The exhibition ’Archaeology in Paper and Image – Documenting 70 Years of the Documentation Department of the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade’

The exhibition Archaeology in Paper and Image – Documenting 70 Years of the Documentation Department of the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade, authored by Dr Milan Milovanović, Assistant Archivist at the Institute of Archaeology in Belgrade, was opened on Monday, 18 August, at the SASA Gallery of Science and Technology.

The work of the Institute of Archaeology started in 1947, when Academician Vladimir R. Petković was appointed its first director. At that time, there was no position of Assistant Archivist, whose responsibilities would include the collection, cataloguing, processing, and preservation of scientific and technical records. In August 1955, under the directorship of Professor Đurđe Bošković, the Documentation Department began its work, with archaeologist Ljubica Zotović appointed as its first Head.

Nowadays, the Documentation Department holds the original records created during the realisation of various field projects of the Institute of Archaeology on sites from different periods, including log books, notes, sketches, plans, photographs, slides, correspondence, archival materials, and 3D models. There are unique records placed in the Film Archives, Periodical Library and Vladimir R. Petković’s Documentary Fund.

Visitors to the SASA Gallery of Science and Technology have the opportunity to view selected items from the Department’s extensive holdings, which focus on previously unpublished photographs from archaeological field excavations in our country, as well as images of foreign sites taken by Institute associates during study visits. The exhibition also features material from the 1954 excavations at Chilandar, extremely valuable records preserved in the Vladimir R. Petković and Đurađ Bošković Endowment Funds. A particularly notable element of the display is a selection of previously unseen film footage, digitised by the Yugoslav Film Archives. They include silent films taken in the 1960s and 1970s at locations such as Lepenski Vir, Ravna, Hajdučka Vodenica, Saldum, Ras and various others.

The exhibition is on display at the SASA Gallery of Science and Technology until 6 September 2025.