Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion, Art exhibition pavilion in Kalemegdan Park, Serbia.
Cvijeta Zuzorić Art Pavilion is an Art Deco exhibition building in the Little Kalemegdan section of Kalemegdan Park, beside the south-eastern front of Belgrade Fortress. Branislav Kojić's design has flat facade surfaces with little ornament, emphasised roof cornices and windows without accent. In front stands Dragomir Arambašić's 1931 fountain "Awakening", a nude female figure on a pedestal among doves whose beaks spout water.
The Association of Friends of Art "Cvijeta Zuzorić" was founded in February 1922 on the initiative of Branislav Nušić, then head of the Art Division of the Ministry of Education. A charity ball at Hotel Kasina in February 1923 raised 71,610 dinars for construction, supplemented by donations from Đorđe Vajfert, Luka Ćelović, Mihajlo Pupin and King Alexander. Architect Branislav Kojić won the 1925 competition, but the plot was moved from beside Princess Ljubica's Residence to Little Kalemegdan, forcing him to redesign. The foundation stone was laid on 6 November 1927 and the pavilion opened on 23 December 1928.
The pavilion is named after Cvijeta Zuzorić, a 16th-century Dubrovnik poet and art patron. It houses the Association of Fine Artists of Serbia, and since 1975 it has hosted the October Salon, Belgrade's main contemporary art exhibition. Exhibitions traditionally opened on Sundays at 11:00, with about 18 shows a year.
The pavilion sits right beside Belgrade Fortress, making it easy to visit while exploring the park area. Plan your visit around exhibition schedules, as the space hosts rotating shows rather than permanent displays.
The pavilion's plot on Little Kalemegdan was a fairground until the mid-1920s, when it was moved to Voždovac for the construction. There Ilija Božić had staged the first Serbian puppet show, Kuku, Todore. Too far for most Belgraders, the fair soon disbanded. Six Chinese windmill palms, the first planted in Belgrade's public green areas, were set in front of the pavilion on 23 September 2020.
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