The Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade proudly announces its first institutional collaboration with the Museum of Contemporary Art Lyon, resulting in a joint exhibition entitled “Personal Stories / Political Realities”, aimed at fostering dialogue between the two museum collections and the artworks they comprise.
Art often offers valuable testimony to the social, cultural, and political circumstances of a given era. These very issues are addressed by the exhibition “Personal Stories / Political Realities”, which will be presented first at the Museum of Contemporary Art Lyon (macLYON) from September 19th 2025 to January 4th 2026, and subsequently at the Museum of Contemporary Art Belgrade (MoCAB) in the spring of 2026.
The exhibition is curated by a joint curatorial team consisting of Isabelle Bertolotti, Director of macLYON; Marijana Kolarić, Director of MoCAB; Miroslav Karić, Curator at MoCAB; and Matthieu Lelièvre, Head of Collections at macLYON.
The close collaboration between the MoCAB and macLYON teams enabled direct engagement with both museum collections and encouraged the establishment of a dialogue between artistic approaches and the different cultural contexts from which the represented artists emerge. The exhibition highlights the rich and diverse practices of contemporary artists from Serbia and the former Yugoslavia, whose works remain underrepresented in French public collections. At the same time, it provides insight into international contemporary artistic tendencies that form a significant segment of the macLYON collection.
About the exhibition
The specificity of “Personal Stories / Political Realities” lies in the dialogue established between artworks from the collections of both museums, through which the historical and social dynamics embedded within them are brought to light. Presented in two phases—first in Lyon and subsequently in Belgrade—the exhibition explores the relationship between art and society. Personal stories point to the engagement of all participants and their impact on the community, encompassing both the artists themselves, through their careers and convictions, and the institutional actors who shape museum collections. Political realities, on the other hand, illuminate the role and responsibility of institutions, mechanisms of public funding, and the influence of private and corporate donors on the articulation of social issues reflected through exhibitions, acquisitions, commissions, and modes of presentation.
The exhibition offers a multilayered analysis: it begins with the artist’s personal experience as an individual, then focuses on the relationships the artist develops and questions, and continues by examining various forms of artistic action—such as documentation, subversion, protest, or appropriation. Through approximately one hundred works—including paintings, sculptures, video installations, and other media—the exhibition provides an overview of six decades of artistic production and demonstrates how contemporary art has challenged society and followed—or even anticipated—its transformations.
“Personal Stories / Political Realities” becomes a bridge between two cities and two museums, reminding us that art transcends borders and draws attention to the universal questions of contemporary society.
About the Museum of Contemporary Art Lyon
macLYON (Museum of Contemporary Art Lyon) was founded in 1984 and soon became one of the first museums fully dedicated to contemporary art, with a collection focused on the most recent developments in artistic practice. Following numerous exhibitions devoted to international art scenes—including those of the United States, Brazil, Asia, and India—macLYON has in recent years actively developed collaborations with European partners, particularly with countries that were members of the former Non-Aligned Movement.
Audiences in Lyon will have the opportunity to see works by artists from the MSUB collection: Marina Abramović, Milan Aleksić, Association Apsolutno, Mrdjan Bajić, Jasmina Cibic, Phil Collins, Vlasta Delimar, Biljana Đurđević, Erró, Igor Grubić, Siniša Ilić, Sanja Iveković, Ivana Ivković, Žolt Kovač, Sanja Latinović, Goranka Matić, Saša Marković Mikrob, Vladimir Miladinović, Slobodan Era Milivojević, Mladen Miljanović, Mihael Milunović, Nedeljko Neša Paripović, Vesna Pavlović, Dan Perjovschi, Tomislav Peternek, Dragan Petrović, Ivan Petrović, Aleksandar Rafajlović, Milica Ružičić, Saša Tkačenko, Zoran Todorović, Dragoljub Raša Todosijević, Milica Tomić, Anica Vučetić, and Katarina Zdjelar.
Works from the macLYON collection are represented by the following artists: Marina Abramović & Ulay, Maxwell Alexandre, Terry Allen, Raphael Boccanfuso, Sophie Calle, Edi Dubien, Louis Jammes, JAZ, Randolpho Lamonier, Éric Manigaud, Tuomo Manninen, Marina Marković, Rodrigo Matheus, Gordon Matta-Clark, Thameur Mejri, Aernout Mik, Bruce Nauman, Simphiwe Ndzube, Marilou Poncin, Nazanin Pouyandeh, Damir Radović, Ed Ruscha, Kiran Subbaiah, Chiffon Thomas, Danielle Vallet Kleiner, and Pu Yingwei.
