In 2012, by the decision of the Cultural Centre of Belgrade’s Board of Directors, the October Salon Collection was founded, which would comprise artworks exhibited at the October Salon exhibitions, but also other works by the participating authors/artists.
The idea to establish the October Salon Collection arose when Belgian artist Jan Fabre donated his work titled “I am a one man movement”, produced for the needs of the 52nd October Salon (2012), to the Cultural Centre of Belgrade.
At the suggestion of the then acting director of the Cultural Centre of Belgrade Mia David, coordinator of the event Zorana Đaković Minniti, producer Jasmina Petković and curators/editors of the CCB Visual Arts Section Vesna Danilović, Gordana Dobrić, Svetlana Petrović and Aleksandra Estela Bjelica Mladenović (1967–2019), the process of forming the collection started and invitations were sent to other artists who had exhibited at the October Salon international exhibitions to donate their works. Soon after the first invitation, gifts from artists living and working in Serbia but also those from abroad, followed, and the October Salon Collection could be officially formed.
There was an obvious need to preserve and document a phase in art and exhibition practices where, at least regarding Serbia, the October Salon played an important role, especially in the period 2004-2014.
The Collection is international and consists of works by artists and art groups that have participated in the October Salon international exhibitions since 2004. This is the main and only criterion for the acquisition policy.
For now, the number of works in the Collection is increasing through gifts and purchases. Some works were created and produced for the Salon exhibitions, after which they became part of the October Salon Collection by the artists’ consent.
On September 19, 2018, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade passed a Decision on pronouncing art-history works cultural goods (Decision No. 01-33 / 111, Sept. 19, 2018), by which some of the works from the October Salon Collection obtained the status of movable cultural goods.
The October Salon Collection comprises 153 works of art by 104 artists/art groups.
During 2020, most of the work on digitizing the data on the October Salon Collection has been done and they have been entered into a unique information system for the digitization of cultural heritage and contemporary art. The project of digitalization of the October Salon Collection is supported by the Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of Serbia.
