Zagreb, August 25, 2020 - The day after the earthquake in Zagreb, in those most vulnerable moments, a portal dedicated to Zagreb was born. Named after a famous song, Beli Zagreb Grad has so far published more than 500 inspiring stories about Zagreb, and its founder, student Barbara Grgić, told TCN her story and commented on the portal's past five months.
Beli Zagreb Grad is a project by a Dalmatian Hinterland girl, as Barbara, who is originally from Knin, likes to say. She came to Zagreb in 2015 to study Coatology and Latin at the Faculty of Croatian Studies, and currently, in addition to the faculty and running the portal, she also works in a media agency.
Barbara Grgić at the Green River Festival in Zagreb / Private archive
She initially expressed her interest in writing about Zagreb through the Instagram profile Beli Zagreb Grad, where she gathered 10,000 followers in the first year. She was already thinking about starting a portal at the time, but, as she says, we always postpone something because we think we are not ready enough.
The earthquake in Zagreb was her main trigger.
Love for Zagreb
"That morning, a little over five months ago, was certainly one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. I still twitch at every vibration in the building. When life literally shakes you and wounds what is dearest to you, then all your problems, fears, and limitations fall into the water. Then the only question remains – now that you are alive and well, what is your role in this world and this city? What do you want to leave behind when you are gone and what do you want to be remembered for? These are just some of the questions I have been asking myself for the whole two years, and I found the answers in a few seconds while life was rewinding in front of my eyes," Barbara describes her decision to finally launch a portal about the city of Zagreb.
Currently, the portal employs about 20 volunteers from various fields of interest, from cultural anthropologists, ethnologists, historians, art historians, to people from Croatian, Italian, Latin, and German studies. They all have a common passion – love for Zagreb and love for writing. They do not lack motivation because they consider Zagreb to be an inexhaustible source of inspiration, thus proving that Zagreb's culture is very much alive, which makes it easy for them to find their way to their audience.
Different but unique
So far, they have covered 180 historical topics, as many as 380 events in the city on various topics (fine arts, music, film, performing arts), and held 70 interviews with artists of various profiles (artists, musicians, actors, dancers).
However, from the quantity itself, they always put the quality and educational component of the content in the first place.
"I put an enormous emphasis on inspiring stories by local artists of all kinds, which is why our interview section is so read and special," says Barbara, who, as the founder of such a successful portal, gave many interviews for various Croatian media.
Although they do journalistic work, none of the members of the Beli Zagreb Grad team are journalists, but they use it as their advantage, not a disadvantage. People with different educational backgrounds and attitudes approach the topics they write about differently, which makes this portal unique. Nevertheless, they are all bound by an interest in a deeper understanding of the topics they write about.
"We are not typical journalists and we do not ask typical journalistic questions. It is not enough for us to cover when, where, how, why, who. We want to dig deeper. Leave the reader thinking,” says Barbara, adding that originality stems from complete commitment, dedication, and interest in the topic.
Barbara Grgić with a friend Klara Halužan at the Green River Festival / Author: Hana Klain
Soon to become the leading portal for culture
And the fact that the Beli Zagreb Grad project was recognized and awarded with the third place in the Competition for the best Zagreb online projects designed and realized during the coronavirus pandemic proves that the commitment paid off.
Barbara Grgić wins an Award for the best Zagreb online projects designed and realized during the coronavirus pandemic for Beli Zagreb Grad / Private archive
Barbara points out that the stories they publish are stories they believe.
"We are a little different. We are not talking to robots that will fix our monthly analytics, but to neighbors, fellow citizens, children, young people, women and men who share the same interest as us,” explains Barbara.
Readers feel it very well, so Beli Zagreb Grad has over 5,000 new followers on social networks since March, and as many as 80,000 views on the website.
Continuing at this pace, Beli Zagreb Grad strives to become the leading portal in the field of culture in Zagreb, but also in the entire Zagreb County. As Barbara emphasizes, after all, the song, after which the portal was named, says "Lepe ti je Zagorje zelene, još je ljepši Beli Zagreb Grad“, meaning that Zagorje is also beautiful, and Zagreb is even more beautiful.
