Galerija Sanjaj, Belgrade
20 May – 30 June 2026
For his first exhibition in Belgrade, Tarik Berber presented Slika, slikar, slikarstvo (Painting, Painter, Painting) at Galerija Sanjaj, from 20 May to 30 June 2026. The exhibition brought together a body of work shaped by the encounter between two cultural worlds that have remained central to his artistic practice: the visual heritage of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the classical tradition of Italian painting.
Berber’s approach to painting is closely connected to his academic training in Florence, where drawing and traditional painting techniques became an important foundation of his practice. At the same time, his work remains deeply linked to the cultural landscape of the Balkans and to his own artistic heritage. These influences do not appear as separate references, but merge into a personal visual language in which tradition is continuously reinterpreted through a contemporary perspective.
The works presented in Slika, slikar, slikarstvo (Painting, Painter, Painting) reveal references that extend from Renaissance and classical painting to the wall paintings of Pompeii and the expressive qualities associated with the Vienna Secession. Rather than belonging to a single historical language, Berber’s figures occupy an ambiguous space between past and present. Drawing remains fundamental: the strength of the line, the construction of the figure and the physical presence of the portrait give the works their particular intensity.
The exhibition also reflects Berber’s broader search for an individual creative identity, built through the combination of historical references, personal memory and contemporary experience. In this sense, Slika, slikar, slikarstvo (Painting, Painter, Painting) is not only an exhibition of paintings, but also a reflection on painting itself: its history, its discipline and its continuing capacity for transformation.
As Berber’s first presentation in Belgrade, the exhibition introduced his work to a new audience while highlighting the continuity between his cultural background, his academic formation and his contemporary practice.
