Opening of SUMMER IN THE MUSEUM 2026

The Museum of Yugoslavia invites you to join us for the opening of the ninth edition of SUMMER IN THE MUSEUM on 25 May 2026, with an exciting programme beginning at 5.00 p.m. by the Fountain on the museum plateau. Admission is free!

This year, we are marking Youth Day in collaboration with the Milan Mladenović Foundation through concerts and a discussion on the contemporary regional music scene. On 25 May, visitors will also be able to visit the Museum’s current exhibitions free of charge, while the exhibition spaces will be open from 10.00 a.m. to 6.00 p.m.

The Milan Mladenović Foundation was established with the aim of preserving the artistic, authorial and personal legacy of Milan Mladenović, former frontman of the iconic Belgrade-based band Ekatarina Velika (EKV). With the intention of supporting and promoting contemporary musical production, the Foundation annually presents an eponymous regional award for the best new song from the countries of former Yugoslavia. It is precisely the regional character of this award that shaped this year’s concert programme at the Museum, where we will have the opportunity to hear some of the previous laureates perform live!

The programme at the Fountain begins at 5.00 p.m. with a discussion featuring Nebojša Krivokuća (Milan Mladenović Foundation), Emilija Đorđević (KOIKOI), and Ivan Fece Firči (EKV, Luna, Firchie Drums). The discussion will be moderated by Jovana Coka Stanković.

From 6.00 p.m. onwards, we will enjoy live performances by Ljubičice (Pančevo), Dina Jashari (Skopje), and Nemeček (Zagreb)!

Programme Schedule:

5.00 p.m. – Discussion on the regional music scene

6.00 p.m. – Ljubičice

7.00 p.m. – Dina Jashari

8.00 p.m. – Nemeček

Join us as we mark another Youth Day at the Museum of Yugoslavia together, with great music!

See you there!

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Who’s performing?

After a long break from live performances, the Pančevo-based band Ljubičice returns to the stage at this year’s opening of SUMMER IN THE MUSEUM! Following more than a decade of developing their distinctive sound, built around Ableton Live sets and electronic music, the band will now appear before audiences for the first time with a completely different approach – an organic sound free from electronics. The audience will have the chance to hear songs from the album Dok čekamo pad, whose title track received the Milan Mladenović Award. They will also get a glimpse of the new material the band is currently working on. This sneak peak offers the first preview of the direction in which Ljubičice are evolving, while retaining their recognisable artistic identity in a refreshed, more immediate sound.

Dina Jashari is a singer-songwriter and producer from Skopje whose distinctive and intimate style emerges at the crossroads of pop and neo-soul. Transforming lived experiences into song lyrics, her authentic sound grows out of both playfulness and introspection, drawing on her background in jazz studies. She has performed at festivals across the region and Europe, including MENT, EXIT, LAstovo Music Island, Wianki, MIL, and Palác Akropolis. She has published an EP titled Doma, the album Rastenija bez koren, and several singles. In 2022, she was awarded the Milan Mladenović Award.

Nemeček is a Zagreb-based rock power trio made up of Vedran Živković, Leo Beslać and Borna Maksan. Their distinctive sound blends raw energy, Slavic symbolism, krautrock and the mystique of the Slavonian tamburica into a unique musical expression on the regional scene. With the album Prokletije II, Nemeček creates a dense, dystopian wall of sound where cosmic psychedelia meets Balkan mythology. In recent years, the band has been highly active on stage, performing extensively across Croatia, the region and Europe, including tours in Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Germany, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. They are currently working on their third album, which will complete and round off the Prokletije trilogy.

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For the past nine years, the team behind the Museum of Yugoslavia’s programme SUMMER IN THE MUSEUM – Dušan Jevtić and Sara Sopić – have successfully developed the initiative to affirm the Museum as a place for gathering and entertainment, through a wide range of cultural events. In this sense, the programme allowed for exploring new ways of interpreting Yugoslav heritage in collaboration with relevant artists from across the region. Since the launch of the programme, dozens of concerts and performances have been held, featuring artists who significantly shaped the Yugoslav cultural scene, alongside younger bands that are now leaving their own mark. This kind of support is an important aspect of Yugoslav youth culture, which the Museum seeks to preserve and carry forward.

Design: Srđa Dragović