Highlights from 2024
Author Olja Knežević in conversation with Michael Tate
Olja Knežević read from her latest book – Strada Fortunata – and talked about her themes, her inspiration and her literary hopes. Olga, originally from Montenegro, has lived in Zagreb for many years, where she launched her literary career with a novel written in English: Milena & Other Social Reforms. Her much lauded fourth book – Catherine the Great and the Small – won the VBZ unpublished manuscript award and was translated into English for Istros Books (2020), and her short story, Trapped, was included in Istros’ recent anthology of female writers, Balkan Bombshells.
My Father Prayed in Croatian: an evening with NZ poet, David Howard
We were pleased to hold this event in the New Zealand High Commission and to serve New Zealand wines that trace their history back to Croatia.
Poet David Howard read from ‘Mate’ and talked about the early Dalmatian immigrants to New Zealand with Māori links which inspired his work: David’s cycle of poems draws upon the history of Dalmatian immigration to New Zealand in the early 20th century, where men were mostly employed digging kauri gum for the roads in the North Island. Many of them ended up marrying Maori women and the name given to them, and their descendants, is ‘Tarara”.
David has lived in Pazin, Croatia, for the past five years and works as an editor and lecturer.
Visit to Amedea, the Half-Croatian cafe, in Whitstable
As the visit to the cafe last year was a success, we featured it again in our 2024 programme.
Amedea, the half-Croatian cafe, is small and characterful with inside and outside seating. The menu has snacks and drinks, ideal for a light summer lunch. Ed Thomas, the half Croatian owner, and Suzanna, his Croatian mother, run the cafe. Whitstable is a delightful seaside town so our visit to the cafe was combined with a wander round the shops and the town, as well as the beach.
The City of Osijek and the region of Slavonija: culture, regional highlights, tourism
Multimedia elements were used to present this largely undiscovered gem of continental Croatia. Specially recorded music by the Zlatne Strune orchestra gave guests an insight into the traditional music of Slavonija.
After the video performance, reflections about the rich history and offerings of this region were presented by Katarina Mihaljevic from her project slavonia.love. Dina Mehmedbegovic-Smith added an interesting account of the linguistic diversity of the region. Photographs by Igor Milicic and Miroslav Vanek were also on display. The event ended with wine from the region together with homemade Slavonian pastries.
Split tour of Twentieth century architecture
Following the successful 2022 weekend tour of Zagreb’s twentieth century architecture in cooperation with the C20 Society, Split was the focus this year. Highlights ranged from Split 3 to the Mestrovic Gallery.
Following this tour, again with the C20 Society we arranged a visit to the Embassy of Bosnia and Herzegovina that occupies the premises of the former Yugoslav embassy. This was an opportunity to see an example of 1970s architecture as well as to listen to an illustrated talk from Maroje Mrduljas about the relationship between the ideology of the time and architecture. The visit to the embassy also provided an opportunity to see an extraordinary, very large piece of marquetry from 1951 by the Croatian architect and a prominent inlaid master Ante Župan (the chief architect of the Zagreb Fair) according to drawings by E. Tomašević (title of work Historical Monuments of Yugoslavia) and Đuro Tiljak (title of work The Fifth Offensive).
SPLITS: an exhibition of work inspired by Split
Stephanie Douet undertook a residency at Culture Hub Croatia in Split in 2023 and her sculptures in this exhibition were the result. Following the paths of Grand Tour artists such as Edward Lear and Robert Adam, she arrived in the Roman city and wandered around drawing the ruined palace, fragments of antique pottery and tombs. Meandering readings about Croatia and former Yugoslavia led her to a fascination with the country’s complicated history – its Brutalist monuments, its intricate folk costumes, its relationships with Venice, the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires.
Stephanie described ‘Splits’ as a hybrid of painting, design, sculpture and relief, comprising decorative and painterly elements applied to shaped board. Stephanie also took part in and ’in conversation’ event allowing for a deeper conversation about the work and inspiration.
calendarCroatia
For ten years the Society has asked members to submit photographs for an exhibition and a British-Croatian Society calendar. From over 200 photographs from 43 photographers 25 were included in the calendar, and photographs from all the contributors featured in an online exhibition.
