OCT. 5 – 31, 2017
In order to present the research and professional work of Academician Branislav Kojić and his influence on the development of scientific doctrines related to villages, rural spaces and their spatial planning, the SASA Jovan Cvijić Institute for Geography organizes the exhibition and scholarly conference, Branislav Kojić – Space in the Village, the Village in Space. The exhibition is organized with the support of the Ministry of Culture and Information and the Ministry of Education, Science and Technological Development of the Republic of Serbia.
The authors of the exhibition are Zlata Vuksanović-Macura, PhD, Marija Drobnjaković, PhD, Jovana Todorić, MSc, and Aleksandra Spalević, MSc. The intention of the authors is to shed light on the research and professional activities of Academician Branislav Kojić, who is currently better known by his architectural achievements, which have overshadowed his impact on research of villages and rural spaces.
Branislav Kojić (Smederevo, 1899 – Belgrade, 1987) was an architect, urban planner, protector of folk and cultural heritage, and spatial and regional planner. It may be stated, however, that it was village space and rural issues that most substantially permeated Kojić’s oeuvre. His focus slowly shifted from rural architecture, as his primary preoccupation at the earlier stages of his research, and evolved and intertwined with other scientific disciplines (ethnography, sociology, geography, etc.), when he adopted a multidisciplinary approach to the problems of and prospects for rural development. His systematic approach is also reflected in his works in his gradual positioning of the rural issue in a broader regional context. As such, Kojić’s oeuvre may be regarded as a harbinger of the spatial planning profession, both that related to the spatial planning of village domains and that related to the spatial planning of broader regions, as well as a pioneer feat of treating rural space integrally, and he personally as the progenitor of ruralism as a complex discipline and science on rural planning and development, which still unquestionably has a pride of place within the system of social sciences.
The drawings, sketches and photographs Kojić took during his field research in Serbian villages illustrate his personal narrative about vernacular architecture and rural spatial planning. The exhibition features two main thematic scopes related to the work of Academician Branislav Kojić. One encompasses his work in the area of vernacular architecture and the other his work in the field of rural spatial planning. The exhibits include panels with drawings, sketches and photographs of vernacular architecture, existing and planned rural settlements, and models of authentic village houses with their curtilages.
The organization of the exhibition is supported by the SASA Gallery of Science and Technology, Museum of Science and Technology in Belgrade, Museum of the City of Belgrade, Institute for Architecture and Urban Planning of Serbia, Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade, National Library of Serbia, Library of the SASA Jovan Cvijić Institute for Geography, and SASA Library.
The scholarly conference, Branislav Kojić – Space in the Village, the Village in Space, will also held at the SASA Gallery of Science and Technology during the course of the exhibition, on October 16-17 at 10 am.
A part of the conference is dedicated to the oeuvre of Academician Branislav Kojić. The intention is to present the evolution of his thought from local to regional and national, from architectural design to spatial planning, and, finally, to the interdisciplinary aspect of his rural research. The objective of the other part of the conference is to demonstrate that, viewed through the prism of different scientific disciplines, villages are multidimensional phenomena, and to take a closer look at the links between Kojić’s and contemporary research. Lecturers of various professional profiles involved in the study of the problems of rural space will take part in the conference.
Organizer of the exhibition: SASA Jovan Cvijić Institute for Geography
Authors of the exhibition: Zlata Vuksanović-Macura, PhD, Marija Drobnjaković, PhD, Jovana Todorić, MSc, and Aleksandra Spalević, MSc.
The exhibition is on view at the SASA Gallery of Science and Technology from October 5 to October 31, 2017. The opening ceremony is on Thursday, October 5, 2017, at 6 p.m.
