December 12, 2022 - The famous Croatian art collector exhibited part of her collection in her apartment at Krležin Gvozd in Zagreb. Every Friday and Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. Dagmar Meneghello opens her home to all visitors who appreciate art.

Zagreb Advent, as they say at Večernji, received another must-visit cultural stop. The location is a private apartment at Krležin Gvozd 23 (on the second floor of which the Croatian author Miroslav Krleža lived until his death). The famous art collector Dagmar Meneghello returned to Zagreb after almost six decades of living in Palmižana on Hvar. She brought along the works of Zagreb painters that are part of her art collection. Following the theme of Advent and the joy that comes with it, she organised an Advent exhibition in her apartment that showcases the works of Šutej, Friščić, Eterović, and for the first time in Zagreb, Ivo Ćorković.

The exhibition can be viewed every Friday and Saturday from 4 to 7 p.m. during Dagmar’s open house days. In Zagreb, the movement of collectors opening their apartments to the public to show off their art is quite a novelty. Dagmar Meneghello learned of such a lifestyle in Germany and now finds it to be normal and necessary.

Dagmar Meneghello's art collection has about 3,000 works. It was collected over half a century, during which hundreds of artists created and exhibited at Dagmar’s home in Palmižana. Her Palmižana home was often the first contact of foreign visitors, mostly sailors, with Croatian culture and art. For fifty years, she invited artists to a tiny island, a gallery at the end of the world.

The works include numerous sculptors, from the great Kosta Angeli Radovani, Goldoni, Riba Lončarić, Kuzma Kovačić, Peruško Bogdanić to Petar Dolić and Petar Hranuelli, Alana Kajfeš, Vatroslav Kuliš, Bana Milenković, Toni Franović, Boris Demur, and Željko Jerman, to younger generations such as Paulina Jazvić, Koraljka Kovač, Nina Ivezić, Tisja Kljaković Braić. These days, numerous museums and institutions borrow and exhibit the collection.

Dagmar started her art journey at an early age while working as a journalist in Zagreb. Love took her to Palmižana, and now she started a foundation and is working to ensure that her luxurious collection gets a new permanent home.

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November the 18th, 2022 - The City of Split is set to co-finance medically assisted reproduction in order to attempt to raise the birthrate in that part of Central Dalmatia.

As Poslovni Dnevnik writes, the City of Split will co-finance medically assisted fertilisation from 2023 onwards, writes Vecernji list, stating that such a pronatal measure has already been introduced by the Eastern Croatian city of Osijek, as well as by the municipality of Gradac in the Makarska littoral.

Many couples try to become parents even after several failed fertility procedures, when they no longer have the right to the procedure of medically assisted reproduction at the expense of the Croatian Institute for Health Insurance, which is a big blow to any normal bank account, so, in an effort to improve the devastating demographic trends in Dalmatia, the city will cover part of the costs of such interventions.

When it comes to demographics in the city and the wider area, the situation is truly alarming. Split has lost 10,100 inhabitants in the last ten years along, and as for the ratio of births and deaths, in the same period, about 3,000 more people died were born.

''We've agreed with Mayor Ivica Puljak that from 2023 on, the City of Split will receive a fund for subsidising medically assisted reproduction. The fund will amount to 600,000 kuna. We will further harmonise the regulations with the mayor before announcing the tender. Otherwise, HZZO covers the costs of four procedures, for women up to 42 years of age. I propose that the City of Split co-finance procedures for women living in Split until the age of 44 or 45, but also to co-finance procedures for couples who have already used all of the procedures financially covered by HZZO, of which there are unfortunately many,'' said Davor Matijevic, a Split city councilor from SDP.

He explained that HZZO pays out in full for four procedures if they are performed at KBC Split (Split Hospital). If those procedures either don't work or result in loss, people seeking such treatments then have to pay for them alone, which is either incredibly difficult or in some cases simply not possible.

For the additional three procedures, the City of Split will co-finance 80 percent of the total costs if the procedure is performed at Split Hospital, 60 percent if the procedure is performed in one of the private institutions in the wider area, and 40 percent (up to 7,500 kuna) for procedures performed in another healthcare institution located on the territory of the Republic of Croatia or even in another European Union member state.

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June 10, 2022 - From renowned authors to thrilling narratives and illustrious actors and producers, there are certain masterpieces that reveal something essential about the crescent-shaped country of Europe. Croatia, a country overflowing with culture and a home to many creative souls, has faced richly deserved appreciation from various cultural works. These people and narratives have become integral to the country’s identity, demonstrating the way it is perceived through the eyes of foreigners. A look at the art that defines Croatia. 

Croatia has revealed itself to be a nation ‘forged in war’, emerging precisely in 1991 as an independent country. The centuries of unrest at the outer edges of earlier empires, as well as a devastating civil war when Tito’s Yugoslavia collapsed, had soon formed one of the most dynamic and creative countries in Europe; showcasing brilliancy to any tourist deciding to visit.

Starting from some of the distinguished books set in Croatia that depict the country’s enigmatic history, many will divulge in the “Black Lamb and Grey Falcon; A journey through Yugoslavia” written and published by Rebecca West. While those searching for a light-hearted novella might be lured into “Two Tickets to Dubrovnik” by Angus Kennedy as he depicts the area’s history and draws up a beautiful setting of the city. 

Moreover, not only are their books set in the celebrated central European and Mediterranean country but there are also authors who have shared their views on Croatia’s mesmerising landscapes. The great walled city of Dubrovnik, a popular tourist destination situated on the southern Adriatic coast, is famously known to be the “pearl of the Adriatic” as its picturesque views stun the most renowned poets of the world. This description from Lord Byron in the nineteenth century – one of the greatest Romantic poets in English Literature – has become unnoticed by numerous tourists that visit Dubrovnik every year.

Additionally, George Bernard Shaw, an Irish playwright who has been awarded both a Nobel Prize in Literature and an Academy Award, shared his sentiments on the city’s sheer magnificence. Upon his visit to Dubrovnik in 1929 he revealed: “If you want to see Heaven on Earth, come to Dubrovnik”.

And of course, you know that it is no secret that Game of Thrones was set in Dubrovnik as its primary filming location, but were you aware that the country itself has been continuously producing fascinating talents within the movie industry? Some of these surprising actors and producers include John Malkovich – who has received Academy Award Nominations for his distinguished performances – and Goran Višnjić – a Croatian American actor making an appearance in both American and British films and television productions. 

For many, Croatia is the entrance to the New World, and the country’s distinct personality has been shaped by generations of shocking talents who have passed through or lived in the country. Its nation conveys incredible nature, astonishing history, and generations of artists who celebrate the beauty of such land. So, it seems that no aspect of the culture-rich country of Croatia has gone unexplored by authors or even filmmakers – making it a sight worth seeing!

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