In the PM Zdravko Krivokapić’s Christmas message, broadcast on January 6, one could spot a replica of Marko Brežanin’s sculpture ‘Montenegrin on Guard’ hewed at the beginning of the last century. It represents a registered cultural heritage of Montenegro, whereas the original is kept in the National Museum in Cetinje. It’s not allowed to design replicas of this sculpture without the approval of the Administration for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, the National Museum –being its owner/holder – and descendants of the artist, Pobjeda daily writes.
Both institutions informed Pobjeda that they didn’t give their consent for creation of the replica sculpture, and Mr Brežanin’s descendants stated the same.
On the other hand, Pobjeda has searched the Internet and discovered that the Podgorica-based souvenir shop ‘Petex’ has an identical Brežanin’s sculpture on sale, only with a white pedestal, unlike the sculpture pedestal in the prime minister’s video, which is dark brown.
As it’s about a cultural heritage and the fact that less than seventy years have passed since the death of the author Brežanin (1883-1956), the commercial use of the sculpture is regulated by the provisions of the Copyright Act, the Protection of Cultural Heritage Act and the Museum Activity Act.
Asked whether they knew that there was a replica of the afore-mentioned sculpture in the PM’s Christmas message, the National Museum of Montenegro told Pobjeda they “didn’t know about that detail”.
On the copyright, they noted that the sculpture belonged to the National Museum and was acquired by the purchase from the author.
The original sculpture is preserved in the Museum of King Nikola in the town of Cetinje.
PM got the replica sculpture as a gift
On 20 January, Pobjeda sent questions to PM urging him to explain about the replica, but received no official response to date.
However, in a phone call, advisor to PM, Mr Ananije Jovanović, explained that the PM got the replica as a gift and the replica has been in the possession of his family for a while.
