SUMMER AT GALLERY SQUARE

Thursday, 25 June, 9 p.m.
Shared garden of The Gallery of Matica Srpska and The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection

Performance: Arachne by Synesthetic Project, Vienna

Nika Bauman, flute; Anna Barbara Bonatto, dancer; Ana Marković, manager

The opening event of this year’s programme features the music theatre piece Arachne, inspired by female relationships, tradition, and the rituals of femininity. It is based on the ancient Greek myth of Arachne, a weaver who was punished for defying gods and transformed into a spider. The performers weave together music, movement, and installation in an imagined ritual celebrating femininity, sisterhood, connection, and transformation. The work has been presented at international festivals in various ensembles, and in Novi Sad it will be performed by a duo comprising flautist Nika Bauman and dancer Anna Barbara Bonatto.

Thursday, 2 July, 9 p.m.
Shared garden of The Gallery of Matica Srpska and The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection

Austrian film night: Sleeping with a Tiger (2024)

Director: Anja Salomonowitz

Sleeping with a Tiger is a biographical art documentary about the Austrian painter Maria Lassnig—a gifted child, an abandoned daughter, a determined woman, a solitary artist, an explorer of inner worlds, and ultimately an acclaimed painter. It traces her struggle in a male-dominated world of art and her lifelong search for a distinctive artistic expression. Regardless of whether Maria Lassnig is portrayed at the age of six, fourteen, sixty-four, or ninety-four, she is always played by the same actress, Birgit Minichmayr. This shifts the film from a conventional biographical narrative towards a more poetic mode, exploring the idea that the human soul remains unchanged throughout life.

Thursday, 9 July, 9 p.m.
Shared garden of The Gallery of Matica Srpska and The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection

Lecture: The Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna — Now and Then

Dr Jennifer Sliwka and Dr Mateusz Mayer

Dr Jennifer Sliwka, Director of the Picture Gallery at the Kunsthistorisches Museum, will present the history of one of Europe’s oldest and most renowned museums, discuss the reinterpretation of its collections in a contemporary context, and outline future directions for its development and upcoming projects. Her colleague, Dr Matthäus Mayer, curator of the museum’s ongoing exhibition on the Italian painters Giovanni Antonio Canal (Canaletto) and Bernardo Bellotto, will offer his perspective on the exhibition and its conception.

Thursday, 16 July, 9 p.m.
Shared garden of The Gallery of Matica Srpska and The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection

Quiz Night with Branimir Arsić: Discover Austria Through Play and Knowledge

The team quiz, inspired by popular pub quizzes, continues this year with a programme dedicated to Austria—its culture, history, and contemporary art and creativity. Participants will test their knowledge of film, music, literature, visual arts, gastronomy, and sport—from Viennese Classicism and imperial heritage to contemporary pop culture. Assemble a team of four to five people and register using the application form on the Gallery’s website. Attractive prizes await the winning teams.

Thursday, 23 July, 9 p.m.
Shared garden of The Gallery of Matica Srpska and The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection

Travelogue: Postcard from the Heart of Europe, The Alps: A Journey Through Protected Landscapes

Prof. Dr Vladimir Stojanović, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad

Prof. Dr Vladimir Stojanović will offer a personal account of the Alps and their natural and cultural beauty, shaped by his experience in protected natural areas. The Alps, a vast mountain range in the heart of Europe, were formed through the folding of the Earth’s crust that began around 65 million years ago. Travelling through the valleys and mountain passes, visitors soon realise that they are in a region of exceptional natural and cultural diversity. While the Alps are often associated with winter landscapes, the summer months are ideal for experiencing their true beauty.

Thursday, 30 July, 9 p.m.
Shared garden of The Gallery of Matica Srpska and The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection

Lecture: Pastry Shop – A Sweet Waltz on the Blue Danube

Dr Tamara Ognjević, Artis Center, Belgrade

Following the Danube, Dr Tamara Ognjević leads us to Vienna and Pest in the era of the Industrial Revolution, the rise of major European cities in the 19th and early 20th centuries, and the emergence of new cultural tendencies. Exploring the history of confectionery and the influence of these two cities on Novi Sad and Belgrade, we enter the studios of renowned masters of the brush and the spatula, as well as the often-overlooked female side of history, in a period of exclusive sweets made for prominent public figures, shaped by distinctive advertising aesthetics, and in which pastry shops became an integral part of urban life and female emancipation.

Thursday, 6 August, 9 p.m.

Garden of The Gallery of Fine Arts – Gift Collection of Rajko Mamuzić

Austrian film night: The Dreamed Ones (2016)

Director: Ruth Beckermann

The film centres on the renowned Austrian poets Paul Celan and Ingeborg Bachmann, who met in post-war Vienna. Their dramatic correspondence forms the textual basis of the film. Two young actors meet in a recording studio to read the correspondence aloud and are soon overwhelmed by turbulent emotions of closeness and distance, fascination and fear. At the same time, they enjoy each other’s company while arguing, smoking, and talking about everyday matters. The essence of the film lies at the point where the boundaries between yesterday’s, today’s, and tomorrow’s love converge.

Thursday, 13 August, 9 p.m.
Shared garden of The Gallery of Matica Srpska and The Pavle Beljanski Memorial Collection

Concert: Dinamika Music

Dinamika Music, an electric string ensemble with a DJ, brings a contemporary rhythm to classical musical themes. The ensemble consists of Katarina Ranić (founder, first violin and arranger), Marija Mitrović, Katarina Miletić, Tijana Stojiljković (violins), and Filip Đukić and Veljko Ličina (DJs). These musicians with academic degrees, educated in Serbia and abroad, have performed in prestigious orchestras, taught at music academies, and collaborated with artists such as Zubin Mehta. For this programme, they will perform works by composers from Austria and Central Europe, combining virtuosity with contemporary production.

Thursday, 20 August, 9 p.m.

Garden of The Gallery of Fine Arts – Gift Collection of Rajko Mamuzić

Lecture: Vojvodina in the Military Maps of the Habsburg Monarchy

Prof. Dr Mlađen Jovanović, Department of Geography, Tourism and Hotel Management, Faculty of Sciences, University of Novi Sad

From the reign of Maria Theresa to that of Franz Joseph I, topographical maps of Vojvodina were considered military secrets of the Habsburg Monarchy, whereas today they are viewed as historical documents. They contain far more than what is shown on the maps themselves, including insights into the processes that unfolded in this region from the 17th to the 19th century: climate change, vegetation patterns, settlement development, and population migrations. Hand-drawn and coloured, they also possess artistic value and represent exceptionally important examples of historical cartography.

Thursday, 27 August, 9 p.m.

Garden of The Gallery of Fine Arts – Gift Collection of Rajko Mamuzić

Dance night: Waltz – Viennese Court Dance at Gallery Square

Dance Studio “Fiesta”

The closing of Summer at Gallery Square will be marked by a waltz class, the favourite dance of the Viennese court tradition. This elegant and graceful dance is a symbol of ballrooms, celebrations, and formal festivities. It originated in the 17th century from Austrian folk dances and, a century later, was widely adopted by the aristocracy. Members of the Dance Studio “Fiesta” from Novi Sad will introduce the audience to its basic features.  In the waltz, dancers move in a three-quarter time signature with pronounced turns. It is a dance that requires not only technical skill, but also a strong sense of connection and trust between partners.

Summer at the Gallery Square 2026 is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia, the Provincial Secretariat for Culture, Public Information and Relations with Religious Communities of the Autonomous Province of Vojvodina and the City of Novi Sad Office for Culture.