National Museum Uzice
The National Museum Uzice (NMU) is a regional museum in charge of the territory of eight municipalities of Zlatibor District (Uzice, Bajina Basta, Kosjerić, Pozega, Arilje, Cajetina, Nova Varos and Sjenica). It was founded on July 12, 1946, first as The Museum of Uprising 1941. The National Museum in Uzice was established by the Decision of the National Committee of Titovo Uzice dated April 29, 1963, which incorporated both The Museum of Uprising 1941 and The Local Museum, whose collection formed gradually. By the Decision of Self-managing Interest Community for culture, and as suggested by the socio-political organizations of the town, on the date of June 22, 1979, the memorial complex on Kadinjaca was transferred to the management to The National Museum of Uzice. From January 1, 1991 to October 21, 2002, the monument of Kadinjača operated as an independent institution. In 2002, it became part of the NMU again.
Within the National Museum of Uzice, there are professional departments of archaeology, ethnology, history and history of art, pedagogue service, professional library, conservation workshops, photo laboratory, service for the general, material and financial performance and technical support service. Permanent Exhibition opened in 1995 in the second building of the Museum, on the ground Hall, presents the origin and development of the Uzice region from prehistoric times, antiquity, middle, and the new ages, to contemporary history. More than 1,400 exhibits from all museum collections (archaeology, ethnology, history and art history) are exposed. National Museum experts are engaged in scientific and museum-research work, cataloging museum objects, conservation and restoration and recording and documentation work, exhibition and publishing, educational, pedagogical and information and marketing activities; they provide services to users of the Museum material and cooperate with related institutions. The Museum material is classified in a number of archaeological, ethnological, historical, artistic and numismatic collections. At the Lapidarium of the National Museum of Uzice are displayed 23 tombstones and votive monuments, free-standing lions figures, Corinthian capitols and fragments of the marble antique columns. Monuments, lions and architecture decoration at the Lapidarium of the National Museum Uzice make very significant archaeological, epigraph, iconography and historical funds for research of the social and communal characteristics of population in the eastern Province of Dalmatia in the period from the 2nd till the 4th century, its ethnicity, spiritual culture, beliefs, religions and cultural influence that came from abroad.
In addition to the protection of movable cultural property, National Museum Uzice has also been engaged in the protection of immovable cultural property. In the period from 1994 to 1998, a complete conservation, restoration and revitalization of the monastery Uvac (municipality of Čajetina) was done, and experts were engaged in arranging the homes and the memorial rooms of prominent persons and national heroes of Uzice (Dimitrije Tucović, Stevo Čolović etc).
The second building of the National Museum Uzice contains three permanent exhibitions: “Uzice, Origin and Development”, “Legacy of Mihailo Milovanovic, a painter “and “History of the Company for production of arms in Uzice from 1928 to date.” The permanent exhibition “The uprising in Yugoslavia in 1941”, which was in the first museum building was relocated in 2005/06 after 45 years. The work on the reconstruction of a new memorial setting “Uzice Republic” is currently on, so rooms of the Supreme Headquarters of the NOPOJ and Josip Broz Tito will be available again. The permanent exhibition “The town house from the late nineteenth and early twentieth century” is located at Jokanovica House, and on Kadinjaca within the memorial home there is a permanent setting of “Workers’ battalion in the fight on Kadinjaca” and “Uzice region in the NATO aggression.”
Since April 30, 2009, within the work organization of the National Museum of Uzice, there has been a presentation of hydroelectric power plant “Under the Town”. For its work, the National Museum Izice has received important awards and numerous acknowledgements, among which two awards stand out – “Mihailo Valtrovic” provided by the Museum Association of Serbia and the prize of Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic.
