August 9, 2021 - The largest Croatian art fair, Art Zagreb, will be held in Hall V of the Nikola Tesla Technical from 15 to 18 September and it will include several exhibitions, lectures, panels, films, and concerts.

Večernji List reports that the largest Croatian art fair, Art Zagreb, is being prepared for the fourth time in a row. This year's edition, with exhibitions, lectures, panels, films, and concerts, will be held in Hall V of the Nikola Tesla Technical Museum, from 15 to 18 September.

This year, for the first time, the organizers of Art Zagreb have established cooperation with the Society of Croatian Art Historians, which will prepare exhibitions of Croatian contemporary art, as well as round tables on events on the art scene.

''The idea of ​​our cooperation is to encourage communication between art historians and artists, communication that used to be very intense, but unfortunately has been lost over time. We hope that with this cooperation we will be able to encourage and revive it'', the organizer and director of Art Zagreb Daniel Tomičić told us.

Therefore, four concepts of young art historians who will participate in Art Zagreb have been selected. They are Hana Katanić with a panel on cryptocurrency, Katarina Podobnik with the exhibition "Beginning: (de) construction", Katerina Jovanović and Ana Žarković organize the exhibition "Homo faber", and Ana Bedenko, Jozefina Ćurković, and Tea Kantoci the exhibition "Survival Kit".

Visitors will be able to view (and buy) student works, from students of all Croatian Academies of Fine Arts, but also academies from abroad. The exhibition "18+" by the artist Marko Šošić, assistant professor at the Josip Juraj Strossmayer University in Osijek, has also been announced. This will be Šošić's first solo exhibition in Zagreb, and he will present fifteen paintings created since the beginning of the pandemic and quarantine. And the art organization Yelo is organizing a project of pop-up exhibitions "Art Bubble / Art & Money" at Art Zagreb, about which we will find out in the coming days.

''Behind the organization of an art fair in Croatia, where the market is still lagging behind the West, is the idea of ​​educating the audience and the critical mass'', says Tomičić.

''The main obstacle to investing in works of art is the lack of tax relief for companies that invest in works of art, which, we believe and hope, will soon change with the harmonization of regulations with Western countries. Contemporary art has no place in the media, people do not have the habit of going to exhibitions... In the world, investing in art is treated the same as investing in stocks or real estate and in every age of crisis, and so in this corona crisis, it turns out that art loses the least in value. We started this festival to talk and write about it and to raise awareness about the art market'', concludes Tomičić.

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ZAGREB, 16 May, 2021 - French comic book artist, colorist, and writer Cyril Pedrosa will pay a visit to Zagreb from 19 to 26 May to participate in several public events, including the opening of the exhibition of original boards "The Golden Age" and attendance at the Zagreb Crtani Romani Šou/Zagreb Comic Con festival.

Pedrosa will hold a creative and cartooning workshop for beginners and masterclass for undergraduates at Zagreb's Academy of Fine Arts.

Pedrosa's artist-in-residence program is part of the French-Croatian cooperation in cartoon and comic art. A bilateral agreement to this effect was signed by the governments of France and Croatia in February 2021 during events marking the centenary of the French Institute in Croatia.

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ZAGREB December 13, 2020 – .One of Croatia's best-loved gallery and event spaces will undergo a revolutionary new facelift at the hands of a world-famous architect. Zagreb Lauba's new look comes at the hands of internationally acclaimed Sou Fujimoto. A serial award winner, the architect's prominent works are found all over the world.

Newly-released images of how Zagreb's Lauba will look show an incredibly imaginative redesign. Echoing the avenue of trees that runs by the side of the gallery and event space, Sou Fujimoto has planned an oval-shaped garden roof space for the building in which trees will also be planted. The inspiration for the design came from Zagreb Lauba's name – it is a colloquial word used to describe a certain circular area of trees, the architect being informed of this by gallery owner Tomislav Klitschko.

© Sou Fujimoto Architects / Lauba

According to Jutarnji List's coverage of the redesign, by journalist Patricia Kish, the new roof garden space will be accessed by stairs and lift. Zagreb Lauba's design as it stands today was originally made by Alenka Gačić-Pojatina, who will collaborate on the new additions by Sou Fujimoto.

Zagreb Lauba's story dates back to 1910 when it was constructed by Emil Eisner and Adolf Ehrlich for use as a stables and riding school for the Austro-Hungarian army. It later became the weaving mill of the Textile Combine Zagreb, which it remained until being converted to a gallery and event space in 2008.

© Sou Fujimoto Architects / Lauba

Sou Fujimoto is one of the most celebrated architects of Japan. He has won several prestigious awards for his work and the acclaim has made his designs much in-demand around the world. Often working with wood and natural materials, his designs can be found in London, Paris, Budapest and soon, at Zagreb Lauba's hands, in Croatia.

Lauba is a contemporary art gallery and its mission is to discover artistic expression by Croatian visual artists, and also participate in international cultural trends. Set in a huge black building near Črnomerec its exhibitions usually change around every month. In recent times it has also played host to large-scale electronic music events.

One of Sou Fujimoto's previous designs © Kenta Mabuchi

December 2, 2020 – Streets have been noticeably quieter over recent days, although not by one building in Rijeka and a roadside in Dobrinj, Krk island, where renowned street artist, Zagreb's Lunar, has left two huge new murals

The cafes are closed but, what's more, there's a chill in the air. It's not only the lockdown that has made the streets of Croatia more quiet than usual at this time of year. Over recent days, temperatures have dropped to around zero when the sun falls. And it falls early. The light can be gone by 5pm.

Rijeka

Exercise or a simple pleasant stroll around the Christmas lights have been all that's been drawing folks out onto the streets after dark, save for the food delivery guys whose bikes whizz past you faster than ever in the chill. Even during the day, the streets of Croatia are quieter than normal because of the lockdown.


Dobrinj

But, these days haven't been anything other than normal for acclaimed artist Slaven Kosanovic aka Zagreb's Lunar. The cooler temperatures have only meant wearing more clothes and the quieter streets have not made his careful craftsmanship any quicker. His sometimes vast murals often require him to be above pedestrians passing below, up a ladder or even on a crane.

Dobrinj

The two new paintings of Zagreb's Lunar definitely fall at the larger end of the works he has produced over the last 25+ years. One towers above street level on an entire building facade in Rijeka. So tall is the painting that trying to take it all in could strain your neck in the wrong wind. The other piece, in Dobrinj, Krk island, is just as epic, although this vast canvas lies horizontal, by the roadside.

The Rijeka mural is dedicated to the city's music scene - you can spot some of the names of famous Rijeka bands in the painting

The Rijeka mural of Zagreb's Lunar, which he painted alongside his brother, with whom he often collaborates, is a four-story wall of cats dedicated to Rijeka's famous music scene. The mural took two days to complete. In the mural, you can spot the names of many Rijeka music groups like The Siids. Let 3, Denis & Denis and Jonathan. The mural is another part of the manifestations organised in celebration of Rijeka 2020 Capital of Culture.

Dobrinj

Krk island is a well-known tourist destination, but the pretty inland village of Dobrinj is far from the regular path of visitors. Anyone travelling past the enormous mural Zagreb's Lunar and his brother have left here will surely remember the name of Dobrinj. It may well entice some to come looking for it – it is by far the largest piece of public art on the island. It was facilitated by the community organisation Kulturni Dobrinj.

Dobrinj

All photos © Antonija Diklic (Rijeka) Damir Jevtic (Dobrinj)

Dobrinj, with the artist, Slaven Kosanovic aka Zagreb's Lunar, on the right

The famous French street-art artist Étien visited Zagreb once again to mark the celebrated event “White Night” (Nuit Blanche) that took place on Saturday, October 1. In addition to helping mark the annual artistic event, Étien also left his mark in Zagreb by painting a stunning 3-D mural of a sea turtle on plateau Gradec.

Image by Étien Facebook