Croatia In Your Pocket - Dive in to Art & Culture

Cities

Experience

Inspire

Heritage

Visual Inspiration

Culture Tips

Croatia Winter/Spring 2022

Dive in to Art & Culture

Capital of Culture

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Contents

28

Also in this issue

Cities

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Take Selfies with some of the Coolest Murals

Experience Art

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Ten Amazing Museums

Inspire

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The Beauty of Movement: Jelena Janković

Heritage

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Winter festivities, Carnival of Croatia

Visual Inspiration

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The Art of the Meal

Editor‘s Choice

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Nataša Ninić - Every object has a story

Culture Tips Things to Do and Enjoy

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ON THE COVER Publisher Plava Ponistra d.o.o., Zagreb ISSN 1333-2732 Company Office & Accounts Croatia In Your Pocket, Paška 37 Zagreb, Croatia www.inyourpocket.com Accounting Management Mi-ni d.o.o.

Editorial Editor Višnja Arambašić Contributors Nataly Anderson-Marinović, Ivana Kovačić, Jonathan Bousfield, Lee Murphy Assistant Editor Kristina Štimac, Maja Vidović Sales Kristijan Vukičević, Kristina Štimac, Višnja Arambašić zagreb@inyourpocket.com Design Moontage, Ivana Mihoković Photography Zagreb In Your Pocket team unless otherwise stated Cover Jelena Janković If you have any comments or questions feel free to contact us: zagreb@inyourpocket.com

Discover intimacy, sensibility, emotion in the photography of Jelena Janković.

See The Beauty of Movement on page 28.

Photo: Jelena Janković

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Copyright notice Text, maps and photos copyright Plava ponistra d.o.o. Maps copyright cartographer. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, without written permission from the publisher and copyright owner. The brand name In Your Pocket is used under license from UAB In Your Pocket (Bernardinu 9-4, Vilnius, Lithuania tel. (+370-5) 212 29 76). Zagreb (Croatia) In Your Pocket is not responsible for any information which might change after publication.

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5 Must-Have Croatian Moments

Performance by Danijela Žeželj, Knap Archive

Life

Art, Space & Society

Travel guidebooks invariably devote the bulk of their cultural coverage to the big institutions – the national museums, the big art collections, the places where tourists go to see canonical artworks or famous canvases by the star painters. It goes without saying that a lot of enjoyment and inspiration will come this way, but you may not see any one else negotiating the creaking parquet of the exhibition halls except for other tourists. Proceeding to the gallery gift-shop and the gallery café are just further extensions of the tourist experience, and will not necessarily make you feel as if you are actually part of the destination you are visiting.

Travellers often miss the feeling that they are experiencing culture in the way that it is enjoyed by locals.

They often miss out the local galleries that cater to a particular community or a specific branch of culture, and don’t know where to go in order to enjoy a buzzing opening-night party. Croatia is full of regional arts centres, culturally-minded cafés and cult cinemas whose job it is to engage the local community – and if it is the local community that you want to meet, it is here that you will actually find them.

What follows is a list of cultural spaces that definitely do engage the local community and fulfill a social role, and which also manage to nurture a great deal of good art into the bargain.

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Life

Vedran Ružić: Forbidden melody, Knap Archive

Booksa Archive

Life

GALLERY SURFING

NEIGHBOURHOOD ARTS

Galerija Nova Sometimes you need to get away from the big institutional galleries to find out what’s really going on in the art world. Curated by the highly-praised international team WHW (“What, Why and For Whom”; the collective is also responsible for programming exhibitions at Vienna’s prestigious Kunsthalle), the deceptively small and unassuming Galerija Nova has carved out an enviable reputation for presenting contemporary art at its most cutting edge. WHW enjoy a towering reputation in the international arts scene and have access to a wide range of artists. They also have a distinctive approach to their exhibitions, presenting art that asks social and political questions as well as being challenging to eye and ear. www.facebook.com/galerijanova

KNAP Located in the Zagreb suburb of Peščenica, KNAP is every bit the local cultural centre, offering an art gallery with a regular programme of exhibitions, music, theatre, and a range of workshops involving the local community. www.knap.hr

Croatian Design Association One place that occupies a special place in the hearts of the Zagreb creative community is the gallery of the Croatian Design Association (Hrvatsko dizajnersko društvo), which offers a regular diet of exhibitions covering local designers both past and present. The gallery has relatively little space at its disposal and maybe it is for this reason that the exhibitions here are far more focused than those mounted by the big institutions, and can be easily digested in the space of one visit. And they are usually quite stunning to look at too – anyone in need of visual inspiration would be well advised to fit this one in to their schedule. http://dizajn.hr

Cekate / Trešnjevka Cultural Centre With its unique mixture of high-rise, low-rise, quirky shops and almost rural sidestreets, Trešnjevka has always been considered one of Zagreb’s most individualistic suburbs. Standing on the fringes of Trešnjevka’s grassy park, Cekate is one of the city’s most active neighbourhood arts centres, offering a packed programme of stage shows, concerts, gallery events, and plenty of activities for children. https://cekate.hr KUC Travno Situated in the Novi Zagreb district of Travno, this neighbourhood arts centre is a prime example of how culture was an integral part of socialist-era urban planning. In an area that’s noted for its brutalist building projects, the centre is situated round the back of the aptly-named Mamutica (“The She-Mammoth”), the huge residential block that houses an estimated 5,000 people. A wellequipped performance space hosts contemporary dance, theatre and music. https://kuctravno.hr

Galerija AŽ If you’re determined to become a real insider in the Zagreb art world then sooner or later you’ll need to beat a path to Galerija AŽ (short for Atelijeri Žitnjak, or “Žitnjak Studios”), a collection of artists’ studios in an old school in Žitnjak, a suburb on the southeastern periphery of town. As a gallery run for artists by artists it offers direct insights into what Zagreb’s creative crews are up to, and also exhibits the work of foreign artists brought here on the wings of international exchange. Involving a ride on tram #13 to the end of the line, a visit to the gallery will also provide you with an Odysseus-like perspective on Zagreb’s residential and industrial sprawl. www.facebook.com/atelijerizitnjak/

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Life

HANGING OUT Booksa A literary club that is also a café, Booksa has carved out a unique niche for itself in the last decade or so, serving both as organizer of bookish functions and as meeting point for the local cultural set. It has a regular schedule of talks, readings, literary festivals and book promotions (and in cases where there are guesting authors from outside Croatia, events are often in English). The daytime café is a popular haven for laptop-wielding freelancer types. https://booksa.hr KIC Known under the rather catchy acronym of KIC (pronounced “Kits”), Zagreb’s Cultural Information Centre or Kulturno Informativni Centar has a long history, having served as one of Zagreb’s cult gathering places ever since the 1960s. It’s basically a neighbourhood cultural centre that serves a rather specific neighbourhood – the urbane, stylish and occasionally rather pretentious place that is the city centre.

Organizing films, exhibitions and chin-stroking socio-cultural discussions, it’s the kind of place where every self-respecting asphalt intellectual will wind up sooner or later. It’s also one of the most popular cafes in the city, serving a laid back arty bohemian set in an interior that looks like a 1960s design magazine. It also has a pavement terrace on the ever-thronging pedestrian strip of Preradovićeva. www.kic.hr Urania A place where traditional culture and modern creative industries meet, Urania is a former cinema converted by architects 3LHD to serve as their own office and a space for contemporary dance, theatre, film and discussions. The Cogito coffee shop on the ground floor is where all these scenes come together to enjoy a quality brew. https://urania.hr Močvara Although predominantly known as an alternative music venue, grungey riverside club Močvara (”The Swamp”) always set out to be an independent cultural centre offering the kind of things you didn’t get elsewhere. Alongside gigs, the club’s monthly schedule includes literature evenings profiling young writers, film nights with accompanying chat from the directors, independent theatre, and contemporary art happenings. And all this comes accompanied by a fully-stocked bar. www.mochvara.hr 8

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Life

Photo by Nikola Radovani, Jelsa Art Biennial Archive

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AGER:Openfield Creative Lab, Jelsa Art Biennial Archive

Garaža Kamba, Jelsa Art Biennial Archive

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Life OUT OF THE CITY

ISLAND LIFE

Bunker Samobor Located in the leafy town of Samobor just northwest of Zagreb, Bunker is a youth cultural centre that plays a much bigger role in the life of the town than its official title might suggest. Hosting lectures, book promotions, theatre, exhibitions and concerts, it is also a place that brings the community together with workshops, craft courses and toy exchanges for kids. www.facebook.com/bunker.samobor/

Jelsa Art Biennale Croatia’s Adriatic islands have a tradition of boutique festivals that mix high-quality contemporary culture with a sense of local community. The combination of pandemic and economic uncertainties has interrupted the annual rhythm of many of these events, and we wait to see which ones will be re-commissioned in 2022. A significant addition to the scene in the summers of 2019 and 2021 was the Jelsa Art Biennale or JAB which involved site-specific art projects, happenings and film shows in and around the port of Jelsa. With it being a biennial event, however, the next one won’t be scheduled until 2023. www.lab852.com

Fotoklub Split Amateur photography clubs are widespread throughout Croatia, although it is the one in Split that has the distinction of being the oldest. Formed in 1911, it has been teaching, nurturing and exhibiting members for over a century. Something of an incubator of excellence, it is the place where many of Split’s leading professional photographers started out. Most importantly for the visitor, the club maintains a gallery right on the downtown shopping street of Marmontova hosting outstanding exhibitions of members’ work. www.facebook.com/FotoklubSplit/ Walkow, Vinkovci An established local café that decided to become its own micro cultural centre, Walkow demonstrates what can be done with a mixture of cultural ambition and local support.

Comprising café-bar, gallery space and a mini performance stage, Walkow organizes concerts, film projections, exhibitions, DJ parties, and events that bring people together to share crafts, creative ideas and artistic interests. Fund raising events for local causes is an important part of their work.

And in summer it has the coolest café-terrace in town. www.facebook.com/Walkow-Centar-kulture-621262378363674/ Urania: 3LHD, Photo by Jure Živković

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Silba Environment Art One of the most durable arts festivals in the Croatian Adriatic is Silba Environment Art, based on the idyllic island that lies on the sea routes between Zadar and Mali Lošinj.

The festival involves Croatian and international artists presenting works which reflect the stark untouched beauty of this uniquely unspoiled island, but which are also designed to attract the milling public that stroll around the Silba’s main village in the months of summer. Silba has a tradition of attracting artists-on-holiday who make a habit of coming here every year, and the festival is a way of binding this summer community together and nurturing the island’s status as an inspirational cultural hub. The fact that mass tourism is almost totally absent from the island only makes this atmosphere more special. www.silba-environment-art.hr Open-air cinemas Open-air cinemas were an important part of summertime social life in Croatia’s coastal regions, especially Dalmatia.

In recent years these traditions have been revived, with cinemas renovated and digitalized ready for a new generation of popcorn-munching cinephiles. An organization called Kino Mediteran helps in the maintenance of cinemas and the distribution of films – there is always a mixture of commercial films, kids’ films and art-house movies in circulation. Hidden away between ancient stone houses, these cinemas are frequently evocative places in which to watch the flicks – especially in island towns such as Korčula, Supetar. Bol, Jelsa and Hvar. One of the most beautiful is in the town of Vis; a walled enclosure right by the shore where you can hear the echo of the film soundtrack blending with the lapping waves of the sea. www.kinomediteran.hr

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Anthony Brooks: Inward- Zen Opuzen Festival - Opuzen, Croatia (2019)

Cities Take Selfies with some of the Coolest Murals Visit Public Artworks

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Cities Take Selfies with some of the Coolest Murals We have selected for you just three cool murals that could be great for your social networks and your photo album

Robots For Humanity from Estonia made a mural on King Tomislav Square in Pula, a reproduction of Picasso’s painting “Rape of Sabine Women”, which was a poster of the most famous Yugoslav film “Battle on the Neretva” by Veljko Bulajić.

Mural in Ston, Photo by Dubrovnik Tour Guide Kristina

Mural in Vukovar, Alex Maksiov, VukovArt Festival

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Mural in Zagreb, Ivan Oštarić, Photo by Juraj Vuglač

Visit Public Artworks We present you 7 Croatian towns and cities where artists have changed how we see those places. If you are in or near one of these destinations, take your time and visit some of the beautiful murals.

Here are some of our suggestions.

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Cities 1. Opuzen This crowded town on the Neretva River gained a whole new dimension when the Zen Art Festival was established.

Painting on dilapidated facades and neglected walls, young artists breathed new life into the streets of Opuzen.

Colourful works of art with the signature of street artists can be seen at every turn in Opuzen. Apart from the facades of the buildings, drawings have also been recorded on the sandy beaches near Opuzen.

Mural in Karlovac, Karlovac Tourist Board Archive Mural in Rijeka, Delta5 by Igor Crnković, Pilot Media

2. Vodnjan Yes, a small medieval Istrian town can be a real open-air street art gallery. The facades of the building are adorned with beautiful murals created as part of the urban street art festival Boombarstick, which turned Vodnjan into a real street art studio, and the facades of Vodnjan buildings are a permanent exhibition of an open-air gallery that is open non-stop.

3. Karlovac The Novi Centar city district is known for murals of historical figures, important for Karlovac. There are research names such as the Seljan brothers, Dragutin Lerman and Jakov Šašel. Take a walk through Karlovac and get acquainted with the life and work of prominent Karlovac citizens, but also with the glorious, occasionally turbulent history of Karlovac.

5. Rijeka Following the River of Murals you will find yourself on colourful Križanićeva Street, where some new artworks have been created by regional street artists. In 2020, Rijeka was the European Capital of Culture and it was meant to be the year of celebration. This all changed within a few weeks because of pandemic measures. Many cultural programmes were cancelled but some of the artists continued, regardless. Here you will see the crown of their work!

Mural in Vodnjan, Tomislav Lonac2: White Noise, Vodnjan Tourist Board

6. Vukovar If you are heading to the very east of Croatia, Vukovar is a place where you will experience these things in a different way. In addition to the rich cultural heritage that Vukovar has - such as the museum in the castle Eltz, Vučedol, House of Lavoslav Ružička or the baroque core of the city, VukovART Festival has brought to the city the freshness of street art. Today, the Vukovar Mural Gallery has over 30 works.

7. Zagreb You can explore Zagreb for days. The Street Triptych Festival runs until 2022, and brings many excellent works of street art. Cruising through the city, you can explore Martićeva Street, or Radićeva Street near the main square, or ascend to Dolac market, walk along Tkalčićeva Street. These are the closest murals that are offered for a tour.

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Mural in Zagreb, Photo by Ulični triptih

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Central Croatia

Portrait Vladimir Končar, Photo by Jelena Janković

Experience Art From Passion to Profession Ten Amazing Museums Ivan MeštroVIĆ

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Central Croatia Experience Art From Passion to Profession “The core identity for an exhibition comes from a combination of a strong central story along with design that helps to communicate that story through the use of space, graphic design and a clear, engaging interpretation structure.”

In Croatia, the above listed qualities perfectly describe the works of an incredibly creative person – Vladimir Končar.

Vladimir Končar is a transdisciplinary designer and a creative entrepreneur with two decades of extensive experience and hundreds of completed projects worldwide in the creative and digital product domain. As an expert in design, interaction, and user experience, Vladimir is an author and co-author of many permanent and temporary museum exhibitions and a designer of numerous multimedia educational centers throughout Croatia.

He began his professional career in 2003 as a student and a cofounder of Revolucija, a pioneering digital agency that he merged with Five in 2016. He currently works as a design director at the global travel company Kiwi.com and is also one of the founders of the InsureTech company Amodo.

Signature exhibitions of this eclectic and versatile designer draw on the latest concepts, visitor interests, and technology innovations such as spatial interactions and immersive experiences, using audio, projections, multitouch screens, and VR/AR technologies to bring the various themes to life.

The feedback consistently demonstrates his spectacular success, with each visitor’s expectations exceeded, families entertained, and visitor numbers up. One such example was last year’s exhibition entitled From Imagination to Animation: six decades of Zagreb Film that took place in the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. Using a wide range of techniques and technologies, even old-school ones, Vladimir and the creative team managed to create a fantastic multimedia space that presented the outstanding achievements of the renowned Zagreb School of Animated Films.

Over the six decades of its exist-

Vladimirfacebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket Končar, Mljet, Photo by Tea Gabud

ence, this School has produced more than two thousand animated, documentary, educational, and feature films and commercials.

The exhibition at the Contemporary Art Museum has rightly earned him a European Design Award, one of many that he has received for his extensive design work. Vladimir Koncar simply enjoys the “process of creation” and, most of all, collaboration with his colleagues, as all these projects are a result of an intensive crossfunctional team effort. He combines humanity and technology to stimulate emotions through his work, activate and engage education, and build meaningful and long-lasting memorable experiences.

Let us be taken on a journey by the designer himself, who will introduce us to some of his favorite projects. Are you ready?

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Boathouse, Brijuni Photo by Vladimir Končar

Ivana House of Fairy Tales - Photo by Domagoj Blažević

IVANA’S HOUSE OF FAIRY TALES – OGULIN We were all once children who enjoyed listening to fairy tales. It is said that fairy tales can inspire a love of reading and foster creative expression. While working on Ivana’s House of Fairy Tales, I traveled back to my childhood, to the times of imaginary worlds and creatures. On this project, my colleagues and I had a mission to celebrate the writings of Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić. She was born in the town of Ogulin and praised as Croatia’s foremost writer of fairy tales. Ivana’s House of Fairy Tales consists of a permanent multimedia exhibition, a library, a multifunctional space for workshops, and a souvenir shop. The exhibition starts with the ‘Magic Forest,’ a world where trees narrate episodes from Ivana’s life and from her books. We continue our journey through the ‘Enchanted Castle Hallways,’ stop to take a look into the ‘Magic Mirror’ and warm up by the ‘Fireplace.’ At the end of the journey, we have a ‘Fairy-Tale Library’ and the ‘Chamber of Mystery,’ a multifunctional space where one can watch animated films or play interactive games. We wanted everyone to have fun and feel the total magic of Ivana’s special House as much as we did while designing it.

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BOATHOUSE – BRIJUNI We imagined presenting Brijuni Islands to its visitors in a contemporary, interactive manner inside the ‘Boathouse Interpretations and Education Centre.’ The Boathouse stands at the very entry point to the port of Veli Brijun. It is an unusual building constructed in 1902 in the Secession style, and to this day, its uniqueness attracts particular attention. The Boathouse was once home to Dr. Otto Lenz, the island doctor, and in his honor, this house has been called “La casa del Dottore.” Inside the Boathouse, visitors can discover and explore independently, thus learning a great deal about the cultural, historical, and natural heritage of the islands. At the very entrance, you will meet Doctor Lenz, learn about his life on the island and find out who the famous visitors to the island were at the beginning of the 20th century.

The interactive exhibition is divided into six thematic units: “Brijuni Time Machine,” “Brijuni Archipelago,”“Mainland,”“Submarine World,” “Threats,” and “Awareness.” The last theme underlines the importance of having protected areas whose beauty, richness, and diversity constitute the principal values of our most important natural resources that should be conserved.

THE SMALL ARSENAL – ZADAR Every project is challenging, and Small Arsenal in Zadar challenged us on an entirely new level. It has been a protected monument of culture and a part of the Medieval Castle (Kaštel). This separate structure has been integrated into the defensive system of the city walls.

By adaptation, conservation, and restoration of the Small Arsenal, we transformed the place into a Visitors’ Centre and the starting point for the city’s tours. In this way, the visitors are acquainted with the fortification system, which served as the last defense for many centuries and the control point of the rebellious city. Architectural works and investigations affirmed the preserved historical layers of the Small Arsenal, which we integrated into a unique whole that now is a remarkable audiovisual and interactive attraction.

This multimedia exhibition center is a highly modern and autonomous space that not only creates a new form but continues the existing one; that is, we not only built and added new elements, but also reduced them by opening up the buried historical gaps, designing the program, and introducing new media.

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Experience Art

Učka Visitor Center, Photo by Vladimir Končar

Mali arsenal, Photo by Jasenko Rasol

Medvedgrad, Photo by Marko Edge

UNDEGROUND SECRETS OF PAKLENICA – VELEBIT MOUNTAIN Deep inside the Velika Paklenica canyon are hidden underground tunnels commonly known as “Bunkers,” built in the early 50s. This was top secret until the beginning of the Croatian War of Independence when the space was used as storage by the Croatian Army. After the war ended, the tunnels were given to the Paklenica National Park Public Institution for permanent use, and our task was to transform them into a Presentation Centre.

‘Underground Secrets of Paklenica’ presentation center was opened to the public in August 2016.

I am sure you will enjoy the ‘Little Climbing Centre’ which contains an indoor rock-climbing wall and where you will be introduced to the skills of climbing, mountaineering, hiking, and speleology. With several screens on the hall walls, we wanted to offer an interactive and fun way to learn about the basics of climbing.

You will also learn about climbers who have been to Paklenica, and you will get a handful of tips on hiking and the correct equipment. For those who wish to relax, energize or freshen up a bit after the tour of the Centre, we have included a souvenir shop, as well as a café.

BETWEEN TWO WATERS – MEĐIMURJE If you are a nature lover, you will enjoy one of the latest projects I was working on. It is located in Međimurje and has been dedicated to the life between the two rivers, Mura and Drava. ‘Between Two Waters’ is a permanent exhibition in the recently opened Visitor’s Centre in the village of Križovec.

During your visit you will become acquainted with river life, find out who the inhabitants of the wetlands are while enjoying an educational platform that is equally fun for adults and children. By immersing yourself in Međimurje’s version of ‘Huckleberry Finn’ you will learn who the endangered species are and why it is important to preserve this unique wetland area. During your cruise ‘down the river’, you will find out about the local wildlife by encountering fish, birds, ducks and insects, as well as beavers, frogs, otters, turtles etc.

The Centre also has a Souvenir Shop and an Information Desk at the entrance. By taking just a short stroll, you will reach the interpretative log cabin ‘My Oak Adam’ and a themed children’s playground. You may also become a gold digger for a day and try your luck collecting gold nuggets from the Drava River or you can try to make your voice sound like a duck. These are just examples of the many interactive experiences that have been incorporated within the Visitor’s Centre. One thing is for sure – you won’t get bored in this place!

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MEDVEDGRAD – ZAGREB Medvednica mountain protects Zagreb from the north and has a lot of fascinating stories to tell. So, the main idea when we were designing the Medvedgrad Museum was to integrate all these interesting stories into the Medvednica Museum Collection. Here you can learn about the various plant and animal species of the Nature Park, find out the history of the Castle, and visit various cultural heritage sites as well as Medvednica cave and mine while in the area.

Medvedgrad castle itself has an incredible story to tell. It was built in 1254 and has been one of the largest Croatian noble courts. Throughout history, it was ruled by over 150 masters and was never conquered.

You will hear some horrible stories that have cemented Medvedgrad’s reputation as a haunted castle. The Medvedgrad Museum has a lot of attractions for all ages. You can try themed walks, enjoy the summer concerts, bring your kids to one of the interactive workshops or even organize an event or a seminar here. How unreal is that! If you plan a special birthday party or want to hold a business event in an attractive location, this is it! I am sure your guests would be thoroughly impressed!

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Ten Amazing Museums Croatia’s rich cultural legacy has always been a prime pillar of the country’s tourist appeal.

And with the rise of a new generation of state-of-the-art museums, there has never been a more exciting time to explore it. Read on to discover ten outstanding locations that bring the nation’s heritage to life.

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Photo by Višnja Arambašić croatia.inyourpocket.com

Experience Art

Photo by Elisabeth Daynes

Krapina Neanderthal Museum (Muzej krapinskih neandertalaca), Krapina Edged out by Homo sapiens, the Neanderthals died out some 40,000 years ago. However there is, the scientists say, a bit of Neanderthal DNA in us all. Best place to meet these distant ancestors is at the Krapina Neanderthal Museum, located in a green vale just outside Krapina, capital of the Zagorje region just north of Zagreb. Consisting of a concrete barrel lurching dramatically out of a hillside, the museum celebrates the discovery of Neanderthal remains on this very site by paleontologist Dragutin Gorjanović Kramberger in 1899. Rather than simply displaying a load of old bones, however, the museum presents an audio-visual display devoted to the progress of life on earth and the emergence of the first hominids.

The museum culminates in a disarmingly lifelike family group of waxwork Neanderthals, showing that, far from being the primitive cave dwellers of popular imagination, they knew how to fashion tools, weave clothes and carry out basic medical procedures. As a well-thought-out, supremely educative presentation of how evolution is believed to have worked, it is a pretty unique institution, and one that is likely to work its fascination on visitors of all ages and interests. www.mkn.mhz.hr Museum of the Vučedol Culture (Muzej vučedolske culture), Vukovar The Danube-riverbank town of Vukovar is one of the rising destinations of Croatian tourism, and this dramatically situated museum is one of the main reasons why. Jutting out of a hillside at Vučedol just southeast of town, the museum occupies one of southeastern Europe’s richest archeological sites. The discovery of brightly decorated pottery and other artefacts dating to the third millennium BC at this site led to adoption of the term Vučedol Culture to describe the civilization taking shape at that period. A settled community of farmers and copper-smelters, the Vučedol folk produced pottery decorated with highly distinctive geometric patterns and pictograms. Many of the pictograms are thought to refer to star constellations and their relationship to the changing agricultural seasons. Featuring replicas of Vučedol clothing, a mock-up of a Vučedol-era house, and computer-animated glimpses of how the local settlement looked, the museum takes us right into the heart of life as it might have been lived, 5000 years before our time. www.vucedol.hr Museum of the Homeland War (Muzej domovinskog rata), Turanj, Karlovac The mid-Croatian town of Karlovac was on the front line during the Homeland War of 1991-95 and it is fitting that this national museum devoted to the conflict is located here. More precisely, it lies just off the main road to the Plitvice Lakes in the suburb of Turanj, the place where the main enemy advance was repulsed. The display is housed in an imaginatively renovated nineteenth-century barracks, first built by the Austrians and then pressed into service in 1991 by Karlovac’s Croatian defenders, who ironically dubbed the place ‘Hotel California’. Encased in a glass shell, the barracks contains a modern multi-media display detailing the military operations that took place here together with an account of what life was like for the local civilian population. Alongside a wealth of military hardware inside the museum there is a stirring display of artillery pieces, aircraft and armoured cars on the lawn outside. www.gmk.hr facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

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Museum of the Sinj Alka (Muzej Sinjske Alke), Sinj A museum devoted to a sporting event might at first glance seem to be a bit too specialized to be deserving of general fascination – unless the event in question happens to be the Alka, the annual test of horsemanship that takes over the inland Dalmatian town of Sinj every August. A surviving example of the knightly horse-games that date back to the distant Mediterranean past, the Alka brings together compelling themes of local identity, heritage and history – indeed it is through the Alka, more than anything else, that one might begin to understand the history and culture of this part of Croatia. The contest involves riders taking turns to charge on locally-reared horses towards a ringed metal target hanging from a wooden gantry, which they tempt to spear with their long lances.

A supreme test of skill and poise for both horse and rider, it is held in celebration of a victory over the Ottomans in 1715, when the people of Sinj finally repulsed an enemy attack on August 15, the holy day associated with the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. The museum captures the drama and significance of the event with a dazzling display of riders’ costumes and an engrossing account of the Alka’s historical origins.

After a visit here you’ll probably be itching to get saddled up yourself. www.alka.hr Rijeka City Museum (Muzej grada Rijeke), Rijeka The port city of Rijeka’s transformation into a post-industrial cultural mecca took another step forward with the opening of the City Museum’s brand-new permanent exhibition. The collection’s new home is the lovingly restored late-Baroque building known as the Šećerana or “sugar palace”, thanks to its former status as the administration building of a sugar refinery. It’s with this museum that Rijeka finally gets to tell its fascinating story; a story based on themes of industry, technology and popular culture. We get to see the history of the torpedo, the technological wonder perfected by Austro-English engineer Robert Whitehead and subsequently sold to navies around the world; as well as re-visiting the punk and new-wave traditions that made Rijeka a unique island of alternative culture in the late twentieth century. All of the things, in other words, that make a great city tick. www.muzej-rijeka.hr Narona Archeological Museum (Arheološki muzej Narona), Vid, Metković Set amidst the rushes and irrigation channels of the Neretva delta, the hillside village of Vid is home to one of Croatia’s most exciting archeological finds. It was here that first-century-BC Roman market town of Narona was unearthed, together with a wealth of artefacts offering revealing insights into the everyday life of the period. Opened in 2007, the museum takes the form of a swish modern pavilion built right above the archeological site itself. Inside, steel and glass walkways allow visitors to look at the excavations from above. One undoubted highlight is the Augusteum, a temple to the Emperor Augustus flanked by 14 statues thought to depict members of the ruling family. www.a-m-narona.hr

Sinj Alka Museum, Sinj Tourist Board Archive

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Experience Art

The Museum of the Apoxyomenos (Muzej Apoksiomena), Mali Lošinj Visiting a museum built around a single historical artifact can seem like a risky enterprise: can one work of art really be worth all that fuss, not to mention the relatively high price of the entrance ticket? In the case of Veli Lošinj’s Museum of the Apoxyomenos, the answer is a resounding yes. The display centres on an extraordinarily graceful Graeco-Roman statue of an athlete in the act of cleaning his skin (the Greek term Apoxyomenos means, roughly, “man scraping himself clean”). It was discovered on the seabed near the nearby islet of Orulje by a Belgian recreational diver in 1996. Following years of painstaking restoration it was shown off in the museums of the world before finally coming home to this purpose-built museum on the island where it was found. The display tells the story of the statue’s journey in a sequence of imaginatively designed rooms full of audio-visual content, before revealing the statue itself in a pod-like chamber on the top floor. Consisting of a 21st-century exhibition space inserted inside the shell of a 19th-century palace, the museum is in itself a talking point, and may indeed be the ultimate metaphor for Adriatic culture – where it came from, and where it might be going next. www.muzejapoksiomena.hr

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Apoxyomenos Museum, Photocroatia.inyourpocket.com

by Bosnić Dorotić

Barban Multimedia Centre (Multimedijalni centar Barban), Barban Sinj is not the only place to have preserved an ancient contest for horse and rider. The Istrian village of Barban still celebrates its equine traditions with the annual Trka na prstenac or “Race for the Ring”, in which locals and their steeds attempt to spear a specially-designed ring on the end of a long lance. The age-old ritual is celebrated in this brand-new multimedia Visitors’ Centre, where video films and 3-D technology help you to “experience” the race yourself.

Entrance to the display is through a dramatic tunnel of lighted hoops; elsewhere costumes, photographs and local artefacts help bring out a sense of place. www.barban.hr/centar-za-posjetitelje-barban Virovitica Town Museum (Gradski muzej Virovitica), Virovitica The recently revamped Virovitica Town Museum is a great example of how to make a regional collection into something that captivates and involves a wider audience, showing off periods of history that we can all relate to while devoting equal attention to the customs, costumes and crafts associated with the place itself. A lot of the museum’s success is due to the presentation, with a visually involving approach enhanced by dramatic lighting. The museum is housed in the Pejačević Palace, a beautifullyrestored late-baroque mansion bequeathed to the town by Habsburg-era aristocracy. Hitherto somewhat removed from the main tourists routes, this museum will hopefully ensure that Virovitica will be getting more attention from visitors in future. www.gmvt.com.hr The Dutch House (Holandska kuća), Sisak Your first reaction might be what is a Dutch House doing in Sisak? This spectacularly restored nineteenth-century grain warehouse got its name because of its appearance; with its stepped façade, it looks jut like something that you would expect to see hovering above a canal in the Low Countries. Inside is a multi-media display dedicated to Sisak’s industrial heritage of oil refining and metalworking, and an art gallery with regular contemporary art exhibitions.

One unique feature of the museum – indeed a must for all fans of vintage technology – is the Velimir Kraker collection of old gramophones and radios. www.hoku.hr

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Ivan Meštrović When it comes to Croatian art the name Ivan Meštrović towers above all others, a sculptor of grand scope and ambition who straddled the great movements of the twentieth century and left behind monumental works that have helped define the character of the cities in which they are placed. As well as being a figure of global critical acclaim he was also a truly national sculptor, exploring the great themes and folk motifs of his own people. Few artists have captured the different aspects of the Croatian personality quite so well.

Ivan Meštrović was born on August 15 1883 into a family of agricultural labourers. His parents were working in Vrpolje in Slavonia at the time of his birth, but they soon moved back to their home region of Otavice, in the Dalmatian interior, where Meštrović spent his formative years. Apprenticed to a Split stonemason at the age of 16 his skills were soon spotted, and benefactors paid for him to study sculpture at the Fine Art Academy in Vienna.

It was the flamboyant, fluid style of the Viennese Secession that influenced him early on: his sensuous Well of Life (1905), in front of the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb, is an outstanding example of his early style. He was also a friend of the great French sculptor Rodin, and he spent several years in Paris and other European cities before moving to Zagreb in 1919.

Like most other young artists of his generation, Meštrović saw Yugoslavism as an emancipatory force that would help Croats to forge a new identity separate from the Habsburg Empire, and much of his early work was influenced by these ideals. His work increasingly explored the mythology of the South Slavs, and many of the resulting sculptures were exhibited in the Serbian pavilion at the Rome International Exhibition of 1911.

Such was Meštrović’s growing international reputation that he was given a one-man show in the Victoria and Albert Museum in London in 1915: it was a time of war, small 26

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Museums of Ivan Meštrović Archive, Photo by Zoran Alajbeg

nations were fighting against great empires, and Meštrović was seen as a young energetic artist who represented the spirit of the epoch.

After World War I Meštrović was one of the leading artistic personalities of the new Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (later renamed Yugoslavia). He based himself in Zagreb and taught at the Academy of Fine Arts. Widely recognized as the greatest sculptor of his generation, he was much in demand, designing prestige monuments to World War I in Belgrade’s Kalemegdan Park, where his Victor and Monument of Gratitude to France still define the landscape. For the city of Split he made the towering statue of medieval Croatian bishop Gregory of Nin, the unveiling of which in 1929 was one of the great public events of the age. Now situated just outside the Golden Gate (it was originally sited on the Peristyle, a space for which it was just too big), it is a much-loved local landmark whose toes are rubbed for luck as people stroll past the pedestal.

Meštrović had a huge impact on the urban character of Zagreb, where his statue of the nineteenth-century cultural reformer Archbishop Strossmayer was placed behind the Croatian Academy of Arts. His monument to Nikola Tesla, originally in the Ruđer

Bošković Institute, now stands on the corner of Preradovićeva and Teslina in the city centre. Meštrović was also the creator of one of the capital’s most swooningly beautiful buildings, the pale grey rotunda housing the headquarters of the HDLU (Croatian Society of Fine Artists) on Trg žrtava fašizma.

Meštrović was viewed with suspicion by the quisling regime that came to power in April 1941, and he spent three months in prison before being forced to emigrate. He was not very enthusiastic about the communist Yugoslavia that came into being after World War II, however, and moved to the USA, where he taught at Syracuse University in New York, and then Notre Dame at South Bend Indiana. He died in 1962, his remains brought back to Otavice where they entered the family mausoleum he had himself designed. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Experience Art

The museum in Meštrović’s former atelier in Zagreb’s Upper Town is currently undergoing renovation, but there are numerous sites around the country where the sculptor’s work can be admired. You can find more information at https://mestrovic.hr.

The Church of the Most Holy Redeemer/Meštrović Mausoleum, Otavice Ten kilometres east of Drniš, Meštrović’s home village of Otavice is a tranquil spot where grazing flocks are framed by the imposing grey forms of the Dinaric mountains looming to the northeast. It was an a low hill on the edges of the village that Meštrović chose to build the domed grey Church of the Most Holy Redeemer, which was also intended to serve as a family mausoleum. Begun in 1926, the building contains some of Meštrović’s most haunting reliefs, with an ethereal Crucifixion flanked by serene portrayals of the Evangelists. Mass is only held here once a month, but the church is open to visitors throughout the year.

The Meštrović Gallery, Split Meštrović’s choice for a summer home was Split, and it was here that he spent the years 1931 to 1939 building a villa on the southern slopes of Marjan hill. Donated by the sculptor himself in 1952, it now serves as the Meštrović Gallery, displaying a thrillingly varied collection of the artist’s works. All eras of Meštrović’s work are covered, from the Art-Nouveau influenced works of the early years to the fluid, folk-meets-art-deco sculptures of his later years. A ticket to the Gallery also allows access to the nearby Kaštilac, a Renaissance fortified agricultural property where Meštrović built cloister and chapel with a stunning collection of wall reliefs in wood. Borrowing freely from ancient Assyria, Greece and Croatian folk art, it’s a dizzyingly brilliant work that sums up the breadth of Meštrović’s genius. facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

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Central Croatia

Inspire The Beauty of Movement: Jelena Janković Feature photos by Jelena Janković

Five Croatian Artists You Will Rarely See in a Gallery Hidden Gems of National Monuments 28

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Art & Culture Inspire

The Beauty of Movement: Jelena Janković We present Jelena Janković, who reveals the magic of human movement without borders through her photographs, through research of people, situations, sensations, lights, colours and emotions.

Jelena explores the aesthetics of dance photography through both contemporary and traditional dance, which through her vision looks completely different from what you expect!

Through movement, Jelena captures the emotion of movement, and at the same time offers us sight of the emotions she has and how she experiences each of her projects.

Her photographs have been published in Rolling Stone (DE), Professional Photographer (USA), Digital SLR Photographer Magazine (UK), fotoMAGAZINE (DE), LensCulture, Lürzer’s Archive, GEO (ESP).

She has won multiple awards.

You can follow Jelena’s work at www.instagram.com/bitefzena

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“For me, photography isn’t just a job, it’s life. Since I’m dyslexic, which I discovered two years ago, photography is the only means of expression and creation behind which I don’t have to hide. This undiagnosed dyslexia caused many problems in my childhood, education, and communication with the world around me. That is why I see photography as something truly intimate and special.”

Five Croatian Artists You Will Rarely See in a Gallery Croatia is a great place for galleries; but not all art is made for gallery spaces and not all artists end up being displayed there.

Here are five Croatian artists whose work forms an essential component of Croatian contemporary culture, but who might not always fit easily into the big institutional collections.

Siniša Labrović For leading performance artist Siniša Labrović, an artwork is a one-off event that isn’t always easy to photograph or film. You really have to be there. One of his most famous works involved challenging the then Minister of Culture to a boxing match, even going as far as erecting a ring outside Zagreb’s railway station in order to host the bout – the minister in question politely declined the invitation. His work has frequently featured his own body, whether involving nudity, drinking is own urine or tattooing the words “Private property” on his forehead. Most recently he spent nine days living in a cupboard on a street corner in Ljubljana, declaring it to be his ideal holiday.

Igor Hofbauer The work of graphic artist and illustrator Igor Hofbauer occupies a unique niche in Zagreb’s art scene and it is somewhat baffling to realize that he is so rarely seen in the big museums.

Although his work covers everything from murals to comic books he is primarily known for his posters and flyers for alternative rock club Močvara, which not only gave the club a visual identity but also provided the city with a distinctive look. Although gig posters have taken a back seat, Hofbauer is still fairly ubiquitous, working most recently on the visual identities of Animateka, Ljubljana’s annual festival of animated films; and the Human Rights Film Festival, Zagreb’s annual look at sociallyengaged cinema.

Ivana Armanini Ivana Armanini has spent the last twenty years editing and publishing Komikaze, a annual or bi-annual magazine devoted to alternative illustration and comic strips. As an artists herself, Armanini has moved from a punky agitated drawing style to a smooth, meditative, almost abstract approach to illustration that has itself been a major influence on the emerging illustrators and mural painters of today. As a scene-maker, and nurturer of others, she has done an extraordinary amount of good work for the Croatian scene, picking up well-deserved international prizes. Her own work is for the time being visible in print – in Komikaze, in her own book Alice in Waterland, or on her own site at https://ivanaarmanini.net

Photo by Darko Bavoljak

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Kulunčić’s current project (and one that, as if to undermine the logic of this article, will be displayed in a gallery) is the video-based project entitled “You betrayed the party when you were supposed to be helping t” and will be on show at Rijeka’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art from February 20 2022. It deals with the experiences and traumas of female inmates on the harsh, brutal prison islands of Goli otok and Grgur, where hard-core Stalinist opponents of the Tito regime were sent between 1949-1955. croatia.inyourpocket.com

Inspire

Željko Badurina

Siniša Labrović

Andreja Kulunčić Maybe the ambition of the modern artist should be to go viral on social media rather than occupy a prime place on a gallery wall.

This is just about what happened with Andreja Kulunčić’s Embryo, an interactive video game which invited participants to create their own perfect child. Raising issues of gender, fertility and utopian family dreams, it was much discussed both in the art world and outside it. Kulunčić’s works are frequently intended as social research projects rather than pieces of art and use a variety of non-gallery routes to reach the public: her 2005 work Austrians Only involved a guerilla poster campaign; while City Walks (2001) involved a tourist brochure to Zadar filled with not with traditional tourist information but interviews with local people; and Enjoy the Beach (2000) involved handing out rubbish bags to tourists complete with instructions on how to dispose of their trash.

Željko Badurina Blurring the divisions between art and social media, Zagreb’s Željko Badurina has turned his facebook feed into a constantly evolving work. He belongs to a long tradition of contemporary Croatian art pranksters who have used irony, ambiguity and humour to open up issues of social and political relevance.

Like a good newspaper cartoonist, he is a chronicler of political and social absurdities, full of references to what is in the news, or what café society is currently arguing about. He’s also making fun of his own profession, and how artists are frequently reduced to treating art as a hobby they do in their spare time. It is often difficult to tell which of Badurina’s facebook posts are intended as art, and which of them are simply shared jokes with friends, but in a way this is his point: with technology at our fingertips and the ability to communicate instantly, we are all conceptual artists now.

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Dotrščina, Photo by Višnja Arambašić

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Hidden Gems of National Monuments One of the aspects of travel in Croatia and other post-Yugoslav republics is the scattering of Second World War memorials that commemorate significant spots in the wartime partisan struggle. Despite being covered inadequately by traditional guidebooks, these memorials have exploded into international public attention thanks to social media and the internet. Visiting photographers, both professional and amateur, have become fascinated by these objects, not just because of their stark monumentality and mesmerizing forms, but also because of their poignancy. Erected by a socialist country that no longer exists, they have largely lost their ceremonial importance and appear to visitors as melancholy reminders of a past that cannot be rebuilt. The word spomenik (which in Croatian, Serbian and Bosnian simply means “monument”), has entered English usage to describe these memorials, and thus named, they have become talismanic entities among travellers and photographers in search of the offbeat, the little-travelled, the unusual.

This touristic interest in memorials has also awakened a renewed appreciation of their artistic value. Most of them were conceived as massive sculptures, and were commissioned from artists who meant something in their day. Toward a Concrete Utopia, the exhibition devoted to Yugoslav architecture held in New York’s MOMA in 2018, placed special emphasis on war memorials and put them in the cultural context of their time.

One thing that characterized these monuments – or at least those built from 1960s onwards - was their tendency towards abstract forms. Whether angular and geometric or flowing and organic, they were intended to be bold structures that would dominate the landscapes in which they were situated. Many of these monuments were situated in rural regions where partisan battles took place, or in open fields (such as the memorial in the former murder-camp at Jasenovac), rather than in urban environments, hence their frequently overpowering sense of presence. The aim of these monuments was not just to commemorate the anti-fascist past but also to point the way towards the future, which was why brutally avant-garde styles were preferred over more traditional, decorative forms of sculpture. Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito didn’t much like abstract art but nevertheless understood that abstract monuments sent out a powerful message: the future was taking shape and it was his Yugoslavia that was delivering it.

It is important to remember that these memorials, although many are nowadays officially ignored and visited only by the curious, were the products of a living socialist society that held regular commemorations at these sites. Anniversaries were observed, school trips were organized, tourists came to take pictures. The fact that these monuments no longer form part of popular ritual makes them look forlorn and forgotten – and one suspects that this bleakness has become part of their aesthetic appeal. In many cases monuments have become dilapidated through deliberate damage or neglect. The nationalist culture that grew up in the 1990s was blind to the value of these memorials, and saw no point in their upkeep. Indeed Vojin Bakić’s Monument to the Victory of the People of Slavonia, located in Kamenica and thought to have been the largest abstract sculpture in the world, was blown up in 1992 by hooligan elements belonging, allegedly, to the Croatian armed forces.

Those memorials still standing remain bewitchingly attractive, and are also compellingly moving when one considers the human need for commemoration that led to their construction. They certainly represent an exciting challenge to any photographer. What follows is a list of some of the major memorials which can be visited in Croatia. There are of course many more in other ex-Yugoslav republics.

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Inspire Batina One of the first monuments to be built after World War II, the Batina Memorial Complex was erected in 1947 to commemorate the 1944 Battle of Batina, when units of the Soviet Red Army forced their way across the River Danube faced by fierce German resistance. Occupying heights with fantastic views towards the river, the monument very much follows the heroic-realist style of Soviet war memorials, with a soaring 26-metre obelisk topped by a female statue symbolizing victory, and an ensemble of advancing-soldier statues at its base. Antun Augustinčić, the Zagorje-born sculptor who also excelled in his portraits of President Tito, was in charge of the statues.

Monument to the Revolution of the People of Moslavina Designed by sculptor Dušan Džamonija and unveiled in 1967, this is one of the most striking examples of the abstract-heroic style adopted in the Sixties. The memorial stands on a green hill near the village of Podgarić, which served as a key centre of the partisan uprising in north-central Croatia, and was the site of a partisan hospital. Standing at the end of a processional alley, Džamonija’s monument consists of a sun-like circle of shiny aluminium plates flanked by huge concrete wings, which boast a total span of twenty metres. Džamonija was a prolific sculptor whose work can be seen at the outdoor Džamonija Sculpture Park in Vrsar and also in many public spaces: he designed the fountain outside the Croatian National Theatre in Rijeka, and was also responsible for sketching out designs for Rijeka’s fabulous mosque.

The Stone Flower, Jasenovac One of the monuments most frequently reproduced in photographs is the so-called Stone Flower or Kameni cvijet at Jasenovac, site of a concentration and extermination camp where over 80,000 Serbs, Jews, Roma and antifascist Croats were murdered by forces of the quisling pseudostate known as the NDH or Independent State of Croatia. Completed in 1968, the Flower was designed by the prolific Serbian architect Bogdan Bogdanović (1922-2010), who subsequently served as mayor of Belgrade before going into exile in protest at the nationalist policies of Slobodan Milošević.

The thrusting concrete petals of the Flower are meant to symbolize life and rebirth, and provide some hope for future generations.

Dotrščina One of the few memorial sites within reach of central Zagreb is Dotrščina, a forest park northeast of the centre where political opponents were murdered by forces of the NDH. The sculptor Vojin Bakić was comissoned to create a series of monuments, each of which resembles a large angular crystal made from shiny reflective steel. The largest of these stands at the entrance to the site; further, smaller ones are located in a wooded vale where individual executions were carried out. Wit the leaves and branches of the forest reflected on the surfaces of the sculptures, it’s a beautiful, visually inspiring spot.

Podgorić, Photo by Andrej Jakuš

Podgora, Photo by Višnja Arambašić

Jasenovac, Photo by JUSP Jasenovac

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Inspire Podhum Standing beside the main Zagreb-Rijeka road at Grobnik, just before the highway’s descent into the Kvarner-Gulf city, is this monument to the 108 men and boys shot by Italian occupiers on July 14 1942, in retaliation for a partisan attack. Taking the form of a club-shaped monolith, the monument was designed by sculptor Šime Vulas in 1970 and has recently been renovated.

Podgora Hovering dramatically above the resort of Podgora on the Makarska Riviera is one of the Adriatic coast’s earliest abstract monuments, commissioned in 1962 to commemorate the formation of the first-ever Partisan boat squadron in 1943. Designed by sculptor Rajko Radović, it takes the form of two smoothly-surfaced protuberances that recall the wings of a seagull: an upright wing to symbolize victory, a bent-over wing to commemorate those who died fighting for it.

Tabor, Pelješac World War II saw heavy fighting around Korčula and Pelješac, with partisans liberating the area after the fall of Italy, and the Germans subsequently arriving to push the partisans back. Designed by Ivan Mitrović and Zlatko Jerić, the monument at Tabor above the village of Trstenik takes the form of a beautifully sleek and slender 15.5-metre-high obelisk.

At its foot there is a bronze relief showing Partisans fighting Germans, and on the reverse side, the names of 395 Pelješac locals who either fell as combatants or who were killed as civilians. The ensemble is set on a ridge-top plateau with amazing views towards Trstenik, with the Adriatic sea and distant islands in the background.

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Petrova Gora Visible for miles as you approach it from the north, the huge monument dominating the ridge of Petrova Gora is one of the most outlandish of all of the World War II memorials. It was built to commemorate partisan activity in a wooded, impenetrable region on the borders of Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, and was entrusted to Vojin Bakić, the abstract sculptor who had already designed monuments at Kamenica and Dotrščina. Bakić’s monument was intended to function as both a monument and a museum combined, with visitors entering the body of the monument and scaling spiral steps to access various display areas. Abandoned in the 1990s, and severely damaged by pillagers removing the metal plates of its exterior, it is now a semi-ruin that would be enormously expensive to restore. As a monument to modern architecture and design, however, it is unique – and continues to draw a steady stream of determined pilgrims. The surrounding area is stunningly beautiful, rewarding the efforts of anyone who succeeds in making it this far.

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Photo by Milan Šabić

Heritage Winter festivities, Carnival of Croatia The Source of Dubrovnik Traditions Varaždin County

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Heritage

Winter festivities, Carnival of Croatia The flair, the glare, the excitement and the dazzling costumes are just some of the elements we consider to be a part of any carnival.

Well, behold, and be prepared dear readers, as your traditional carnival in Croatia includes not only these glittering essentials but also something different, something spooky, something quite hair-raising, in fact. You may be scared right now but let us tell you that this is a great time to be in Croatia, as you can join the locals in scattering evil ghosts and releasing a year’s worth of frustrations all under the cover of fancy dress. This is, indeed, taken to be the norm, a ritual intended to cleanse your soul before the warm season of spring arrives.

You see, the Croatian carnival season is connected with ancient, local traditions that go back to the Middle Ages.

According to Slavic pagan customs, carnivals would begin closer to the beginning of the year when locals would parade the streets, marching and cheering. They’d attend masquerades, fancy dress balls, wear costumes and sing to drive away evil spirits. This would continue until Shrove Tuesday, the day before Lent - the time of fasting, a time of moving away from our wrong doings and preparing for Easter.

Quite often the final day of celebrations would finish with the ceremonial judgment of an imaginary character blamed for everything bad that had happened over the past year. In the Zagreb region this individual is styled on a prince and is named the fašnik, though his moniker is different in other parts of the country. But wherever you go, he is the one who represents all our problems, troubles and miseries, who takes the blame and is then symbolically burned in a blazing bonfire. A little harsh, you say? Not in the least! Nowadays, carnivals around the country intertwine the customs of old with the fun and glamour of the present day. Everyone is welcome as the carnivals include all generations, with some wholehearted devotees preparing for the show all year round.

Every region has its own customs, so let’s get an insight into what’s happening and where...

Dubrovnik Tourist Board Archives

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Heritage AROUND ZAGREB Samobor Carnival The idyllic town of Samobor is just a few kilometers away from Zagreb and has one of Croatia’s most popular and longestrunning carnivals, originating in 1827. Strong political mockery is what labels all the carnival events in Samobor and that’s how it differs from the other carnival events in Croatia. The caricatures and puppets in the central square and side streets mock the current political situation in the country as well as well-known political figures and events that marked the previous year. Each shop, café and office seems to have a parody of its own displayed at the front for everyone to see and laugh at. Local doughnuts (krafne) stuffed with homemade apricot jam are sold on every corner and are counted among the best in the country.

On the first day of the carnival, Samobor’s mayor, traditionally abdicates and the key to the town is handed over to the Prince Fašnik (Prince Carnival), a famous carnival figure who impersonates all the misfortunes of the previous year Prince Fašnik and his bunch – Sraka (Magpie), Fiškal (small-town lawyer) and Sudec (Judge) then take control of the whole town to the extreme satisfaction of the numerous visitors.

Sraka is the central figure of the show and constantly mocks the crowd and the participants. On the last day of the ceremonies, Prince Fašnik is traditionally sentenced to death and the puppet representing the Prince is set ablaze signalling carnival’s successful conclusion. The key to the town is returned to its original owner, the Mayor, and after two weeks of great fun and high spirits, people go back to their everyday business.

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IN AND AROUND RIJEKA Rijeka Carnival The Rijeka Carnival is by far the biggest and most popular carnival of all in Croatia! The sea-side city has a chill in the air at this time of year, but the carnival traditions that date back to the Middle Ages certainly hot things up.

The Rijeka Carnival has become an international event with over ten thousand participants and more than a hundred floats and carts from dozens of different countries.

Bellringers Zvončari (bellmen) is a characteristic folk carnival custom in the Rijeka and Kvarner region which was added to UNESCO’s Heritage List in 2009. The custom dates to Slavic pagan antiquity when the primary task of Zvončari was to scare away the evil spirits of winter and to stir up the new spring-time cycle. During the Rijeka Carnival, Zvončari march from village to village throughout the region, following the same centuries-old route, making an extraordinary amount of noise, fuelled in part by the wine provided by the locals en route.

FURTHER DOWN SOUTH Carnival traditions in Senj Not too distant from Rijeka is Senj, a little town huddled on the coast under the Velebit Mountains, on the way to Zadar. It’s famous for pirates, strong winds and fiery people. History has it that masked balls were held in the town as far back as 1658 which must explain why their carnival is so wild and such great fun.

Poklad of Lastovo island Further south and off the Dalmatian mainland is the island of Lastovo with the oldest carnival tradition in Croatia and one of the oldest in Europe. The legend says that, when the Moors were besieging the town of Korčula in the Middle Ages, they sent a messenger to Lastovo with the request that the inhabitants surrender. Lastovians captured the messenger and put him in prison which prompted the angry Moors to send their ships to Lastovo to conquer it. A sudden storm blew away the enemy ships and Lastovo was saved. After that, Lastovians put the captured messenger on a donkey and paraded him around the village to mock him. Towards the evening, they extended a long rope from the top of hill (nowadays called the Carnival Hill) and the bottom of the village and lowered him on that rope.

Lastovo carnival is performed in accordance with very strict rules and procedures. Since it is so peculiar and unique, the Croatian Ministry of Culture in 2008 added the Carnival to the List of the Intangible Cultural Goods, where it has been ever since.

For further information on carnival events, check out local Tour Board sites:

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Lastovo Carnival Parade by Andrija Carli 45 Winter/Spring 2022

The Source of Dubrovnik Traditions The people of Dubrovnik and the surrounding regions proudly maintain their folk tradition, which you can still see at festivals, folklore performances, and processions on feast days; in museums and sometimes even on your waiter in rural restaurants. Every region, and in some cases every settlement had its own style of folk attire, which often showed the social status of the wearer. So, for example, in Konavle, where the tradition is perhaps strongest to this day, unmarried girls wore red pillbox hats decorated with gold braid, while married women wore stiffly starched headscarves shaped like horns, to scare their menfolk into submission, we presume.

Mlada KonavokaInLucija iz Pridvorja 46 Croatia Your Pocketradi za Epidaurus festival

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Heritage

The costumes, mainly in white, red and black fabrics, were decorated with embroidery, particularly on decorative fabric breastplates with gold silk tassels on women, and waistcoats and cummerbunds on men. Silk was produced and coloured at home. On special occasions, people wore fine velvets and silks richly embroidered with gold thread, a style influenced by Dubrovnik’s excellent trading links with the nearby Ottoman Empire. Luxurious clothes indicated the wealth of the owner, but rich folk lent fine clothes to poorer neighbours to ensure a good celebration. Jewellery has for centuries been a way for women in particular to invest their wealth.

Dubrovnik at its zenith, had many goldsmiths and silversmiths who, in addition to adorning the city’s churches and palaces also made jewellery, an integral part of folk costume. You can still buy traditional earrings in gold or silver filigree, large hoops or drop earrings adorned with baubles. If you’d like to take home an original Dubrovnik souvenir, you can also find tiny backstreet workshops where women produce tablecloths, bags, purses, pictures, slippers and more embellished with traditional embroidery. In Dubrovnik there are several women’s’ groups who engage in reviving traditional crafts such as folk dress, which originally arose to lift the spirits of victims of war.

One such group is Deša group, who have their centre at Lazareti. They are currently engaged in a project to rescue the traditional colourful dress of Mljet island from oblivion. On your travels around the region, you can meet many more facets of folk culture. If you’re on Korčula island, you may meet a procession of drummers in medieval costume on their way to a performance of the traditional Moreška sword dance (performed across the region in high summer). And if you’re lucky enough to be on distant Lastovo in the two days before Ash Wednesday, you’ll see the Poklad festival, eagerly awaited every year by the islanders, and a riot of fun, celebrating the salvation of the island from attack by Catalan pirates in 1483. The men dress in scarlet traditional costumes with embroidered sashes and hats decked with more flowers than Ladies Day at Ascot – a truly unique experience!

The folk tradition is very much connected with music and dance. During the Dubrovnik Summer Festival you will surely have the chance to see Linđo, Dubrovnik’s foremost folk troupe, going strong since 1964. The region’s folk music is centred around a one-stringed instrument called a ljerica. Legend has it that one Niko Lale was an especially talented player even though one of his fingers was broken. One day, he had enough of working in the fields and screamed “No more farming for me!” – oddly, in perfect English. From then on he was a full time party animal and became known as Linđo.

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varaždin county Although third in terms of population, Varaždin County is one of the smaller Croatian counties, located in the northwestern part of the country.

This is the region where hills meet the valleys, where the tips of the Alps touch the great Pannonian plain, thus enchanting its visitors and providing them with long-lasting and unforgettable experiences.

VA R A Ž D I N COUNTY

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Exceptional beauty of the surrounding landscape, an abundance of cultural monuments and a rich gastronomic heritage all intertwine to create this especially beautiful destination.

Photo by Miljenko Hegedić

Varaždin Historic City Core In the historical necklace of Central European cities, Varaždin stands as a rare, urban pearl. It is a city of harmony and charm, a city that shows its urban identity and continuity not only through the historical Old Town and the beauty of the city’s Baroque architecture, but also through the cosiness of its squares, streets and parks, and the richness of the museum collections. Varaždin has been nicknamed the ‘Croatian Vienna’, a city of baroque, music and flowers, a place that serves as a perfect retreat for its visitors.

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Varaždin Old Town The first image of Varaždin that comes to mind is the postcard-like setting of the Old Town, the most important and most magnificent historical structure in the city. Today, the Old Town houses the City Museum, a must for every visitor, while the medieval city walls and moats surrounding it provide a pleasant stroll for the people of Varaždin and their guests.

Strossmayerovo šetalište bb, Varaždin, www.gmv.hr

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Heritage Photo by Krešimir Đurić

Photo by Siniša Sović

Photo by Jurinec photography

Photo by Domagoj Sever

Romantic Trakošćan Castle Trakošćan is a castle with fairytale beauty in northern Croatia and one of the most romantic castles that you can visit in your lifetime. Surrounded by the beautiful forest and lake park, the eight-centuries-old castle is one of the most attractive castle-museums in Europe. Learn all about the Thracian fortress, Arx Thracorum and the German knights, Drachenstein, explore the legends of the dragon and the lavish life of the Croatian aristocracy over the past centuries.

Trakošćan 4, Bednja, www.trakoscan.hr The beauty of Lepoglava Lace This miraculous lace, which is believed to have been brought to Croatia by the Paulines several centuries ago, is a special feature of Lepoglava and the surrounding area. In 2009, lace making was included in the representative UNESCO List of Intangible Heritage, and the true art of Lepoglava lace makers can best be experienced at the “International Lace Festival”, which is held every September. If you do not have the opportunity to visit the Festival you can view the exhibits and buy this unique, local artwork at the Lepoglava Lace Gallery.

Hrvatskih pavlina 7, Lepoglava, www.lepoglavskacipka.hr Sweeten your palate - try Varaždinske Toplice ‘Spa cake’ If you are in Varaždinske Toplice, the oldest thermal spa in Croatia, make sure you try the magic dessert - Toplice‘spa cake’. The cake combines eggs, sugar, nuts, black coffee, milk and chocolate and a ‘secret ingredient’ to make an irresistible treat. Spa cake is made according to a recipe from the 19th century and is decorated in the traditional way.

The treat was served in the Varaždinske Toplice restaurants at the time when the area was known as one of the most facebook.com/CroatiaInYourPocket

Photo by Domagoj Sever

prominent Central European spa resorts. The accepted way to do it then, was to serve it to the guests during the long afternoon hours with champagne. Today you can taste the famous ‘Spa Cake’ in the Bernarda restaurant.

Zagrebačka 7, Varaždinske Toplice, www.restoranbernarda.eu Oil for good health and top gastronomic pleasure Pumpkin seed oil, once only a locally prized food, is today an indispensable part of the culinary creations of the world’s most famous chefs. Produced by the traditional high-quality pumpkin seed pressing process, this oil is a unique gift of nature, a natural remedy and a true delicacy. The Andreja Petrović Family Farm Visitor Center will introduce its guests to the process of pumpkin seed oil production and other pumpkin seed and spelt products on offer. Tasting is, naturally, an essential and enjoyable part of the visit.

Zagrebačka 238, Varaždin, www.eko-petrovic.hr Learn how to make organic cosmetics “Kuća magične trave” (“House of Magic Grass”) is a brand of domestic, ecological cosmetics produced from medicinal plants and biodynamic cultivation, at the Family Farm Jakopović, which is situated on the slopes of Paka near Novi Marof. Cosmetic products are made according to innovative recipes. They are environmentally certified and contain no preservatives, parabens or artificial colors, and have been in the service of health and beauty overt he past ten years. Enjoy the fresh air in the fields of the ‘House of Magic Grass’ in Paka, learn how to make ecological cosmetics from medicinal herbs and feel the magical power of serenity at this charming estate.

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Eastern Croatia

Karlovac City Museum, Homeland War Museum

Discover Experience is everything!

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Discover

Experience is everything!

Karlovac is a town of four rivers; Kupa, Korana, Dobra and Mrežnica. It also has a centuries-long history and a lively art scene. In a similar way as the life of the city is connected to these four rivers, so are the locals and visitors to Karlovac drawn to four cultural shrines that celebrate and cherish the local history and art.

Gathered under the auspices of the Town Museum of Karlovac, the following magnets for museum-goers and art lovers present the highlights of Karlovac’s cultural offerings.

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Discover

THE TOWN MUSEUM The most interesting feature of Karlovac’s historical core is its star formation, designed four hundred years ago to keep out the troublesome Turks. The construction and defence of this six-pointed, Renaissance-style fortress was based on the ditches and a moat. By taking a stroll through the charming little streets of the Old Town, you will come across the Town Museum.

It is situated in the oldest Karlovac mansion from the 17th century, a former residence of the noble Frankopan family. The Museum was founded more than a century ago, as a location where the town’s memories and items of historical value could be preserved. It holds a collection of more than 21 000 exhibits and is comprised of several departments. Apart from the permanent exhibition, the Museum organizes educational programs and temporary exhibitions, issues publications and offers various other activities to its visitors.

Don’t miss out!

This year Karlovac City Museum presented an interesting exhibition of the recent archaeological excavation works and archival research of the Karlovac Star. The ‘Star Gate’ exhibition which is open till the end of February 2022, interprets significant results of this research and presents new knowledge about this oldest and most famous iconic structure of Karlovac.

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THE HOMELAND WAR MUSEUM The location of the museum has a long military history, going back to the 16th century when the fortification tower (turan) that stood here served as a defense against the Ottoman invaders. Four centuries later, during the Homeland War in Croatia (1991-1995) Turanj was once again the last defense line of the city of Karlovac. Today, it bears witness to the struggle for a free and independent Croatia and is a permanent memorial to the Croatian Army defense of the city during the Homeland War. A modern museum was established in the partially-renovated building that was heavily damaged during the war. It was during the War that the building was nicknamed “Hotel California” by the defenders. The ground floor of the Museum holds the Memorial Room, a souvenir shop and a cafe.

The first floor holds a permanent exhibition Karlovac 1991 – 1995 with over 350 original items, while a multi-purpose hall, library with a reading room and offices are in the attic area.

Visitors have the opportunity to watch and listen to more than three and half hours of multimedia, movies, music and photos. The Museum also comprises outdoor displays of military equipment.

Don’t miss out!

The current exhibition of photography by renowned Karlovac photographer Dinko Neskusil ‘Faces of Karlovac 1991 – 2021’ is a must. It marks the thirtieth anniversary of the beginning of the most severe attacks on Karlovac in the Homeland War. Now, three decades later, the author has located the people in those photographs and created new portraits of them in the very same surroundings.

Exhibition Anton Cetin, photo Denis Stošić

Karlovac City Museum, permanent exhibition Permanent exhibition of the museum, external exhibition of the Museum of the Homeland War

Photos by Karlovac City Museum

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THE VJEKOSLAV KARAS GALLERY The modern and unadorned, brutalist-style structure that houses the Vjekoslav Karas Gallery was erected in 1975 in the New Karlovac Center, right next to the Karlovac Archives and a short stroll from the enclosed Farmers’ Market. The Gallery itself was founded in 1945 as the first gallery institution in Croatia after WWII. It is named after the Croatian painter, Vjekoslav Karas, born in Karlovac two hundred years ago. Karas was a pioneer of a new era of Croatian painting, developing parallelly a love of music. He played several instruments and composed songs both in Croatian and Italian. His most famous painting is Roman woman playing a flute which has been a recognizable motif on Croatian chocolate products. The Gallery, named in his honor, is among the most attractive and best-equipped in the city, with an impressive layout and flexibility of space. It houses visual art and museum exhibitions and various activities related to contemporary art are organized on the premises. The Gallery plays an important role in the cultural life of Karlovac, monitoring and presenting the local and national art scene in the most expressive and articulate way.

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THE DUBOVAC CASTLE Dubovac Castle is one of the best-preserved and most beautiful monuments of medieval architecture in Croatia. Built on a prehistoric hill above the river Kupa, it was named after the dubs, the oaks growing on the surrounding slopes. The castle changed hands many times throughout its history and its current appearance is the result of a comprehensive restoration carried out during the midtwentieth century. Concerts, functions, parties and other cultural, social and music events take place within the Castle all year round.

From the top of the tower, enjoy the incredible views which embrace not just one, but three countries – Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia. Treat yourself to a romantic lunch or dinner with a medieval touch at the Bistro Kastel inside the Castle. The menu is based on a rich, gastronomic heritage and uses fresh local ingredients with a slightly modern twist. Prepare for the exciting signature dishes by a renowned chef and enjoy Karlovac bathed in sunset colours when heading back down the hill to the city.

Don’t miss out!

Climb the squeaky wooden steps to reach the main tower of the castle and visit the exhibition within.

The permanent exhibition of the Castle tells of the rich history of the place, and outlines its importance and the different ownership through the ages. One of its best features is a fascinating map of the ancient terrain detailing all of the other castles and fortresses which once existed along the same defensive line in this region.

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Eastern Croatia

Visual Inspiration The Art of the Meal Feature photos by Katija Živković

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Visual Inspiration

The Art of the Meal In addition to photography, Katija Živković, who also deals with food, cultivates the garden in Konavle, that piece of beautiful land behind Dubrovnik, turning each of her photographs into a visual inspiration.

You can find Katija in the south of Croatia, or join her community at www.pieceofkate.net.

Architect‘s Corner Looking Forward, Looking Back

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Architect‘s Corner

REAL ESTATE AGENCY

RENTING AND SELLING PROPERTY IN ZAGREB FOR 30 YEARS Old Zagreb, Martićeva Street

Looking Forward, Looking Back It’s quite natural for a first-time visitor to Zagreb to wonder “what was it like here under communism?” There are surprisingly few visible traces of that time in the city, perhaps because Croatia, as part of Yugoslavia, experienced a rather gentler mode of communism than its neighbours.

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01 48 11 848 info@zagrebwest.hr www.zagrebwest.hr

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Photos by Višnja Arambašić

Architecture To mention the words “socialism” and “architecture” in the same sentence is to conjure up visions of dreary avenues of endless concrete blocks, for the non-architects among us at least. However, socialism spawned quite a few buildings which are much admired by the arty cognoscenti and by mere mortals alike.

For instance, you may have seen Warsaw’s Palace of Culture and Science – though controversial, it’s certainly astonishing. You’re less likely to have seen Zvartnots Airport in Yerevan, Armenia – but it’s stunning in a 1960’s Barbarella kind of way.

Socialist architecture in Zagreb took a different route to the

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sometimes ostentatious “socialist realist” style. Often it was inspired by the utopian ideals of the “father of modern architecture”, Charles-Édouard Jeanneret, better known as Le Corbusier. Appalled by the poverty he saw in Paris in the 1920s, Le Corbusier designed homes which he saw as “machines for living” which should make life pleasant for their owners and transcend class divides.

Monseuir Le C was a well-travelled chap. His network included a fair few Yugoslav architects who brought to life his vision back home. One example in Zagreb is the block that straddles numbers 33 and 35 on Vukovarska avenija.

It was designed in the mid -1950s

by Drago Galić, who was inspired

by M. Le C’s Unité d’Habitation modernist residence in Marseille. As with the French building, the residents in Vukovarska live in what architects and art historians claim to be one of the most human-friendly buildings around. The flats are laid out over two floors (and studios for singles in the attic). There’s a great view over the city, a caretaker and a communal laundry.

On Vukovarska there a lot of buildings from the new wave of architecture in the 1950s: the City Hall, the building where a branch one of the banks is now housed; the People’s Open University and the apartment block on the corner of Držićeva, which might not seem like the best place to live

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Architect‘s Corner

with the traffic roaring past but whose flats boast a better design than many built today.

Galić was the protégé of another well-known Croatian architect, Drago Ibler, a contemporary of Le Corbusier who is responsible for another iconic building known as “the Wooden Skyscraper”. You’ll see it on Iblerov trg: a low-rise section with business premises with an eight-floor residential block on one side. Its innovative design makes it one of Zagreb’s most famous buildings of the era, and like all the buildings we mention, it’s still a desirable residence.

Residents can enjoy a terrace with a wooden pergola covering the whole of the top of the block.

Nearby, in Laginjina ulica, is an-

other building famous for its humane design and harmonious incorporation into the city, with a small park next door. Take a look at the colourful panels and sliding sunscreens on the south side of the building.

For a little retro “commie”-chic seek out the building of the erstwhile Central Committee of the Union of Communists of Croatia – fondly known as the “kockica”, or “cube”. Designed by Ivo Vitić, you’ll find it on the banks of the Sava at Prisavlje 14. Today it houses a brace of government ministries.

hero of a hit song from the 1960s.

As the writer of a forum post puts it, “it’s a socialist mammoth… ugly as the plague”. But all would agree, the building, though big and ugly, is very well built. Urban legend has it that if an atom bomb fell on Zagreb, Super Andrija would be the last thing left standing. Behind it is a large park called “Park mladenaca” or “The Bride and Groom’s Park”, because couples would plant trees there when they got married.

And for a little post-modern irony, look no further than the building known as “Super Andrija” after the

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Istra & Primorje

Photo by Tjaša Ninić

Editor‘s Choice Nataša Ninić - Every object has a story Give the ART gift The Chocolate Museum Zagreb

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Editor‘s Choice

Every object has a story Nataša Ninić Gentle and sensitive, she tells us a story with each piece of her ceramics.

These exude artistic sensibility, and unusual, somewhat abstract forms. A nature lover who transfers these Preserved Moments to clay, i.e. to textures, shapes, colours and even scents. Nataša was born in Šibenik, and you can feel the energy of the sea in every piece. You can follow Nataša at https://ateliernatasaninic.com/

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Photo by Tjaša Ninić

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Photo by Tjaša Ninić

Editor‘s Choice

Photo by Renata Škrinar

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Winter/Spring 2022 71 Photo by Tjaša Ninić

Give the ART gift Get your wallets and purses ready as our shopping where you can explore and find great gifts!

1.

Sanja Stojković - Sitolab www.sitolabstudio.com

2.

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BITE ART - Oko www.biteart.hr

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3.

Sanja Rotter - Rotter_woodoir www.instagram.com/rotter_woodoir/

4.

5.

Picture book Vlaho Bukovac www.migk.hr/izdavastvo-clanak/item/650-vlaho-bukovac-djetinjstvo

“Pagradotok” by Damir Fabijanić Look in bookstores.

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Editor‘s Choice 6.

7.

Notebooks with humorous messages

www.brokenships.store/products/notebook

8.

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Bad Memories Eraser

www.brokenships.store/products/bad-memories-eraser

Canvas bag

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Croatia In Your Pocket

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The Chocolate Museum Zagreb The sweetest of Zagreb museums is a definite must for all chocolate lovers and for those who wish to explore the history of one of the most favourite tastes and flavours on Earth.

The moment you step inside, you will be swept off your feet by the beautiful and creative interior that spreads through six historic zones. Each zone consists of unique scenery, musical background, historical artifacts, interactive educational spots and savouring stations.

A CHOCOLATE-TASTING BOX INSTEAD OF A TICKET Instead of the usual entry ticket, you will be given a chocolate-tasting box with various types of chocolates, starting with a cacao bean, the most essential ingredient of chocolate.

While following the circular layout of the museum, you will stop at special savouring stations to try a particular chocolate from your ‘Entrance TicketBox’ and learn more about each sample’s history and production. The adventurous journey through time and space will thus engage all senses – sight, smell, touch, hearing and taste.

FROM MESOAMERICA TO THE EUROPEAN COURTS The historical path at the Museum begins with the cocoa beans produced in Mesoamerica by the Olmecs, Mayas and Aztecs thousands of years ago, followed by the story of the Spanish conquistadors who brought chocolate to the European courts, and eventually brings us to the Belgian, Swiss, Dutch and English chocolatiers who created the chocolate we treasure and love today. The latest invention in the ‘world of chocolate’ which you will also have a chance to try at the end of your journey, is Ruby Chocolate, becoming very popular worldwide.

THE LABORATORY Don’t be surprised when you come across the ‘laboratory’ – a special area of the Museum. Here, one can learn about the production process, will be able to smell and touch ingredients and occasionally see a demonstration showing chocolate tempering and praline creation.

WILLY WONKA The Museum also provides a chance for every visitor, regardless of age, to turn into Willy Wonka for a moment. As you probably know, Willy Wonka is a fictional character from Roald Dahl’s children’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from 1964. His famous bike has been displayed at the Museum, and by sitting on it, you are guaranteed a big happy smile on your face that will rejuvenate you instantly!

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THE CHOCOLATE BOUTIQUE The interactive Chocolate Museum of Zagreb offers diverse, but also fun facts, history, hands-on chocolate experiences, workshops and finally, exceptional products displayed in a chic gift shop that takes pride in offering for purchase, a variety of assorted, handmade chocolates from distinguished Croatian and Slovenian chocolatiers.

TUESDAY WALK WITH CURATORS Note that every Tuesday at 6:45 pm you can join a ‘Tuesday walk’ with expert guidance of the Museum’s curators. Immerse into the World of Chocolate and engage all senses!

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Slavko Kopač, HDLU Archive

Culture Tips New Releases Events 100 Years of Bernardo Bernardi Culture Hot Spots Toys - Childhood Forever Miroslav Krleža - 40 Years On

Culture Tips New Releases Matija Dedić dedicated his new album to the great singer-songwriters, strong vocalists and women who marked his life.

www.deezer.com/hr/album/269855552

Croatian Actor Nikša Kušelj’s CD is available on all streaming services. You’ll also find the video for the song “Grandezza” which Nikša directed.

The album features ten compositions filled with metaphors of the sea, the artist’s hometown of Dubrovnik, as well as theatre and film.

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Culture Tips Events 17.12 - 27.03 » Slavko Kopač A multimedia exhibition on Slavko Kopač shows the work of a Croatian artist who belongs to the top achievements of domestic and world art, and strongly marked the French and European art scene of the second half of the 20th century. Associating with worldrenowned artists such as Jean Dubuffet, André Breton and Michel Tapié, he created trends in Paris, the world’s art centre. The exhibition will show a selection of Kopač’s most excellent paintings and sculptures from private collections and museum institutions and will provide an insight into the cultural circumstances of the cities where the artist worked (Vinkovci, Zagreb, Florence, Mostar, Paris). The exhibition will extend through all the exhibition spaces of Meštrović’s pavilion and will include the exterior, where various installations will be placed. QE‑3, Home of HDLU, Trg žrtava fašizma 16.

Slavko Kopač, HDLU Archive

12.07 » diana krall

Photo by Mary McCartney

On July 12, 2022, the Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall in Zagreb will host the famous Canadian jazz singer and pianist Diana Krall, who is coming to Zagreb as part of her new world tour. QI‑3, Vatroslav Lisinski Concert Hall, Trg Stjepana Radića 4, tel. (+385-1) 612 11 11, www.lisinski.hr.

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Culture Tips 20.04 - 19.06 » Youth Salon The Youth Salon in its 36th year is a traditional manifestation of HDLU. The main concept of the Youth Salon is Parasites, i.e. it wants to “gather parasites, intruders, pests and nuisances as guests”, as intruders and as hosts who are aware, artistic procedures penetrate existing structures and explore new systems…In parallel with the curatorial concept of the 36th Youth Salon, the exhibition ‘Situation in Additional Exhibition Spaces’ will be presented with the aim of presenting and representing the widest possible crosssection of fine art research and the work of younger artists. Qwww.salonmladih. hdlu.hr/en.

25.04 » Franz Ferdinand One of the biggest foreign guest appearances in Zagreb 2022 is part of the Hits To The Head tour, and it is accompanied by an album of the biggest hits with which the band has conquered the world and will be presented live in the spring.QH‑3, Dom sportova, Trg Krešmira Ćosića 11, tel. (+385-1) 365 03 33, 200 - 230kn.

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Bernardo Bernardi, 1961., MUO Archives

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Culture Tips 100 Years of Bernardo Bernardi December 2021 saw the centenary of the birth of Bernardo Bernardi (1921-1985) the designer and architect who was a key player in the culture of Croatia in the decades following World War II. To mark the occasion the Grey Area arts association has organized a sequence of events and an exhibition in Bernardi’s home town of Korčula, helping to reveal just how influential figure he was. A keen proponent of modernist styles who was very much the total artist, he designed buildings, interiors and furniture for a range of buildings that characterized the progressive, go-ahead Croatian Republic of the 1950s and 1960s.

He is arguably most famous for his chairs, which were featured in many of his interior-design projects, and whose simple elegance is much revered by the designers of today. The Zaostatak interijera (“Remains of the Interior”) exhibition is at the Korčula Town Museum until March 16 2022. www.gm-korcula.com.hr Bernardo Bernardi Gallery Archives

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Azimut Archives

Culture Tips Culture Hot Spots Art Workshop Lazareti The former quarantine houses – which now houses an artists’ community, including workshops and ARL gallery. Contemporary local art of an excellent standard.

QFrana Supila 8, Dubrovnik, www. facebook.com/ARL.Dbk. Open 11:0020:00.

Azimut Club This is the main actor of the Šibenik alternative scene. Situated inside now-dry wells, built in 1453, it’s is a home to urban culture. Here you will find various contemporary exhibitions, several fascinating art installations, all part of Azimut’s atmosphere and underground world. Topped with live concerts and music, its shaded terrace is a place you’ll want to visit to relax, where you can hang out while sipping a cool glass of culture.QObala palih omladinaca 2, Šibenik, www.azimut.art/.

Open 09:00-24:00.

Book Caffe Dnevni boravak For those of you wondering, the café translation is ‘The Living Room’ and it is in the atmosphere here that does justice to the café’s name. Friendly staff, very unpretentious, occasional live music, new album and book promotions, literary nights are a plus. There is a separate room for non-smokers which serves as a gallery with regular exhibitions.QCiottina 12a, Rijeka. Open 07:00-24:00; Sat 09:0024:00; Sun 16:00-24:00.

Botaničar Perhaps oddly located in one sense, but perfectly in another, Botaničar is a mix of art gallery, café, culture venue, situated only a few minutes from the Botanical Garden. This part of the city seems to attract ‘underground’ venues, and it’s easy to see why. Here you will find book launches, poetry nights and, more importantly, somewhere peaceful to enjoy your tea or coffee.

QTrg Marka Marulića 6, Zagreb, www. facebook.com/BotanicarZagreb/. Open 08:00-23:00; Sun 11:00-19:00.

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Culture Tips Gallery Gina Archives

Caffe Gallery Gina Wildly popular after dark, good music, a tiny art gallery and an older crowd all crammed into a little space in an atmospheric stone street.QVaroška 2, Zadar.

Open 08:00-24:00.

KC Mesnička A small club in the Zagreb city centre, especially productive with literary evenings, exhibitions, jazz jam sessions, live concerts and dj sets. The upper part of the club is great for drinking coffee, while the music events are held in the smaller basement.QMesnička 12, Zagreb, tel. (+385) 091 604 00 70. Open 07:00-24:00.

Poneštrica The name of the store is a local word for a small window and in it you will find works by artisans and artists mainly from Rijeka and its surrounding areas. Ceramics, painting, handicrafts and designer jewelry are on offer and you will surely be able to choose the right gift for everyone in here.

In addition, this is a wonderful venue for readers’ meetings and various creative workshops.QTrg 128.Brigade Hrvatske vojske 3A, Rijeka, www.ponestrica.hr/.

Open 09:30-17:00; closed Sat, Sun. ZadArt Devotees to art ought to know that the exhibition space of the ZadArt! Gallery is where new exhibits are held every three weeks on average. All forms of art and visual art by not only Croatian but also foreign artists can be seen. Art for all, both big and small!QKovačka 3, Zadar. Open Open10:00-12:00, 18:00-21:00:00, 18:0021:00; closed Sun.

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Toys - Childhood Forever Are you ready for a nostalgic journey to the past? The new project of the Zagreb’s Ethnographic Museum which is open till May 2022, will remind us of the carefree world of our childhood and teach us about traditional and modern toy design.

The central exhibition of the project was conceived as a journey through the history of Croatian toys and children’s games from the held collections of the Ethnographic Museum, from the end of the 19th century to the present day. Traditional toys, especially those from the Hrvatsko Zagorje region, which are listed as non-tangible heritage of the UNESCO’s Representative List, are hereby introduced to children and adults in an educational and appealing manner.

As part of the exhibition, visitors can also enjoy watching popular Croatian cartoons such as ‘Professor Balthazar’ and ‘Little Flying Bears’, produced by Zagreb Film, a partner of this project.

If that wasn’t enjoyable enough, you can choose to see any of eleven guest exhibitions from other museums across the city which have presentations on the first floor of the Museum. The Museum of Arts

Photo by Matija Dronjić

and Crafts, the Croatian History Museum, the Croatian School Museum, the Archaeological Museum, the Nikola Tesla Technical Museum, the Croatian Sports Museum and the Museum of Contemporary Art have come together to jointly present traditional, artistic and industrial toys manufactured in Croatia.

The exhibition also showcases the work of notable Croatian artists who have cooperated with wellknown foreign clients and museums. Established toy designers, Jasmina Kosanović and Lea Vavra, have personally been involved in the preparation of the project.

Additionally, on the ground floor of the museum, as part of the permanent exhibition of the Collection

of Non-European Cultures, there is an exhibition ‘Playing around the World’, with interesting and exciting toy exhibits from Asia, South America, Africa and Australia.

For the entire duration of the exhibition, visitors will have a chance to participate in educational workshops and themed exhibitions organized by other museums of Zagreb.

Visiting ‘Toys - Childhood Forever’ will brighten up this gloomy season by your participating in something fun and entertaining. Take your children, grandchildren and friends to the Ethnographic Museum and you’ll be transported to the carefree time where one enjoyed the world of imagination and play.

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Zagreb City Museum Archives

Miroslav Krleža - 40 Years On Wikipedia may well describe Miroslav Krleža as “the greatest Croatian writer of the 20th century” but how widely read is he? And should you bother getting hold of his books?

December 29 2021 will mark forty years since the death of Krleža, the Zagreb-born poet, novelist, dramatist and thinker who towered like a colossus over the Croatian literary scene. Many of his works are considered canonical in his own country, and he has been celebrated internationally as one of the key voices of Central European modernism. However English-language translations of his work are disappointingly meager for someone of his stature, and he is far too often unfairly dismissed as someone who you ought to get to grips with if you are really serious about such things but you can skip if you just want a good read.

Born in 1893, Krleža served in the Austro-Hungarian army in World War I before becoming the central figure of Zagreb’s inter-war literary scene. He was a communist supporter right from the start, but disagreed with the strict cultural policies favoured by the communists during the Stalin-dominated 1930s, and became associated with a more maverick, free-thinking form of Marxism. Held at arms length by Yugoslavia’s leaders in the years immediately after World War II, he was nevertheless a firm supporter of Tito’ new course after 1948 and became something of a cultural ambassador for communist Yugoslavia, travelling with Tito on many of the latter’s state visits.

The political side of Krleža often obscures how much pure literature resides in his books.

His most famous novel is The Return of Philip Latinowicz published in 1932, about a painter who returns home after a long period of estrangement and drifts into a directionless and slightly depraved group of middle-class losers ruined by war and economic dislocation. It’s an engaging period piece with existential overtones, although it is not as powerful as On The Edge of Reason (1938), a bona-fide European classic which explores social hypocrisy with biting sarcasm and has a pretty decent English translation.

On no account attempt to start your explorations of Krleža with The Banquet in Blitva, a strangely lifeless satire of authoritarian politics in an imaginary Baltic country. It will put you off him for life. As yet untranslated in English is Zastave (“Flags”), an epic chronicle of Croatian family life in peace and war.

People who feel daunted by Krleža’s grumpy intellectualism and who really need an alternative point of entry should definitely try Journey to Russia, a modernist travel book written in the 1920s but translated quite recently (and with great fluency) by Will Firth.

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