Skopje, 10 December 2024 (MIA) — The National Gallery of Macedonia has launched an art education project aimed at bringing contemporary Macedonian arts closer to high school students nationwide.

The art education project is titled "The Museum at School, School at the Museum," the National Gallery said in a press release.

In cooperation with local high school art teachers, a series of lectures on contemporary Macedonian artists will be held in several cities across the country.

The featured artists, whose works are part of the National Gallery's permanent collection, are Lazar Lichenoski, Vangel Kodzhoman, Tome Adzhievski, Nikola Martinoski, Omer Kaleshi, Boro Mitrikjeski, Dimo ​​Todorovski, Katja Eftimova, Ljubomir Belogaski, Toma Vladimirski, Borko Lazeski, Vasko Tashkovski, Dimitar Pandilov, Tanas Lulovski and Dimitar Papradishki.

The first lecture was held at Kole Nedelkovski High School in Veles.

It focused on Papradishki and marked the 70th death anniversary of the Macedonian artist who was one of the last Macedonian zographs – icon painters – and who heralded a new chapter in Macedonian art, "a kind of a rennaisance that brought about the first works of Macedonian secular art," the release said.

"To present with dignity the authors who have participated in the creation of our national cultural heritage over the centuries and decades is one of the National Gallery's primary objectives and commitments as an institution whose duty it is to take care of, protect, cherish, preserve and present our cultural legacy, for our own sake and for the sake of our future generations," said National Gallery director Maja Nedelkoska Brzanova at the Papradishki exhibition that the National Gallery opened at the Veles museum. 

"These events," she added, "keep their memories alive, bridging the space and time between their real physical existence and the continued spiritual existence in the collective memory of our people."

Dimitar Andonov Papradishki (1859-1954) was the first Macedonian secular painter. He painted portraits and landscapes incorporating folklore and historical motifs. His style is considered the beginning of Macedonian academic realism or photographic realism, according to the National Gallery. mr/