DEJAN VUKELIĆ
Mathematical Institute of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Belgrade, Serbia
deovuk@gmail.com
IZGUBLJENI MODNI ARTEFAKTI KRALJICE DRAGE OBRENOVIĆ: između aukcijske prodaje i kasnijih scensko-televizijskih evokacija
LOST FASHION ARTEFACTS OF QUEEN DRAGA OBRENOVIĆ: Between the Auction Sale and Later Stage and TV Evocations
Journal 16/2020 (Museum of Applied Art), pages 28-37
Article category: original scientific paper
UDC:
792.024:687.16(497.11)˝19˝
792.024:687.16(100)˝19˝
646.4:687.15(497.11)˝18/19˝
321.61:929 Обреновић Д.
Abstract (original language):
Tragičan kraj kraljice Drage Obrenović reflektovao se na dalji status i recepciju zaostavštine pomoću koje je demonstriran njen vladarski legitimitet i promovisan imidž prve kraljice Srpkinje na prestolu posle kneginje Milice. Aukcijski transfer najvrednijeg dela njenog pokretnog imetka, sačinjenog od luksuznih odevnih predmeta, komada nakita i damskih odlikovanja, bio je u tom smislu jedan od posve neiznenađujućih, ako ne i predvidivih, epiloga Majskog prevrata. Fizičko odsustvo pomenutih dragocenosti, odnosno činjenica da su se, nakon licitacija u londonskom „Kristiju”, 8. decembra 1904, našli u privatnim zbirkama novih vlasnika, uslovili su njihovo zaboravljanje, ali ne i nemogućnost sagledavanja umetničkih, zanatskih i kulturno-istorijskih svojstava bitnih za sredinu iz koje su izmešteni. Po(r)uke o njima, a time i o prvobitnoj vlasnici, ostale su čitljive zahvaljujući verbalnovizuelnim podsetnicima, ali i estetskom doživljaju, koji su (ne uvek) uverljivim scenografsko-kostimografskim rešenjima posredovali pozorišni komadi i televizijske ekranizacije. Dotične stvaralačke intervencije se u radu tretiraju kao alternativni prostor pamćenja u sklopu kojeg je za otuđeno nasleđe kraljice Drage nađena ona vrsta interesovanja koja je decenijama nedostajala na nivou zvaničnog, a time i selektivnog, pamćenja.
Key words: (original language)
zaostavština Drage Obrenović, kostimografija, kultura pamćenja, rekonstrukcija, TV / filmska ekranizacija
Summary:
The tragic end of Queen Draga Obrenović reflected badly on the status and reputation of her belongings through which she sought to demonstrate her ruling legitimacy and promote the image of the first queen of Serbian origin since medieval times. In this sense, the fact that the auction of the most valuable part of her movable property, consisting of luxurious clothing items, pieces of jewellery and women's decorations, was held abroad, came as no surprise. The physical absence of the said valuables, i.e. the fact that following the auction at Christie's of London on 8th December 1904, these items became integral parts of private foreign collections, has not hampered the possibility of identifying the items' artistic, cultural and historical properties relevant to the environment from which they were extracted. The messages that these items treasure about the deceased Queen have remained readable thanks to the surviving verbal and visual reminders, but also to the aesthetic experience conveyed on stage, as well as through TV and film adaptations.
The awareness of lost heritage can always be raised by means of a creative act which, unlike historiography, is not easily subjected to alteration and censorship 'from above'. This was exactly our starting point from which we have addressed the question of alienation of Queen Draga's fashion artefacts and their resurgence in social imagination – on stage and TV / film screen. The stagings (Miloš Crnjanski's play Konak) and adaptations (TV series The End of the Obrenović Dynasty), including a rather arbitrary and highly romanticised Hollywood portrayals of the ill-fated Serbian queen (e.g. Pola Negri in A Woman Commands, 1932), have been discussed in this paper as an alternative or parallel memory, capable of creating a long-lasting effect on viewers, thus provoking further heritage and memory processes.
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