Galerija savremene likovne umetnosti

Gallery of Contemporary art - the most important information

The initiative for the establishment of the Gallery of Contemporary Art in Nis was initiated by prominent cultural and public workers from the former Yugoslavia. Among them were Dr. Lazar Trifunovic, Zoran Pavlovic, Boris Petkovski. It was founded as an independent institution on June 9th 1970, and the desire of its founders was to bring the works of contemporary art closer to the citizens of Nis and southeastern Serbia through their work. The plan was to organize various exhibitions, seminars and lectures, as well as to collect professional documentation and scientific research papers. Today, the gallery rivals world-famous galleries in several exhibition spaces.

History of the Gallery of Contemporary art
The first director was Lazar Trifunović, on whose initiative the Gallery started forming collections. The Gallery worked as a part of the National Museum in Nis for 5 years and again became an independent cultural institution in 1980. From March of the following year, the Gallery received the second floor of the building number 1 on the Quay of the Serbian Sisters in the center of Nis. The former city cafe located on King Milan Square was an exhibition space called the "Serbia" Gallery. This space was used by the Gallery of Contemporary Art from 1994 to June 2017, and cultural events, retrospective and collective exhibitions were organized there.

The pavilion in the Nis Fortress, which is located 50 meters north of the Stanbol Gate and was a former Turkish arsenal, hosts exhibitions approved by the artistic council of the Gallery of Contemporary Art. This building was built in 1857, while in 1971 works that adapted the interior were carried out. The Bali Bey Mosque in the Nis Fortress, with an area of about 72 square meters and a height of 12 meters, is the smallest exhibition space that is part of the Gallery of Contemporary Art. Named Salon 77, it hosts exhibitions of young independent artists, exhibitions of thematic content and individual cycles of older artists. The mosque was converted into an exhibition hall between 1976 and 1977.

Significance of the Gallery of Contemporary art

By the decision of the Government of Serbia, in 2013, the Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts received the status of a cultural institution of national importance due to the great cultural contributions and is the first institution of its kind to receive this status.
On the anniversary of its existence, the monograph "50 years of the Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts" was promoted, in which all realized exhibitions and a list of the entire fund that put Nis on the art map of Europe were highlighted.

Exhibitions of the Gallery of contemporary Art
The fund currently consists of 1388 works divided into:

Photos and new media
Contemporary sculpture
Contemporary painting
Works by artists from Nis
Graphics, drawings and papers on paper

Since the 1990s, due to the socio-economic situation, the collections have grown thanks to the individual gifts of the authors. Among the notable artists whose works can be seen are:

Mairin Grant (Ireland)
Radomir Damnjanovic Damnjan
Inger Lise Rasmussen (Denmark)
Boza Ilic
Kenji Nagai (Japan)

Working hours:

The exhibition space in the Officers' Home (Orlovica Pavla 28a) is open on all working days and Saturdays 09:00-17:00.
Salon 77 and the Pavilion can be visited between the hours of 09:00-13:00 and 17:00-21:00 on all days except Mondays.

How to get to the Gallery of contemporary Art?
The officer's home that the Gallery uses as an exhibition space can be reached by the public transport lines that go from King Alexander Square; they go to the immediate vicinity, from where it is necessary to walk a short distance. The same route can be used for arrivals by car as well as taxi services.

Bus lines: 4, 6, 10, 11, 13
By car: from the city center through Cara Dusana and Sindjelicev Trg or across Mike Paligorica quay to Sedmog jula street.
Taxi stations: Prvi Taxi 018 /4500005, Bros Taxi 018 /4155541, City Taxi 0800 / 000022