Museum of African Art
The Museum of African Art was founded in 1977, and it represents the first and the only museum in the country dedicated to the culture and arts of the African Continent. It originated owing to a particularly valuable collection that had been collected by the donors Veda and Dr Zdravko Pečar in the course of their long stay in Africa. The Museum holdings were, in time, enriched with the buy ups and presents, not only of individual objects, but also of entire collections, so that it now consists of 1700 authentic objects of art from the countries of West Africa: Mali, Senegal, Guinea, Burkina Faso, Benin, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Togo, Cameron, and Congo.
The Museum was conceived as a dynamic scientific and educational institution, which through various forms of museological and educational activities, familiarizes the public with the works of African arts, customs, tradition, and history of the African Continent. On an area of 800 m2, the Museum exhibits the representative objects that belong to the artistic heritage of the peoples of: Bambara, Dogon, Kisi, Baga, Marka, Malinke, Bobo, Dan, Gere, Guro, Senufo, Ashanti, Ewe, Baule, Fon, Yoruba, and Bamileke. Apart from numerous masks and sculptures made of wood that are considered to be the classic expression of the art of West Africa, the exhibition also includes other cultic, magic, decorative, and practical objects made of wood and bronze, then textile, ceramics, figures made of soft stone (steatite), as well as particularly attractive musical instruments.
Apart from the permanent exhibition, the Museum organizes thematic exhibitions, concerts, lectures, and panels on African arts, presentations of books, movie and video projections, performances, various courses, and artistic workshops. Judging by the quality and artistic value of its collection, the Museum of African Art ranks among the most significant institutions of its kind in Europe.