On Thursday, 3 September, the Museum of Smederevo opened the exhibition Olga Benson – On Us: Between Art and Ethnography, offering visitors, for the first time at this venue, an opportunity to see a selection of materials preserved in the Collection of the Institute of Ethnography of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SASA).

The exhibition presents a valuable body of drawings, watercolours, and tempera paintings by Olga Benson, an ethnographic painter whose work provides a remarkable visual record of everyday life and traditional culture. Created in the late 1940s in the areas of Smederevska Palanka, Smederevo, and the wider Belgrade region, these works document traditional dress, customs, local communities, and various aspects of everyday life.

Dr Bojana Bogdanović addressed the audience at the opening on behalf of the Institute of Ethnography SANU. Her remarks underscored the importance of collaboration between research and museum institutions, as well as the value of preserving, studying, and bringing visual ethnographic materials to the attention of the wider public.

The exhibition is the result of a collaborative effort by the Institute of Ethnography SANU, the National Museum in Smederevska Palanka, and the Museum of Smederevo. Through Olga Benson’s work, visitors are invited to explore a distinctive chapter in the cultural heritage of Smederevo, Smederevska Palanka, and the surrounding region, while also discovering a part of the rich and diverse holdings preserved by the Institute of Ethnography SANU.

At the intersection of art and ethnography, the exhibition draws attention to the importance of visual documentation in the study and interpretation of traditional culture. Olga Benson’s works are not only compelling artistic records of their time but also valuable sources for understanding the people, practices, and cultural expressions of the communities they portray.

The exhibition was curated by ethnologist Petar Dekić, Senior Curator at the National Museum in Smederevska Palanka.

The exhibition will be on view at the Museum of Smederevo until 30 September.