Jat Airways - The Magnificent World of Water

For six consecutive years now, the ceramics section of the Association of Applied Artists and Designers in Serbia has celebrated World Environment Day on June 6 with a special exhibition. This series of exhibitions entitled "Planet Earth" was conceived by Antonija Dragutinović, a longtime member of the ceramics section of the AAADS and professor at the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade, whose idea it was to draw attention to various themes dealing with parts of the Earth where plant or animal species are endangered. Given that ceramics involves all of the four basic elements – earth, air, water and fire – the ceramicists belonging to the association thought that their "artistic plea" might stand as a special warning and propagation of a positive re-thinking of our environment, which we ought to treat more carefully.

This year's theme was "Water World." The exhibition opened at the Singidunum gallery in Belgrade. The astonishing beauty of the aquatic world – the future of which is jeopardized by the activities of man, or homo intellectualis, who is becoming increasingly estranged from nature – was the inspiration for 22 artists who executed their works by using a variety of techniques: from ceramic sculptures to relief wall boards and even installations. All of their works contained ceramic elements (terracotta, soft stone, porcelain, majolica) but while some remained faithful to traditional craftsmanship others added new materials in order to achieve the desired artistic effect.

- The "Water World" exhibition was put up in the gallery basement, which is reserved for special displays, whether of works by a particular artist or collective exhibitions – says the Gallery's curator and art historian Zorica Đermanov, who is also the author of the introduction to the catalogue accompanying the exhibition.

- Inspired by the works of artists I felt that the accompanying text needed to be a plea to protect water at the global level. Unfortunately, today's inhabitants of Planet Earth have to be constantly reminded of the importance of water for our survival. This decade has been marked by the call to use and protect water and this is what I emphasize in my text. Even the United Nations declared March 22 World Water Day, and the exhibition is an attempt to salute this date. The mysterious and rich world of fish, shells, seaweed and coral has been skillfully materialized and brought to life in the gallery's space. The artists approached this year's theme in various ways but they all worked with a single thought that can be stated concisely: if life emerged from water then we ought to work together to do everything to keep it from drying up because water is endangered, concludes Zorica Đermanov.

Zorica Đermanov

This gallery displays a wide specter of fine art, applied art and design, and year round it organizes special shows in the basement – from individual exhibitions to traditional collective shows on themes such as "Mini Art Scene," "Designing Recycling," or "Planet Earth" – that all contribute to the particular dynamics of the city's art life. For 26 years, the upper level of Singidunum has been an exhibition and selling space, where up to 150-200 artists and members of professional associations like ULUPUDUS, ULUS and ULUV have always had at least one of their nominated or prize winning works exhibited.

This is why the Gallery is frequented not only by domestic but foreign visitors as well. Here they can always purchase a tasteful souvenir or some other work of art to remind them of their visit to the Serbian capital.

Artists displayed at the Water World exhibition

Contributing to the beauty of the Water World exhibition were the following artists: Antonija Dragutinović, Ivana Batalo, Tatjana Dejanović, Radenko Adnađ, Danijela Golubović, Tatjana Ivanišević Radojković, Olgica Jelić Kucina, Aleksandar Kucina, Katica Pavelka Vukajlović, Igor Milićević, Ida Marinković Damnjanović, Katarina Lazić Vasiljević, Mihajlo Petrović, Evgenija Portnoj Kostić, Ivana Rackov, Biljana Rakić, Valentina Savić, Sanja Sremac Marković, Momčilo Trajković, Svetlana Trucić, Dragana Vasiljević i Tatjana Zakić.