Una Popović on curating at MoCAB's Salon and Serbia's evolving art scene

Una Popović, curator of the Salon of the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCAB) in Belgrade, discusses her career and the Serbian art scene. She began in the early 2000s at the Center for Contemporary Art (CSU), a dynamic platform that fostered debates on art, politics, and society, and hosted the School of History and Theory of Image during a period of economic and cultural isolation. As curator at MoCAB, she tracks global artistic phenomena and emphasizes historicization, prioritizing avant-garde practices. The Serbian art scene shifted from the 1990s focus on war and isolation to contemporary interests in new economic models, ecology, and aesthetics, though aesthetics cannot be divorced from ethics. MoCAB was closed for renovation from 2007 to 2017, during which political and economic changes influenced museology, pushing museums toward entertainment and populist exhibitions. Popović advocates for maintaining high content quality while engaging the public. The Salon, located in central Belgrade, functions as a project space presenting the latest visual art trends through solo shows, debates, and thematic exhibitions, maintaining an osmotic relationship with MoCAB's permanent collection and historical shows. She predicts the Serbian art scene will become more international, though its development depends on various factors.