Press Conference on Upcoming SASA Activities

A regular press conference was held at the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts on Tuesday, 28 January, where SASA Vice President, Academician Zoran V. Popović, presented the Academy’s program for the next three months.

As he emphasized, throughout 2025, SASA will commemorate the Year of Academician Đura Daničić (christened Đurađ Popović, b. Novi Sad, 6 April 1825 – d. Zagreb, 17 November 1882), a renowned philologist, lexicographer, translator, professor at the Lyceum and Belgrade Higher School, president of the Serbian Learned Society, and secretary of JAZU. The Academy will highlight various aspects of his work—one of the most influential philologists of the late 19th century—through a scientific conference, an exhibition at the SASA Gallery, and the digitization of documentary records. These activities are to take place in the second half of the year.

Among the February events, the Vice President mentioned the lecture by Professor Nick Lucić titled ’Lithium Mines – Experiences’ set for 5 February, as well as a lecture by Sorbonne musicology doctorate Sylvie Nicephor, dedicated to the work of Academician Ivan Jevtić—composer and secretary of the SASA Department of Arts—scheduled for 19 February.

The lecture series ’Yugoslavia – Continuity, Trials, Challenges’ will be held from 5 March to 23 April. With a distance of 30 years and access to previously closed archives covering the entire existence of both Yugoslav states, the series will explore whether the South Slavic state could have been founded on democratic principles through a total of eight lectures.

The retrospective exhibition ’Dado: History of Nature 1953 – 2000’ is on display at the SASA Gallery until 2 March. An accompanying programme titled ’Dado through Words and Paintings’ will take place at the Gallery of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts on Thursday, 31 January which will feature Amarante Szidon, the exhibition’s author and the artist’s daughter and François-Marie Deyrolle, the editor of the Editions de l’Atelier contemporain Publishing House specializing in contemporary art and art critique. Kamini Vellody of the Royal College of Arts will explore the artist’s interest in French philosopher Gilles Deleuze while translator Paul Buck will present his latest Dado-inspired work. The exhibition includes more than 50 Midorag Dado Đurić’s works from numerous museum and private collections, some of which have been showcased for the first time.

The next exhibition, set to open in April, will offer a new interpretation of the rich, authentic and globally renowned painting oeuvre of Ilija Bašićević Bosilj (1895-1972). Based on the theoretical foundations of the 21st century, the exhibition aligns with the new understanding of the art phenomenon at times when almost all mainstream museums have embraced art movements such as Art Brut, and Outsider Art i.e. the phenomenon of self-taught art.

In February, the SASA Gallery of Science and Technology will host the exhibition Wooden Churches of Republika Srpska – Guardians of Spiritual Life and National Identity, featuring the work of photographer Stanko Kostić. The gallery’s program also includes Brain Awareness Week 2025, running from 10 to 15 March, as well as Education for Sustainable Development, part of the La main à la pâte (Hands-On) project designed for younger audiences, scheduled from 20 to 27 March. Additionally, the exhibition The Scent of Nature – Protected Plant Species in Serbia is planned for April.

As in previous years, the Board for Immunology and Allergology of the SASA Department of Medical Sciences and The Immunological Society of Serbia will mark the International Day of Immunology on 29 April through a series of scientific lectures in the field of immunology of infections, allergies, autoimmune disorders, and malignancies, based on the latest research findings which immunologist in Serbia and across the globe achieved in the past year.

The rich agenda of the SASA Library Book Forum will feature a diverse selection of publications in the coming months: monograph Prostate Cancer: Advancements in the Pathogenesis, Diagnosis and Personalized Therapy edited by SASA Corresponding Member Gordana Kocić, Academician Tatjana Simić and Academician Jovan Hadži Đokić on 4 February; Grand Atlas of Serbia [Carthographic Records] whose editor is Academician Slobodan B. Marković on 18 February; monograph titled Agon and Melancholy: Life and Work of Miloš Crnjanski by Gorana Raičević, SASA Corresponding Member on 4 March; Belgrade Geneology authored by SASA Corresponding Member Boris Milosavljević on 18 March. The book forum dedicated to Academician Jovan Delić’s studies and monographs is scheduled for March 25 and it will present the following: Milutin Bojić pjesnik moderne i vjesnik avangarde [Milutin Bojić – Poet of the Modernity and Harbringer of the Avant-Garde], Sažeta poetika sažimanja: ka poetici Danila Kiša [Abridged Poetics of Summarisation – Towards Danilo Kiš’s Poetics] and Hodočašća uz Uspravnu zemlju [Pilgrimage with Uspavana Zemlja]. The publications Dragoslav Srejović and Multidisciplinarity and Prince Mihailo Obrenović – Time, Life, Work – collection of papers from the scientific conference will be presented on 15 April.

Academician Popović also highlighted the particularly comprehensive work of the SASA branches in Novi Sad and Niš as well as of the SASA Centre for the Scientific Research and the University of Kragujevac all of which have prepared engaging scientific and cultural programmes for the upcoming four months.