June 15, 2022 - An exhibition of photographs by Mato Kaić, called "Light Paintings under the Bosnian Sky", opened at the Ethnographic Museum last night. 

"The exhibition of photographs of the first Livno amateur photographer from the beginning of the XX century Mate Kaić is a continuation of the successful collaboration of the Franciscan Museum and Gallery Gorica - Livno with the Ethnographic Museum started in 2015. This exhibition is the fruit of valuable acquisitions consisting of 327 glass plates color slides), cameras with accompanying photographic equipment, and several German photography manuals. The exhibition will feature photographs with ethnographic motifs, some of which were taken in Croatia, in Dubrovnik, Sinj, and Split, and are of great importance, because they represent a heritage that can only be seen today thanks to diligent lovers of photography and the region in which they lived.'', reads the description of the exhibition.

With his photography, Mato Kaić recorded and thus preserved historical events, his companions, vanished customs, landscapes, and architecture of cities. With his camera, he immortalized the views of Split, Rijeka dubrovačka, the Sinjska alka, beautiful landscapes of Kupreško, Livanjsko polje, and more.

The amateur photography of BiH from the beginning of the 20th century has been insufficiently researched, and Kaić's legacy partly sheds light and provides a better insight into the amateur photography of Bosnia and Herzegovina from the beginning of the 20th century and proves that amateur photographers have contributed to the development of art photography in the region.

The authors of the exhibition are Ružica Barišić and Željka Markov, senior librarian and manager, and museum advisor and curator at the Franciscan Museum and Gallery Gorica - Livno, reports Večernji List. The curator of the exhibition is Iris Biškupić Bašić, museum advisor of the Ethnographic Museum.

The exhibition was realized in cooperation with the Franciscan Museum and Gallery Gorica - Livno, and is held under the auspices of the Central State Office for Croats outside the Republic of Croatia. The project was made possible by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the City of Zagreb - City Office of Culture and the Livno Community - Zagreb.

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