The crowded Svilara at the opening of the exhibition of the French artist Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec showed that Novi Sad bears the title of the European Capital of Culture rightfully, and that the preparations for 2021 are intensifying.

After the opening ceremony, the visitors had a chance to see more than 20 of Lautrec’s works, mostly covers and posters, as well as his famous work, the ‘Moulin Rouge’ poster.

Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec was among the first artists who made posters as a means of expression and one aspect of the promotion of cultural events, and he is also among the most important impressionists. Violeta Đerković, coordinator of Svilara, said that this exhibition and its accompanying programmes have brought Montmartre – the heart of artistic capital of the world, Paris, to Novi Sad. 
‘The huge interest at the opening of the exhibition has shown that our audience has cultural needs and hunger for this type of content. The mission of cultural stations itself is to provide quality content for this type of cultural needs and to enable all citizens to see and participate in cultural and artistic programmes. We are really looking forward to accompanying programmes and workshops in which our youngest fellow citizens will take part. They are given a chance to form their cultural needs from an early age based on the outstanding cultural content’, said Đerković.

The visitors will have a chance to listen about Lautrec every Saturday until the exhibition closing, i.e. on 6, 13 and 20 July from 20:21 (8:21 p.m.) within the professional exhibition guidance by the experts from the Gallery of Matica Srpska.

After Warhol and Yoko Ono, Lautrec is the third big name that marked the previous month in Novi Sad within the ‘Fortress of Peace’ programme platform launched by the ‘Novi Sad 2021– European Capital of Culture’ project.  
‘Lautrec is an extremely important avant-garde artist and he lives today thanks to his timeless works. Such events, such as the Lautrec’s exhibition, as well as the events that were organised during past days and months in Novi Sad, indicate that we already have quality programmes and that our fellow citizens can already see everything that makes up one European Capital of Culture’, said Dalibor Rožić, member of the City Council in charge for Culture.

In addition to the exhibition, the accompanying programme is being organised.

Tomorrow, on 5 July, Svilara will transform into Parisian café, and DJ VUKASHIN will play electro music, while the documentary about Lautrec’s life will be projected on 7 July at 8 p.m. in cooperation with the French Institute.

Numerous activities, such as concerts, lectures, workshops for children and French poetry evenings will be organised until 20 July.

You can find the full programme at the following link and social networks.