The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, Brankica Janković, attended the opening of the “Great Women of Serbian Culture” exhibition at the Jevrem Grujić House. dedicated to the famous women of our history, culture, science, and art. It is very important to talk about female creativity, a phenomenon that was almost unknown and unrecognized by the public until a little more than 100 years ago. The number of women who secured their place in the encyclopedias of art, science, and history is still negligible, despite the importance of their works and the influence on the development of Serbian thought and society, the Commissioner pointed out at the opening of the exhibition.

Eighteen giants – Milica Stojadinović Srpkinja, Mina Karadžić, Poleksija Todorović, Draga Ljočić, Beta Vukanović, Nadežda Petrović, Isidora Sekulić, Jelisaveta Načić, Marija Maga Magazinović, Vidosava Kovačević, Anica Savić Rebac, Zora Petrović, Desanka Maksimović, Leposava St. Pavlović, Milena Pavlović Barili, Ljubica Marić, Ljubica Cuca Sokić and Soja Jovanović will tell the visitors of the exhibition their life stories, destinies, and achievements, and I believe it will also be an inspiration for further research into their creativity and legacy, for further learning of the virtues, combativeness, and courage necessary in any time, said Janković.

The women, to whom the exhibition is dedicated, were in many ways revolutionaries in their country and in Europe – they were the first to enroll in faculties, became the first doctoral students, the first writers, and members of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts. Despite their successes, the country and the society in which they lived and created, the Commissioner stated, often marginalized them. Opposing relations established in such a way, they were also pioneers in the fight against patriarchy and rules firmly rooted in tradition. It is our obligation to make women’s cultural heritage visible, because thanks to it, women today have the opportunity to hold the most important positions in our culture and society, said the Commissioner.

The Commissioner for the Protection of Equality, together with the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Secretariat for Culture of the City of Belgrade, is the sponsor of the exhibition “Great Women of Serbian Culture”. The authors of the exhibition are Branka Conić, Director of the Jevrem Grujić House, Dr. Gordana Bekčić, and art historian Ružica Opačić.

The exhibition will be open from January 20 to March 27, 2022. The working hours of the Jevrem Grujić House are on Thursdays and Fridays from 3:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. and on Saturdays from 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.