the agreement between the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, and the Prime Minister of Russia, Dmitry Medvedev, and not even after the later announcements that it would be brought by President Vladimir Putin. nothing happened. According to that agreement, they were to return the 166th sheet to us, and we were to return seven paintings by the Russian artist Nikolai Roerich to them.
The Ministry of Culture and Information does not mention the arrival of the 166th list, nor does it yet update data on our cultural values abroad.
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