Professor Balthazar Has Come Home

CULTURE - EXHIBITION KULTURA - IZLOŽBA Professor Balthazar Has Come Home

Profesor Baltazar se vratio kući

To the delight of children, but also adult promoters of joy, knowledge and positive vibes, an exhibition titled 51000 Balthazar Town opened at Rijeka’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art within the project Rijeka – European Capital of Culture 2020.

Na oduševljenje djece, ali i odraslih zagovornika veselja, znanja i pozitivnih vibracija, u Muzeju moderne i suvremene umjetnosti u Rijeci otvorena je izložba 51000 Balthazargrad, u sklopu projekta Rijeka – prijestolnica kulture 2020. godine

Photographs: HRVOJE FRANJIĆ

The long-awaited exhibition had been cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic, but it eventually opened on 23 October 2020, with all epidemiological measures in place. Due to great public interest, the opening lasted three days.

The 51000 Balthazar Town has been organized as part of the Children’s House of the European Capital of Culture project, produced by RIJEKA 2020 and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. It brings joy, a lot of positive energy and bright colours. It is the largest exhibition to date dedicated to Professor Balthazar, whose inventions many generations grew up with.

The exhibition relates to the animated series about Professor Balthazar, which consisted of 59 episodes and was produced from 1967 to 1978. During the five to ten minute-long episodes, the peculiar Professor Balthazar tries to solve his fellow citizens’ problems using his imagination. Dugo iščekivana izložba zbog pandemije koronavirusne bolesti bila je otkazana, a 23. listopada 2020. konačno je otvorena, uza sve propisane epidemiološke mjere. Zbog velikog zanimanja građana otvorenje je trajalo čak tri dana.

Izložba 51000 Balthazargrad postavljena je u sklopu programa „Dječja kuća Europske prijestolnice kulture“, u produkciji RIJEKE 2020 i MMSU-a (Muzeja moderne i suvremene umjetnosti). Donosi veselje, puno pozitivne energije i šarenila. Riječ je o dosad najvećoj izložbi posvećenoj profesoru Baltazaru uz čije su izume odrastale brojne generacije.

Izložba je odgovor na animiranu seriju o profesoru Baltazaru, koja se sastoji od 59 epizoda, a snimljena je od 1967. do 1978. Tijekom pet do deset minuta, koliko traje svaka epizoda, luckasti profesor Baltazar uz pomoć mašte pokušava riješiti probleme građana svojega grada.

The 51000 Balthazar Town has been organized as part of the Children’s House of the European Capital of Culture project, produced by RIJEKA 2020 and the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art

Izložba 51000 Balthazargrad postavljena je u sklopu programa „Dječja kuća Europske prijestolnice kulture“, u produkciji RIJEKE 2020 i MMSU-a

Professor Balthazar’s messages are about the importance of tolerance, ecology, pacifism, science and joint problem solving, so that they relate to both children and adults. The animated series about Professor Balthazar achieved a big success not only in Croatia, but throughout the world, from the Scandinavian countries, Germany, Iran to the USA. The plot of the series takes place in an imaginary town inspired by Rijeka. When creating Balthazar Town, scenographer Zlatko Bourek envisioned a town resembling Rijeka. This is why many people say that Professor Balthazar has come home now. This exhibition seeks to present a successful Croatian film export product as well and authentically as possible. Everything is at a high level, which is demonstrated by the fact that the exhibits were collected for as long as two years. This will let visitors immerse themselves in Professor Balthazar’s life and work, known by children today, as well. Poruke profesora Baltazara govore o važnosti tolerancije, ekologije, pacifizma, znanosti i zajedničkog rješavanja problema, pa su primjerene i djeci i odraslima. Serijal crtanih filmova o profesoru Baltazaru postigao je velik uspjeh ne samo na prostoru naše zemlje, već diljem svijeta od skandinavskih zemalja, Njemačke, Irana do SAD-a. Radnja je smještena u grad kojem je upravo Rijeka poslužila kao inspiracija. Naime, scenograf Zlatko Bourek pri kreiranju Baltazargrada zamislio je grad koji izgledom i dobrim vibracijama podsjeća na Rijeku. Zato mnogi govore kako se sada profesor Baltazar vratio kući. Izložbom se pokušao što bolje i autentičnije predstaviti uspješan hrvatski izvozni filmski proizvod, a da je sve na visokoj razini, govori podatak da je prikupljanje materijala trajalo čak dvije godine. Stoga će se posjetitelji moći uživjeti u život i djelo profesora Baltazara, čiji lik djeca poznaju i danas. The unique professor’s life is told with a lot of fun, attractive installations and interactive contents and visitors discover his new adventures with each step

Uz mnoštvo zabave, atraktivnih instalacija i interaktivnog sadržaja ispričan je život jedinstvenog profesora, a svakim korakom otkrivaju se njegove nove

dogodovštine

Universe, the Sea, the River and the Town. These units emphasize the resemblance of Rijeka (Rijeka is Croatian for river) and Balthazar Town, that is, coming to town from the sea across the river. The topic of the exhibition is also an invitation to visitors to forget about the reality for a while and go back to the time when Professor Balthazar could solve all problems.

The unique professor’s life is told with a lot of fun, attractive installations and interactive contents and visitors discover his new adventures with each step. The exhibition also shows how much success this animated series has achieved from its beginning to date. Its plot also sought to contextualize the time we are living in.

The exhibition is accompanied by numerous creative and exploratory workshops for all ages and by different games. There is also a large interactive installation and visitors can participate in the creation of small editions of DYI publications.

Željko Luketić is the curator of the exhibition. Most visitors’ attention is drawn to Balthazar›s invention machine made by multimedia artist Lina Kovačević.

The animated film’s motifs were also used to adorn the Grčevo Beach at Pećine and equip a children’s playground at the Molo Longo breakwater promenade as part of the European Capital of Culture project.

With this exhibition, Rijeka pays tribute to the greyhaired professor with glasses, who enjoys solving other people’s problems. But it also pays tribute to numerous women who participated in creating the Professor Balthazar character as colourists, copyists and editors, many of whom did their work anonymously.

With its attractive appearance, colours and interactive units, the exhibition will delight the youngest visitors, but also older ones – because all parents and grandparents know Professor Balthazar. His positive energy has flooded the city of Rijeka and taken many people back to a more carefree and joyful time. More, Rijeka i Grad. Upravo te cjeline naglašavaju sličnost Rijeke i Baltazargrada, odnosno dolazak s mora preko rijeke u grad. Tema izložbe ujedno je i poziv posjetiteljima da nakratko zaborave na stvarnost i vrate se u prošlost, u vrijeme kad je profesor Baltazar mogao riješiti sve probleme.

Uz mnoštvo zabave, atraktivnih instalacija i interaktivnog sadržaja ispričan je život jedinstvenog profesora, a svakim korakom otkrivaju se njegove nove dogodovštine. Izložba govori i o tome koliki je uspjeh postigao ovaj animirani serijal od začetaka do danas, a njegova radnja pokušala je staviti u kontekst i vrijeme u kojem se nalazimo.

Izložbu prate brojne kreativne i istraživačke radionice, edukativne aktivnosti za sve uzraste i razne vrste igara. Postavljena je velika interaktivna instalacija, a posjetitelji mogu sudjelovati u izradi malih naklada DYI publikacija.

Kustos izložbe je Željko Luketić, a najviše pažnje posjetitelja privlači Baltazarov izumiteljski stroj koji je izradila multimedijalna umjetnica Lina Kovačević.

Motivi iz animiranog filma korišteni su i prilikom uređenja plaže Grčevo na Pećinama te uređenja dječjeg igrališta na Molo longu, u sklopu projekta Europske prijestolnice kulture.

Rijeka ovom izložbom odaje priznanje sijedom profesoru s naočalama, koji uživa u rješavanju tuđih problema. No, odaje priznanje i brojnim ženama koje su sudjelovale u stvaranju lika profesora Baltazara kao koloristice, kopistice i montažerke, a mnogo ih je svoj posao odradilo anonimno.

Atraktivnim izgledom, bojama i interaktivnim cjelinama izložba će oduševiti najmlađe posjetitelje, ali i starije – jer od roditelja do baka i djedova, svi poznaju profesora Baltazara. Njegova pozitivna energija preplavila je grad Rijeku, a mnoge je ljude vratila u bezbrižnije i veselije vrijeme.