LEGACY IN THE SERBIAN MUSEUMS PRACTICE

Text topic: Legacy Institute and Cultural Policy of Serbia

Text author: Ангелина Банковић

This paper deals with the status of bequest in the Serbian museums practice. The first part covers understanding of the concept of be quest by several authors, as well as legal interpretation and valid legislation related to bequests. Special attention is drawn to the lack of a definitive legal procedure which would regulate what museums should do with such bequests. The second part of the paper covers the treatment and position of bequests at the Belgrade City Museum – a museum institution which manages twenty-eight bequests. All the be quests currently managed by the Museum are listed and detailed analyses of several bequests are given as examples of good and poor practice.In the end, an interpretation of different treatments of such museum collections after WW2 are reviewed from the angle of historic legal regulations and practical approaches.