Like in a movie

On the penultimate day of the exhibition of Paja Jovanović's paintings in the Museum in Arandjelovac, on March 16, around three o'clock, four masked, armed men stole fifteen exhibits, most of them belonging to the National Museum, which have not yet been found. Namely, both the owners of the stolen works and the host of the exhibition expected that the thieves would return everything they stole after a day or two, because these works, whose value is estimated at DEM 380.000, can hardly be cashed.

According to the contract signed between the National Museum and the Aranđelovac Museum, as is implied during the exhibition of valuable works, the municipality of Aranđelovac is a guarantor that it will compensate for any damage; police escort of the transport in both directions and police security of the exhibition, a police patrol tour every three hours and round-the-clock guarding are planned. Guard Radovan Čumić, beaten and bound, was found only in the morning.

Nikola Kusovac, head of the Department of Art History at the National Museum, tells "Vreme" that precious hours were lost there and believes that it was an oversight by the police. "When a robbery happens, you point the finger at the person who was obliged to prevent it." He says that the guard was not armed: "Museum guards do not have guns." Even if he had a gun, "according to the Law, he should not have used it as would protect the property, so they are more like guards than they are in a position to preserve the exhibits."

Thus, the news about the robbery of Paja Jovanović's paintings inevitably raised the topic of the safety of our museums, a topic about which, at least for this case, it is too late to talk about, and for possible future ones, in the existing material situation, it is illusory.

Does this mean that museums are completely defenseless against thieves? "No, not at all." By the very fact that a work is in a museum, that it has been processed, catalogued, it is protected because no one can ever sell it anywhere. And that's why I'm surprised by the actions of the Arandjelovac thieves, I'm surprised by such a lack of information," says Mr. Kusovac. Paintings are stolen in the world, but due to blackmail, damaged museums and individuals are ready to pay the required amount for the work that was stolen from them, but it is still a much richer world than our owners. Two stolen works were lent by the National Museum to complement the exhibition in Arandjelovac: act Muni is part of Paja Jovanović's legacy in the Museum of the City of Belgrade, and the study Wounded Montenegrin is a social property, the property of an institution. The other 13 works are the property of the National Museum. They are: two sketches in oil for painting Fencing, sketches Arnautine sa with a stick i Duel, sketch for Stefan Dečanski, House iz Karsa, Portrait Baron Sali Service, A woman u national costumes, Mala Beads study heads, Diana, Women sa with flowers and a sketch for the painting Rade Neymar sales Model Manasseh.

Nikola Kusovac says that this theft did not scare him too much: "The works were not cut out of the frames, so the only damage can be scratches, but that is a small thing for our conservators." The works are of small format, they could not carry large ones, they are either on cardboard or laminated, which additionally protects them from damage. We always provide valuable material for exhibitions. But none of the stolen items are cultural assets of exceptional importance. These are all important paintings for the study of Paja Jovanović, luckily he is a prolific painter. Theft is not irreparable damage, it does not leave an excessively large scar on the opus. In order to cash in on that material, the thieves have to either show the catalog, and then they're done because the name of the owner is written there, or get a confirmation from an expert that it really is Paja Jovanović. Only two or three have been signed and can be cashed in without presenting the catalog."

The Arandjelovac museum, claims Nikola Kusovac, has nothing to complain about. "They did the job properly, and this time, as it is, unfortunately, most often with us, it is not negligence. They did everything right, but you can't do anything against an armed robbery, played out like in a movie." The investigation will determine whether the open bathroom window through which the thieves entered was a matter of negligence. "The museum certainly shouldn't be blamed, they organized the exhibition very well and did their best," continues Mr. Kusovac. "If anyone is responsible, then it is the Arandjelovac municipality and the police."

The day after the theft, on Saturday, the Arandjelovac museum returned the remainder of the exhibition to the public. The exhibition was supposed to be in Prijepolje and Vršac, but "after this experience, our eternal question is again relevant - whether to cooperate with other museums or not," says Mr. Kusovac.