The exhibition of front pages of periodicals published from 1945 to 1980 will be open in the Museum of Applied Arts in Belgrade till June 30th
The exhibition by Mirjana Ristić, the curator of the Museum of Applied Arts in Belgrade, consists of 130 digital prints of photos published on front pages of prominent magazines in Serbia – Duga, Ilustrovana Politika, NIN, Žena danas, Praktična žena, Bazar, Čik, Tempo and Sport i svet published from 1945 to 1980.
The front pages are exhibited in three chronological segments: introduction period (between the two World Wars), the period of reconstruction and development and the period of self governance, i.e. the rise of popular culture.
Front pages of these magazines represent the visual testimonies of events and changes in social, cultural and political life of the nation’s capital, but also the possibility to understand a model of spreading mass messages.
At the same time it is the attempt to perceive the period 1945 – 1980 as a period of socialist popular culture that till 1953 represented a part of complex system of socialist propaganda, in order to develop in a new cultural model during the fifties.
Beside the radio, and later TV, these magazines were the main window to the world. Everyday life can be followed through these magazines, but also several dominant phenomena can be marked.
Front pages of magazines from the late 40-ties and early 50-ties of the 20th century represented the joy and optimism of a new man, who was replaced by the first stars of pop culture in the 60-ties.
Changes in perceiving women and sexuality, reforms of revolutionary tradition and relationship to the cult of the President Josip Broz Tito, as well as the breakthrough of sport and music, would mark the front pages of the magazines in decades to come.