Belgrade Heritage House - About us
The Belgrade Heritage House, an institution of great significance for the city of Belgrade, was founded in 2004 by the Belgrade City Assembly. It is registered
and will be located in 46 Knez Mihailova Street.
A result of a decades-old initiative by artists, intellectuals, experts and donors, the Belgrade Heritage House aims to resolve the complex problems concerning bequests and legacies* presented to the City of Belgrade since 1955.
The Belgrade Heritage House will permanently manage these gifts, working on legal regulations concerning presenting such gifts to the state with respect to the will
of their donors, as well as on improving conditions for managing, conserving and protection of the gifts, opening them to the public, promoting and presenting donated artwork in accordance with contemporary museological standards.
As an institution, the Belgrade Heritage House is dedicated to stimulating and restoring the tradition of bequests. Another important aim of its formation is the reception of new bequests and gifts.
Special care will be taken of future bequests to be presented to the City of Belgrade, according to new criteria and a special Guidelines concerning reception of bequests, as well as individual gifs and smaller collections. This would provide additional protection to the legacies of important individuals and encourage the resenting of such gifts, a practice that hasalmost vanished in Belgrade, due to a lack of regulations of this area.
According to the work concept of the Belgrade Heritage House, its primary activity is collecting works of art related to the 20th and 21st centuries from artists, collectors or personalities that have left a significant trace in the cultural, scientific and public life, as well as from anonymous donors of valuable collections.
The Belgrade Heritage House will systematically manage all moveable** and immoveable*** bequests presented to the Belgrade City Assembly. This includes reconstruction, adaptation, providing technical and museological equipment,
conservation of artwork, as well as determining potential new or additional functions for the bequests, in cooperation with institutions which had been entrusted with their
care before the formation of the Belgrade Heritage House.
explanation:
* Legacy - (lat. Legatum) - bequest, gift, legacy, endowment represents collections or entire assets bequeathed to an individual or institution other than the legal heir.
Cultural assets, depending on their physical, artistic, cultural and historical characteristics can be moveable or immoveable.
** Moveable bequests are artistic / historical objects, archives, films, old and rare books, i.e. individual objects, groups of objects and/or collections of artistic, cultural, scientific or historical significance on a local, national or universal level.
Works of art and historical objects or artistic / historical objects are objects or groups of objects, along with their accompanying archives that are especially significant for documenting historical, cultural and scientific development,
regardless of when and where they were created, and whether they are located within or outside institutions for conservation.
Archives are original and reproduced documents - written, drawn, electronic, printed, photographed, filmed or preserved in other ways, which are especially significant for science or culture, regardless of when and where they were created,
and whether they are located within or outside institutions for conservation.
*** Immoveable bequests are cultural monuments, cultural/historical complexes, archeological sites, and landmarks of special artistic, cultural, scientific or historical
significance on a local, national or universal level.