The “Čedomir Krstić” Gallery was opened on September 7, 1981, in the building of the Cultural Center (Center for Culture). It operated as part of the Ponišavlje Museum in Pirot until May 26, 1993, when it became an independent cultural institution—initially as the Pirot Gallery, and since January 29, 1999, as the “Čedomir Krstić” Gallery.
The Gallery has two exhibition halls for art programs and space for legacies, storage, and offices. Around 20 exhibitions of Serbian and foreign artists are organized each year. In addition to occasional exhibitions, there are also thematic exhibitions as well as traditional Annual and May Exhibitions of Pirot artists. Notable exhibitions held in this space have included works by Marko Čelebonović, Leonid Šejka, Sava Šumanović, Nadežda Petrović, Milić of Mačva, Milan Konjović, Svetomir Arsić Basara, Kosta Bradić, Ljubodrag Janković Jale, Čedomir Krstić, Ivanka Živković, Biljana Rakić, Milena Pavlović Barilli... as well as thematic exhibitions such as: Portraits of Prominent Figures in Serbian Painting of the 20th Century, Impressionism in Serbia, Painting in Serbia of the 8th and 9th decades of the 20th Century, The Blue Line of Duration, The October Salon…
The exhibitions are accompanied by professional publications in the form of catalogs, as well as other activities: media presentations, lectures, and professional documentation—press archive, photo archive, video archive, audio archive, and documentation of past exhibitions with supplementary materials.
The collection of the “Čedomir Krstić” Gallery contains nine legacies of works by academic painters born in Pirot: Čedomir Krstić (after whom the institution is named), Radomir Antić, Milena Mijalković Nikolić, Miroslav Antić, Slobodan Sotirov, Petar Đorđević, Nikola Nikolić, Biljana Vuković, and Aleksandar Cenić. The art collection consists of paintings, graphics, sculptures, unique ceramics, photographs, posters, and objects of applied art, created in various techniques and media. It includes works of artists who had solo exhibitions in the Gallery, as well as donated works and those acquired through purchase.
The main directions of the Gallery’s activities are emphasizing thematic and study exhibitions that communicate the essence of its collection, highlighting scientific activity and the transfer of knowledge through didactic exhibitions, expanding exhibitions related to current trends in contemporary art, and researching new working methods in the field of visual culture, art history and theory, and museological practice.
In addition to exhibitions, the “Čedomir Krstić” Gallery also has an educational role. Ongoing education of children and cooperation with all primary and secondary schools and preschool institutions in the city is an inseparable part of its mission. Throughout the year, numerous art workshops are organized in the Gallery for older elementary and high school students, as well as art classes, presentations, and other interactive workshops. The goal of all these activities is the education of young people, discovering young talents, working with exceptionally gifted children, and developing awareness of the importance of visual art and visual culture.
Through its program activities, the “Čedomir Krstić” Gallery has laid solid foundations for the establishment of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Pirot by expanding the Gallery and integrating exhibition space for current exhibitions, space for a permanent Homeland Collection, space for legacies, storage, a documentation department, a professional library, and offices for curators and administration. By taking over the “Prvi Maj” Art Collection and enlarging its legacies, the Gallery’s collection has gained greater museological value and broader significance.


Gallery Flor Plan