TAPESTRY EXHIBITION
Dušanka Botunjac, academic painter and applied artist
Dušanka Botunjac’s decades-long work has left a significant mark on the development of Serbian tapestry. As a prominent artist in the field of tapestry, she also has a special status in the monograph Tapestries in Serbia 1950-2000, authored by Mirjana Teofanović D.A. In her tapestries, we recognize compositions dominated by stylized figures, most often placed in the foreground, in front of a decoratively designed background with which they establish a harmonious and inseparable whole. One of the constants in her work is the encounter of different civilizational and spiritual layers. Ancient heritage, Christianity and the achievements of modern civilization do not appear as opposing systems, but as parts of a single cultural space.
On the international stage, Dušanka Botunjac represented Serbia and the former Yugoslavia at significant exhibitions in Munich (1988), Lodz (1995), the United States, Japan and other countries. She had solo exhibitions in Arandjelovac as part of the Marble and Sounds event (1990), the Museum of Applied Arts in Belgrade (1991), the National Museum in Zaječar (1992), the Gallery of Contemporary Fine Arts in Niš (2007), Atelier 61, the Boško Petrović Gallery in Novi Sad (2011) and the Ethnographic Museum in Belgrade (2013). She has received numerous awards for her artistic work, including the Redemption Award of the Ministry of Culture at the October Salon (1978), and the Annual Award of ULUPUDS (1984).
In recent decades, Dušanka Botunjac has been dedicated to researching and preserving the cultural heritage of the Negotinska Krajina. One of her most significant projects is the protection of the old traditional embroidery of Eastern Serbia, Štampujit, and its inscription on the list of intangible cultural heritage of the Republic of Serbia. For her contribution to the preservation of tradition and the empowerment of women through the preservation and development of traditional crafts, in 2018 she received the Guardian of Tradition award, awarded by the Coordination Body for Gender Equality of the Government of the Republic of Serbia in cooperation with NALED and the Ethno Network.
Dušanka Botunjac (Dupljane near Negotin), graduated from the Faculty of Applied Arts in Belgrade in 1977. She has been a member of ULUPUDS since 1978, the Association of Fine Artists of Negotin and the Creative Association Nego from Negotin. She lives and works in Negotin.