If some of the Belgrade artists is not at home, you might try to look for him or her in Paris or New York, for example! Chances are that he there hosting an exhibition of his works.

The term "Belgrade art school'' exists since late 19th century, but that should not deceive you. The history of fine arts goes back for many centuries, but in the form of religious paintings. Frescoes and iconostases made by known and unknown artists adorn many orthodox churches. The list of important painters who became famous in Belgrade starts with the romanticist Đura Jakšić, who was also a poet and a bohemian. He was followed by Đorđe Krstić, Nadežda Petrović, Sava Šumanović... Their worthy successors in the second half of the 20th century are Petar Omčikus, Bata Mihajlović, Petar Lubarda, Mića Popović, Mladen Srbinović... If you want to see their work you should visit the National Museum (Narodni Muzej), and you might also be lucky enough to find a piece by "some reputed artist" in the Belgrade galleries.

The literary scene in Belgrade is a match for the art scene. Ivo Andrić - the only Serbian Nobel Prize winner, wrote his most important works right here in Belgrade. Milorad Pavić and his novel "Dictionary of the Khazars" attracted great attention worldwide at the end of the 20th century. Miloš Crnjanski, Borislav Pekić, Danilo Kiš, Slobodan Selenić, Dragoslav Mihajlović, Dušan Radović, Svetlana Velmar-Janković, Dušan Kovačević... If you read any of the works authored by them you will grasp the spirit and richness of the Serbian language. You can also see a play written as an adaptation of their works in any of the Belgrade theaters.

Our film authors often bring back a prize from international festivals, be it a "Palm" from Cannes or a "Bear" from Berlin. The sixties were marked by the "dark wave" and the works of Dušan Makavejev, Aleksandar Petrović and Živojin Pavlović. The reputation of the Serbian cinematography being one of the most vigorous in Europe was maintained by directors like Goran Marković, Goran Paskaljević, Srđan Karanović, Slobodan Šijan... All the recent movies of the best known Yugoslav director, Emir Kusturica are related to Belgrade cinema environment, both for production and for casting. Look for the contemporary urban spirit of Belgrade in the movies of Srđan Dragojević. Also bear in mind that the Belgrade cinemateque has one of the biggest film archives in Europe and the world.

Obviously, Belgrade also has many artists working in the less officials fields of art: comic strip authors, designers and conceptual artists are very busy both here and abroad. We will just mention the designer group ''Formart'' whose members have won many awards throughout the world.
Partly of their own choice, and partly due to the war in the region, this rock 'n roll generation ended up in international art metropolises and blended perfectly into the scene, precisely because of their rock&roll background. In fact, from the rock prospective Belgrade was never part of Eastern Europe (and in many other aspects too). And to make things completely unusual -in the Serbian style - we've won the MTV Award for politics and not for music. Anyway, the whole political story was also sheer rock&roll!

Belgrade often gives the artists the opportunity to exhibit their work. The "Oktobarski salon" (October Salon) is a panorama of the most important achievements in contemporary fine and applied art. The graphic art in Belgrade has its annual exhibition called "Zlatno pero Beograda" ("Golden feather of Belgrade"). Film makers can choose between FEST -the international feature film festival or the Documentary and Short Film Festival. Theater authors from the whole world know about BITEF - the International Theater Festival. Classical music also has its festival - BEMUS. There is a whole set of major or less frequent art events, and to find out more about them you can consult the page "Belgrade events"