INITIATIVE FROM PARIS: THE 1 925 INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION AND SERBIAN APPLIED ART

Abstract

The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts was held in Paris from April to October 1925. The exhibition presented thirtyseven categories achievements in the field of architecture and urban space design, as well as furniture, clothing, theater and education. Along with France and its colonies, Japan and China, almost all the European countries had participated in this exhibition. Among them were also the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. The exhibition attracted significant attention of contemporaries as a manifestation of the creative spirit. After the disaster of the First World War, this spirit spawned a new living concept and artistic style, Art Deco. As the exhibition took place in the decade of the most intensive Serbian-French cultural contacts, it was a strong stimulus for Belgrade to accept ideas about the importance of applied art and design, as well as a new style.