Bečej City Museum

The Bečej City Museum was founded in the autumn of 1953 by the decision of the National Anti-Fascist Council of Bečej. Since then, a special type of cultural activity has begun to develop in Bečej, primarily focusing on collecting and preserving the heritage of both Bečej and the Southern Banat region.

In 1960, the institution changed its name to the Museum and Picture Gallery. From the modest house at the beginning, which resembled more of a gallery than a museum, over time it transformed into a proper local museum of a complex type, covering all areas of human activity. In the early years of the museum’s existence, there was no permanent staff or experts, and the work was primarily based on an amateur level with a single part-time employee. During this period, the museum only maintained the art colony, founded in 1954, and organized individual exhibitions, but it did not lead to the collection and documentation of museum materials. All of this changed when Ljiljana Kraljević-Bukinać, an art historian, joined the museum in 1962 as the first permanent staff member. When she started, the museum had 148 items, all from the Art Colony. By the time she finished her career, the collections numbered about 6,000 items. Today, the museum holds approximately 16,500 items.