Stories from the Мuseum
Every object in the museum has its own story. We are here to tell it to you.
This page features short videos, through which we take you on a unique journey behind the display cases and depots. Discover the fascinating stories behind selected objects from our collections, take a peek into the process of archaeological excavations, conservation and restoration, and learn more about the significant events, people and traditions that have shaped the history of Užice and the surrounding area.
Watch, listen and discover the hidden details of our heritage. Welcome to “Museum Stories”!
An Odyssey in Stone: From Blade to Word
See how different stories about fusion and destruction, about life and oblivion, are created from the same material.
- Music: Daryl Groetsch – “Frozen Waste”, “In Blackness”, “Snow Covered Landscape”, “Stillness of Night”, “Earth Tone”, “Ancient Window”, “Centerless”, “Home Again”
- Consultants: Radmila Jović, Marina Kotarac, Goran Novaković, Nemanja Obradović
- Text: Ivana Todorović, Jelena Jevtić Jokić, Sreten Vuković
- Concept / narration / photogrammetric 3D modeling / animation / camera / editing / direction: Sreten Vuković
- Producer: Slavica Stefanović
- National Museum Užice 2025.
From clay to glass, from Rome to Užice. How water vessels tell the stories of entire civilizations.
It began with the first clumsy clay vessels. Centuries later, the life of the entire town revolved around public fountains – hayrats and endowments. Each water vessel is also a mirror of its time. The National Museum Užice collects traces of the centuries-old need to capture and preserve water – from the oldest earthen vessels to the glassware of our days. This is a story that reminds us that access to drinking water, which we take for granted today, was not always and still is not everyone’s reality.
- Music:
Michael Hoppé – “Quiet Storms”, “Children’s Waltz”
Synaulia – “Lyra and Cithara”, “Ludus”
Maureen McCarthy Draper – “In Paradisum” from the Requiem Opus 48
Kornelije Stanković – “Serbian Folk Quadrille” - Consultants: Radmila Jović, Marina Kotarac, Nevena Pantić, Goran Novaković, Ivana Todorović and Jelena Jevtić Jokić
- Text: Ivana Todorović, Jelena Jevtić Jokić and Sreten Vuković
- Concept / narration / animation / camera / editing / direction: Sreten Vuković
- Producer: Slavica Stefanović
- National Museum Užice 2025.
From a living symbol of the revolution to an exhibit: A journey through the history of the flag of the Užice Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia from 1920.
This flag of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia was created in 1920 in Užice. It survived turbulent times, was hidden and then displayed again. It was restored and today is in the “Užice Republic” exhibition in the National Museum of Užice, as a symbol of a historical period.
The flag was conserved and restored by Mira Ćuković, senior conservator-restorer at the National Museum Užice.
- Music: JNA Orchestra and Choir “Thus the Known Songs Resound”, Representative Orchestra of the Guard “On the Paths of Revolution”, Bolshoi Theater Orchestra “The International”, Representative Orchestra of the JNA Guard “March of the Yugoslav Proletarians”, Orchestra and Choir of Alfi Kabilja “Red Poppies”
- Consultant: Mira Ćuković
- Contributors to the text: Goran Novaković and Jelena Jevtić Jokić
- Concept / narration / animation / special effects / camera / editing / direction: Sreten Vuković
- Producer: Slavica Stefanović
- National Museum Užice 2025.
Legend, truth and symbolism: the story of the Judas tree in front of the National Museum Užice
Do you know the story of the Judas tree? Legend links it to betrayal, but the truth is much more complex… Discover the story of the unique tree in the courtyard of the Užice Museum and learn how it reminds us that the truth often remains hidden and is always worth examining.
- Music: Zoe Keating: “Iceflow”, “Forest”, “Seven League Boots” and “Optimist”
- Consultant: Dragan Tomanović
- Text styling: Jelena Jevtić Jokić
- Concept / text / narration / camera / editing / direction: Sreten Vuković
- Producer: Slavica Stefanović
- National Museum Užice 2025.
From a forgotten gate to a museum treasure: the story of the gate from Žička Street in Užice
Imagine a door that tells the story of old Užice! This massive gate from Žička Street, now restored, takes us back to the early 20th century and will be part of the new permanent exhibition of the National Museum Užice.
The conservation and restoration of the door was done by Dragan Tomanović, a painter-restorer, senior conservator at the National Museum of Užice.
- Music: Andrej Jovanić: “Come in, come in”, “This morning my rose bloomed” and “Arise Serbia” – arrangements for theorbo and performance
- Consultant: Dragan Tomanović
- Text: Ivana Todorović and Jelena Jevtić Jokić
- Concept / narration / animation / camera / editing / direction: Sreten Vuković
- Producer: Slavica Stefanović
- National Museum Užice 2025.
We've been preserving old and rare books for decades. See how we've protected them!
Our collection of old and rare books is now safe thanks to a conservation project and a new, fireproof safe that can withstand temperatures of 1000° Celsius. With these crucial steps, the invaluable written heritage of our region has been preserved from decay and is ready for future digitization.
- Music: Qntal: “Ozymandias I”, “Sleeping”, “Levis”, “Name Der Rose”
- Text: Jelena Jevtić Jokić
- Camera / editing / narration: Sreten Vuković
- Concept / direction: Jelena Jevtić Jokić and Sreten Vuković
- Producer: Slavica Stefanović
- National Museum Užice 2025.
A completely different time travel is in the works
A new permanent exhibition at the National Museum Užice – from prehistory to the stories that shaped our region.
- Music: Freiburger Spielleyt – CSM 384 – “A que por muygran fremosura”
- Concept / text / narration / photogrammetric 3D modeling / animation / camera / editing / direction: Sreten Vuković
- Producer: Slavica Stefanović
- National Museum Užice 2025.
Take a peek inside the new depot of the National Museum Užice
The reconstruction of the basement premises of the National Museum Užice has resulted in a modern depot equipped to the highest standards. The works are nearing completion, and this space will soon become a treasury of valuable museum objects.
- Music: Simon Brewer, Freeplay Music “Astonished Youth”
- Concept / text / narration / camera / editing / direction: Sreten Vuković
- Producer: Slavica Stefanović
- National Museum Užice 2025.
A story about some of the finds from archaeological excavations in Senište,
the "Crkvine" site - October 2024.
The excavations at this site lasted from 7 to 26 October 2024. The goal of this year’s excavations was to find the remains of a 14th-century church (according to locals). After opening the control trenches, archaeologists came to the conclusion that the area planned to be explored was not a church, but a prehistoric mound with the remains of a stone mantle from the Bronze Age. The further course of the excavation was directed at the southwestern segment of mound 1 and its research. All the objects found confirmed the assumptions, namely: fragments of prehistoric pottery, burnt bones, an ocher-colored stone amulet and bronze objects – a fragmented bracelet, buttons, spectacle pendants, a salteleon, a pair of objects of unknown purpose (for now), and all of them are covered with a noble green patina. The continuation of the research is planned for next year, when mound 1 will be investigated in its entirety, and 2 more mounds have been identified that will be investigated in the future.
Archaeological team: Radmila Jović, archaeologist (NMU), Marina Kotarac, archaeologist (NMU), Mirko Vranić, researcher, associate, doctoral student at the Faculty of Philosophy in Belgrade, and Miloš Janković, archaeologist from Užice.
The project is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Serbia, and the project leader is the National Museum Užice.
- Music: Synaulia: “Etruria”, “Venus”, “Isis”, “Oraculum”, “Neniae”, “Salii”
- Text: Radmila Jović
- Concept / narration / camera / editing / direction: Sreten Vuković
- Producer: Slavica Stefanović
- National Museum Užice 2024.
