I was carrying a broken car battery to a recycling yard and saw a Commodore 64 there on a pile of other electronics. I took it home and discovered it was still working. It was a moment that has changed my life, says Juraj Mucko, remembering how he became a collector of old computers from the 1970s and 1980s. His friend Tomislav Talan is a passionate collector of more than 1300 calculators, while Ivan Širić has filled up his cabinets with old computer books and journals, reports Večernji List on March 8, 2019.

Together with about a dozen enthusiasts in retro-electronics, they founded the Retro Info society, which services computer, monitors and other equipment, provided they were produced before 1997.

In addition to the legendary Commodore 64, their attics and garages are home to game consoles such as SNES and a 40-year-old Atari 2600, and old TV sets, VCRs and cassette recorders. Do they collect Pentiums, old cell phones and tablets? "No, that is too new for us... Almost everything we have comes from the previous millennium,” says Talan, who has the most extensive collection. The most valuable one belongs to Mucko, the society’s secretary, who has managed to acquire a 1983 Apple Lisa computer which was sold in just 100,000 copies.

“At the time, it had the most advanced graphical interface and was worth about 6,000 dollars, and today you can get a minimum of 1,000 euro for it. I wanted it so much, so I paid big money for it to be shipped from the USA”, says Mucko.

They find most of the electronics stuff on the Hrelić flea market, internet advertising websites and from people who want to empty their garages. They have a collection which occupies more space than they have available and is worth tens of thousands of euros, so they want to open an IT museum in Zagreb. Since 2006, their inventory has been exhibited at fairs several times a year, and their equipment was used in the filming of the popular "Crno-Bijeli Svijet" TV series.

They are convinced that a museum of retro-technology would be a hit. “We did not collect all of this just because we love old stuff and do not want our collection to rust in the dust. We want to share our love with others and teach the children how the technology world looked like when their parents were young,” says the society members.

Talan is a co-founder of the Peek & Poke Museum of information technology in Rijeka, which has been operating for ten years, and much of his collection came from the Zagreb society. But they have enough exhibits to fill another museum in the capital.

More IT news can be found in the Lifestyle section.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Hana Ivković).

For the next eight years, Zagreb and its Museum of Arts and Crafts (MUO) will be a unique destination for international art lovers. The MUO has become the temporary home of a Renaissance masterpiece made by great Croatian-Venetian painter Andrija Medulić Schiavone, "King Saul being greeted in triumph after David's defeat of Goliath”, reports Večernji List on February 17, 2019.

It is an oil on wood painting made in Venice in 1540 which has never been publicly presented. Even the Medulić's 1980 monograph says that the work had been seen only in photographs. The dimensions of the painting are 92.5 x 109.8 centimetres.

During its rich history, the painting has changed many owners, from the London antique dealer Martino Colnaghi, through Prince Paul of Karađorđević in the 20th century, who sold it in 1969 together with the furniture of his villa, to a private collector in Italy, from where it appeared after 50 years at Christie's in London.

This is when Andrija Kojaković, the Dubrovnik-born entrepreneur, ambassador and collector, bought the painting. After being hidden for centuries, he decided to lend it to the MUO so that art lovers would have an opportunity to enjoy the work of the great Croatian painter. “Others who have such artworks should give them to the museums too and present them to the general public because enjoying something alone is a bit selfish,” said Kojaković at the MUO where he was joined by art historian Flora Turner-Vučetić and MUO director Miroslav Gašparović.

“I never wanted to compete at an auction when a Croatian institution or museum would be involved because I thought it was not fair. If more similar paintings appear in the future, I will certainly continue with my efforts,” said Kojaković, adding that he was just a person who enjoys things connected with Dubrovnik; he also owns a collection of old Dubrovnik money. He is also interested in paintings by British artists who painted Dubrovnik and old maps depicting the Dubrovnik Republic. “While I worked as an ambassador, I had to prove that Prevlaka is part of Croatia, and on all the old maps that is shown very clearly. That is why they are so interesting to me,” Kojaković said.

The temporary donation is a great honour for the MUO since this painting is one of just 20 confirmed works by Andrija Medulić, two of which are already located in Zagreb. “This is really an act of charity, which is not common in our society, and therefore this sends a message of how we should all do good for the community," Gašparović pointed out.

The city authorities also thanked Kojaković. “With this generous act, the MUO permanent exhibition will be considerably enriched during the next eight years, and this will certainly help this museum to remain one of the most visited museums in Croatia,” said Jelena Pavičić Vukičević, the representative of the Zagreb Mayor.

Translated from Večernji List (reported by Jelena Ružić).

More Zagreb news can be found in the dedicated section.

ZAGREB, January 14, 2019 - An EU-funded project on experiential tour of prehistoric heritage in Croatian and Slovenian border areas was presented in Zagreb's Archaeological Museum on Monday. The total amount set aside for the "Prehistory Adventure" project within the Croatia-Slovenia cross-border cooperation programme Interreg V-A 2014-2020 is 720,290 euro.

The project will be conducted by the Croatian municipality of Donja Voća and the neighbouring Slovenian municipalities of Zreče and Radenci, as well as by several museums in Croatia and Slovenia.

The two-year project was launched in November 2018. It focuses on five different sectors, and will be conducted with the assistance of applications and smart boards and through a series of events, including workshops and exhibition.

Prehistoric heritage will be given tourist-friendly and comprehensive promotion.

The project will seek to present the everyday life of prehistoric people in an interesting way.

More news on Croatia’s history can be found in the Politics section.

ZAGREB, December 17, 2018 - The 14th edition of Museum Night will be held throughout Croatia on 1 February with "Museums - Innovations and Digital Future" as its main theme.

The Croatian Museum Association (HMD) has called on museums, galleries and similar institutions to propose their programmes on this topic by 11 January.

Digital spaces enable viewing and searching through huge amounts of different museum contents and make them available to a great number of users, the HMD, a non-governmental and non-profit organisation, said in a press release, noting that "museums have become attractive spaces for innovation."

Last year, Museum Night was held in over 200 museums and similar institutions in about 100 cities and towns across Croatia under the title "Museums and Sports - Faster, Higher, Stronger".

Fourteen years ago, when this event was organised in Croatia for the first time, only six museums in Zagreb joined the campaign.

The initiative - the Long Night of Museums - was launched in Germany in 1997 and then spread to France. As of 2005 it became a Europe-wide cultural event in which museums and cultural institutions in an area cooperate to remain open late into the night to attract visitors.

In Croatia, admission to all Museum Night venues is free.

More news on Croatian museums can be found in our Lifestyle section.

ZAGREB, November 12, 2018 - After the Vučedol Culture Museum recently received this year's Innovation of the Year Award at Croatian Tourism Days, Vukovar Mayor Ivan Penava has congratulated the museum's staff on that achievement, adding that in the past three and a half years, more than 200,000 visitors have visited the museum which has contributed greatly to the town's development.

The Croatian National Tourist Board awarded the museum for its educational projects designed for the youngest readers who can be informed, through a picture book and guide, of the Vučedol prehistoric culture and of the museum's holdings.

"We are proud of this award and grateful to the Vukovar Tourist Board for nominating us and the panel of judges who recognised the museum for its innovation," museum director Mirela Hutinec has said.

She recalled the museum's latest 100 million kuna project, the Vučedol Archaeological Park, which is being implemented by the museum together with the Culture Ministry, the Town of Vukovar, its Tourist Board and Vukovar Port.

The project is expected to be completed by June 2022 and involves rebuilding the Vučedol settlement and its copper foundry, building a research centre, a farm, a planetarium, an educational pathway and hospitality facilities.

The Vučedol Culture Museum was opened in June 2015 as part of the government's Vukovar-Vučedol-Ilok project, implemented jointly with the Culture Ministry and Council of Europe Development Bank.

For more articles on Croatian museums, click here.

ZAGREB, November 8, 2018 - The Zagreb-based Croatian History Museum will mark 100 years of the end of the Great War by staging an exhibition called "1918 – A Turning Point for Croatia", which will be formally opened at 11 am on 11 November in memory of 11 November 1918 when the armistice that ended fighting on land, sea and air in World War I between the Allies and Germany was signed and when it was agreed that a ceasefire took effect at 11 am on that day.

The exhibition, that will run through 19 May, includes 518 artefacts and exhibits as well as parts from the relevant archive and library holdings. The museum's director Matea Brstilo Rešetar said on Thursday that, while in the past exhibitions in this museum included solely artefacts from that institution's holdings, this exhibition would include exhibits and artefacts from other museums and similar institutions.

Brstilo Rešetar told a news conference that the exhibition would focus on the decisions of political elites that had far-reaching effects on the course of Croatia's history. "The first global conflict known as the 'Great War', which ended in 1918, caused huge human and material losses, and led to the collapse of old empires and the creation of new states and new geopolitical and social relations," according to information about the exhibition which the museum posted on its web site.

"For the historical development of the Croatian people, the year 1918 was undoubtedly a turning point and thus this exhibition primarily presents political and social developments. Towards the end of the year, Croatia terminated all state and legal relations with the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy and joined a new, Yugoslav political entity.

"The activity of Croatian political parties and personalities active in the country and abroad focused on solving the national question. In the South Slavic territories of the former Monarchy, the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs was created in late October. Internationally unrecognized, the State of SHS soon joined a new common state with Serbia and Montenegro due to unfavourable external and internal circumstances. The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was proclaimed in Belgrade on December 1, 1918.

"The Peace Conference held in Paris during 1919 failed to ensure lasting peace," the museum writes in its comment on the exhibition.

Croatia's president to attend Paris ceremony marking 100th anniversary of end of World War I

Over 60 heads of state or government, including presidents Donald Trump of the USA, Vladimir Putin of the Russian Federation and Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović of Croatia, are expected to take part in the central ceremony marking the end of the First World War in Paris on 11 November, the AFP news agency has recently reported.

On 10 November, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are due to visit the forest near Compiegne in northern France where the armistice between the Allies and Germany was signed in a railway carriage, marking the end of hostilities which began in 1914.

Croatian President Grabar-Kitarović is due to attend the Paris ceremony, as announced by Prime Minister Andrej Plenković during his visit to the French capital in early October.

For more on Croatia’s history, click here.

ZAGREB, September 30, 2018 - A little over three years since its opening in Zagreb, the Museum of Illusions has opened nine franchises around the world, from the United States to the United Arab Emirates, and there are plans to open another dozen.

The exhibition will include skis from the late 19th century.

ZAGREB, September 23, 2018 - The Zagreb Museum of Contemporary Art (MSU) has won a special recognition of the Forum of Slavic Cultures, an international non-profit foundation that brings together 13 Slavic countries and promotes contemporary culture and heritage.

September 11, 2018 — The Croatian Museum of Maritime Culture, pushed by famed architect Nikola Bašić, could shine a spotlight on the region's like history of maritime and fishing culture while revitalizing some neglected spaces in Zadar.