26 September 2018 - Montenegrin Minister of Culture, Aleksandar Bogdanović, spoke in Zagreb at the opening of the exhibition "Njegoš in Socialist Montenegro from 1945-1990". The President of the National Community of Montenegrins in Croatia, Danilo Ivezić, and the Assistant Director of the State Archives of Montenegro, Jadranka Selhanović, also took part in the exhibition opening.
The exhibition, which was presented in Zagreb, was divided into three segments: "The state celebrates Njegoš", "Njegoš's Mausoleum at Lovćen" and "In defense of the Montenegrin identity".
During the opening the exhibition, Minister Bogdanović pointed out that the period presented by the exhibition of the State Archive is the time of Njegoš’s ruling that needs to be specifically analysed, which obliges the researchers to undertake a comprehensive analysis of the status and significance of Njegoš's work in the society of a dominant ideology. Considering that the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia represented a fairly liberal variant of a one-party socialist organization, it must be noted that during this period Njegoš's work was largely freed of ideological influences and left to the value court of the science of literature. Archived material testifies to the “correct” attitude towards Njegoš's character and work, and what some could recognize as ideological intervention, all that was actually based on the once overburdened context of Njegoš's work as an inspiration for the national liberation struggle and patriotism in the 20th century. All in all, Minister Bogdanović concluded, even then, Njegoš occupied the position of one of the most important artists of South Slavic literature, and his works, thanks to the blocking of clericalist and nationalist explications, received new interpretations of modern literary criticism.
Danilo Ivezić, the President of the National Community of Montenegrins in Croatia, recalled numerous projects that the Community realized in Zagreb, in which contemporary Montenegrin culture was presented.
The exhibition was presented by its author, Assistant Director of the State Archives of Montenegro Jadranka Selhanović, who explained that even after more than 160 years since his passing, the interest in the personality and work of Petar II Petrovic Njegoš has not ceased. The Montenegrin ruler and poet still live on within the reality of each generation of Montenegrins, in various spheres: science, art, etc. Njegoš’s personality and his work are constantly stimulating new interpretations and researches, but also numerous controversies and conflicts, the artist explained.
The opening of the exhibition, organized in cooperation with the State Archive of Montenegro and the National Community of Montenegrins in Croatia, was also attended by director Veljko Bulajić, artist Dimitrije Popović, members of the National Community of Montenegrins in Croatia, prominent artists and creators from the Republic of Croatia.
