National Musem in 18 months

Reconstruction of the National Museum in Belgrade should be, according to the tender offer, completed in 18 months, but it is possible that the works would be completed earlier, as stated by the Minister of Culture and Information Ivan Tasovac on May 9.

Tasovac said that the deadline for completion of the restoration, reparation and adaptation of the National Museum is 542 days, as provided in the contract which was signed by the National Museum with a construction company "Koto".

The contract is worth 824 million dinars (without VAT), according to the Ministry of Culture, which, 13 years after the closure of the permanent exhibition and a half century since the last reconstruction of the National Museum, "eliminates any kind of uncertainty and opens a new chapter in the history of the oldest museum in Serbia."

The permanent exhibition of the National Museum was closed in 2003, and after giving up on two reconstruction plans, the works on the facade have begun in late 2014 and were completed in 2015.

Two reconstruction projects of the National Museum were previously dropped, by architect Milan Rakocevic, and afterwards by Vladimir Lojanica.

During the mandate of the former Minister of Culture Bratislav Petkovic, a cheaper and quicker solution was announced for the rehabilitation of the National Museum, which was founded in 1844. The current building at the Republic Square was built in 1903, and it was expanded and rebuilt for the National Mortgage Bank in 1933. After the devastation in World War II, it was rebuilt in 1966 and then reconstructed, expanded and adapted for the needs of the National Museum, which has a collection of more than 400,000 valuable artistic, historical and archaeological showpieces.

(SEEcult.org)