BIENNALE OF FANTASY ART – Report from Kolarac Endowment

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BIENNALE OF FANTASY ART 2021
Kolarac Endowment, Belgrade

Artists, collectors, gallerists, critics, sponsors of the event and over 600 fans of painting mastery walked the red carpet at the grand opening of the Biennale of Fantasy Art in the hall of the Ilija M. Kolarac Endowment on Monday, October 18. Top 36 works of art from the domain of fantasy, selected from 578 works submitted to the competition, were exhibited in both galleries of Kolarac – art and music.

The opening program began with the performance of the cello quartet “Mystic Cello”. The director of the Gallery ’73 – Mirela Pudar, then addressed the audience, and on behalf of the gallery team led by art critic Đorđe Kadijević, presented Belgrade as the center of fantastic art through an interesting historical cross-section. On that occasion, she read several quotations of the text from the catalog, signed by art historian PhD Oliver Tomić. The audience also met the patron of this event, Miroslav Mihajlović, the president of the Mihajlović – Phoenix Foundation, who in his address announced the future connection of the Biennale with other European fantasy art centers. Then the presidents of the Jury, professor Željko Đurović, Dragan Jovanović Danilov and PhD Professor Katarina Zarić, announced the award winners.

  • The Lifetime Achievement Award was given to the painter and professor – Ljubodrag Janković Jale, for his decades-long successful and fruitful artistic and pedagogical career.
  • The Perspective Award, for the best young creator, went to Veljko Valjarević, for the painting “Fall” (2O21).
  • The main, Grand Prix Award of the First Biennale of Fantasy Art in Serbia went to professor Željko Đurović for the work “Goldwing” (2021) by the decision of the jury.
  • Jasna Opavski and Đorđe Savić received ransom awards.

After the awards ceremony, the galleries of the Kolarac Endowment were open to visitors, who were able to enjoy the exhibition of the Biennale of Fantasy Art in this space until October 31. The program of the Biennale also included four forums, which enable direct communication on relevant topics:

  • “Evening with PhD art historian Oliver Tomić, ”, October 22, 2021 at 6 p.m;
  • “Meet the collectors”, October 23, 2021 at 6 p.m;
  • “Heirs of the Mediala Group”, October 28, 2021 at 6 p.m. and
  • “Evening with the award winners of the Biennale of Fantasy Art“, October 30, 2021 at 6 p.m.

The presentation of the Biennale of Fantasy Art on the website and social networks is very informative and provides a unique experience for those who were not able to visit this festival. The Biennale of Fantasy Art was presented to Novi Sad audience from November 2 to 15 at the Cultural Center of Novi Sad.

The fact that over 2,000 people saw the exhibition in the first week alone, testifies to the interest in the out-of-appearance, metaphysical and surreal art.