September 28, 2021 - The Tisja Kljaković Braić exhibition titled "Monument to a Living Person" is honouring two decades of Braić's humorous, open and simple art. Authored by Frano Dulibić, the exhibition will be displayed at the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery until October 12.

The beautiful seventeenth-century building of Klovićevi Dvori in Zagreb's Upper Town (Gornji grad) is a piece of art itself. However, as this seventeenth century Jesuit monastery became one of the most known and respected art galleries in the whole country, you can expect plenty of art inside too.

If you have doubts (or you trust the statement completely and you want to enjoy some visual eye-candy), hop over to the venue at Jezuitski Trg 4 (Jesuit Square 4), for the monographic exhibition ''Monument to a Living Person'' that will be on until October 12.

The author of the exhibition is the art historian Dr. Frano Dulibić who gathered and displayed the work of the iconic Croatian painter Tisja Kraković Braić.

"Tisja Kljaković Braić has been part of the art scene for the last twenty years. After twenty years of dedicated work, there are many reasons to present the artist through a compilation of her best and most characteristic artwork. The exhibition at the Klovićevi Dvori Gallery will present her work from its initial phase of art brut painting, as well as her lyric, poetic paintings, sculptures, and drawings,'' Bulić said when explaining the motive of his display, as is written on Klovićevi Dvori's official website.

TCN readers may recall an interview with Kljaković Braić back in 2020 as she authored a book of caricatures on Dalmatian life entitled ''ONI'' (They).

Scene from the "Monument to a Living Person" © Galerija Klovićevi dvori

''ONI'' are not left out in this exhibition either, and twenty years of Braić's work has made her art noted for its simple lines and shapes that gaze at you with openness, brazenness, honesty, and humor. It has been rated as primitive but certainly not in a bad way, quite on the contrary, due to effective ''waking up'' seen as a response from onlookers.

''With her primitivism, Tisja builds on many artistic paragons, from Paul Klee to Alberto Giacometti and Jean Dubuffet, who left significant marks on the art world. Nowadays, due to negative cultural implications, the art world seeks to avoid the term ''primitivism'' and appropriately replace it. At this point, the inevitable question arises: what is it in primitivist art forms that lures contemporary artists towards it, in a time of so many different art movements and ‘…isms’ passing us by?

The answer lies in an aspiration for disassociation from the frantic chase after something new and yet unseen, and an association with what is original, archetypal, primordial, and uncorrupted, that is, with the age when everything began,'' concludes Dulibić. Valentina Bach is the curator of this exhibition which is located on the first floor of Klovićevi Dvori. The gallery is open from Tuesday to Sunday, from 11:00 – 19:00.

Learn more about Croatian Art Galleries in Zagreb, Dalmatia, Istria & Slavonia on our TC page.

For more about art in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

20. 4. 2020 – Kako prikazati jedinstvenost i briljantnost prekrasnog fenomena života u Dalmaciji? Upoznajte splitsku umjetnicu Tisju Kljaković Brajić, autoricu fantastične knjige karikatura dalmatinskog života, Oni.

Dalmacija je jedinstvena. Volim je do smrti, ali me jednako tako do besvijesti frustrira. Trebalo mi je 15 godina života ovdje da se pomirim sa svojim frustracijama, koja sad mogu sažeti u jednu rečenicu savjeta na novopridošle. Prihvatite ovu rečenicu savjeta od početka i živite prema njoj, i život će vam biti beskonačno bolji. Odbijte prihvatiti taj savjet i vjerojatno ćete ili iz frustracije odustati od Dalmacije ili ćete završiti tako da ćete je nakon par godina ipak prihvatiti i živjeti po njoj. Rečenica je jednostavna:

Nemojte pokušavati promijeniti Dalmaciju, ali očekujte da će Dalmacija promijeniti vas.

Toliko je toga posebno i jedinstveno u Dalmaciji, a među tim i navade Dalmatinaca. Kad kao stranac istaknem neke od njih, često me optuže da se referiram na zaostale stereotipe. Zato sam bio tako sretan kad sam prošle godine od supruge dobio zaista krasan Božićni poklon, knjigu “Oni” koju je napisala Tisja Kljaković Braić. Smijao sam se ostatak toga dana.

Tisja je pronašla malo vremena da mi odgovori na neka pitanja o knjizi, Dalmaciji i svojim planovima.

Priznat ću vam da se nikad nisam toliko smijao zbog Božićnog poklona, NIKAD, kao kad mi je supruga poklonila vašu knjigu Oni. Posebice zbog slike sarme. Recite nam nešto o knjizi, te kako ste odlučili napisati/ilustrirati je?

Oni su davno nastali u mojim slikama na drvu. Na njima Oni lete plavim nebom i rade sve šta se u pjesmama radi. U jednom momentu izasli su u formi crteža i počeli živjeti stvaran život. Mnogi te crteže nazivaju karikaturom mada ništa nisam iskarikirala. Naprotiv, ni zarez nisam promijenila da bi bili što životinji.

I tako, objavila sam prvi crtež na fejsu i počelo me veselit to da mogu nasmijati ljude. Ubrzo se crteža namnožilo i izdala sam knjigu Oni koja je doživila veliki uspjeh.

Ono što je Njih učinilo tako popularnima jest zapravo to šta su tako obični. Svak se u njima prepoznao. Mislim da je došlo do jednog zasićenja photoshopom i nestvarnim svijetom, a Oni nemaju filter.

Imate TOLIKO opservacija o životu u Dalmaciji. Kada ste ih prvo počeli primjećivati i koliko vam je trebalo da skupite kolekciju za knjigu?

Nisam nikad razmišljala o životu u Dalmaciji kad ga ja naprosto živim. Iz mene prirodno izlazi ono šta mi je u krvi. Mislila sam da zbog toga što predstavlja tipične Dalmatince knjiga neće bit zanimljiva dalje od Dalmacije, međutim desilo se baš suprotno. Evo i Srbi i Slovenci kupili su prava na knjigu.

Stil vaših ilustracija je jedinstven i vrlo prepoznatljiv. Recite nam nešto o njemu, te jeste li imali neke posebne modele u glavi dok ste stvarali ilustracije.

Uvijek mi je bio san da u tri poteza mogu nacrtat sve i napokon sam uspila. U crti koja glumi oko možete vidit kako ga ona gleda. Mislim da ih se u zadnje vrijeme može i uti. Njihov izgled, njihova razlika u visina... ma koliko se odupirala tome to smo muž i ja.

Međutim oni nose karakteristike naših roditelja, sve ono šta nam je išlo na živce i u šta ćemo se u skorije vrijeme pretvorit.

Knjiga Oni postala je svojevrsni bračni udžbenik.

Možete li nam reći kojih je vama omiljenih pet ilustracija iz knjige, te nam u jednoj rečenici objasniti zašto su vam one posebne?

Moja najdraža ilustracija nije uopće smiješna. Ima u sebi poeziju koju imaju moje slike. Zove se Pomirbeni nogododir. Mislim da se u njoj krije tajna braka.

Kako biste u jednom pasusu objasnili sljedeće osobi koja prvi puta posjećuje Dalmaciju? a) mladog Dalmatinca, b) mladu Dalmatinku, c) dalmatinsku nonu, d) dalmatinskog dida?

Na to pitanje ću odgovorit ovako. Amarcord, Fellinijev Amarcord je to.

Koja stvar vas najviše frustrira kod Dalmacije i Dalmatinaca?

Zapravo to je isto kao da me pitate šta me ljuti kod mene same. Ima puno toga al neću kazat i neću priznat.

Koju stvar najviše volite kod Dalmacije i Dalmatinaca?

A šta volim kod sebe, o tome nije red govorit, nije se lijepo hvalit? Samo ću reć da ne bi promijenila kvart, a kamoli grad.

Što je sljedeće u kreativnom svijetu Tisje Kljaković Braić?

Sve šta sam napravila napravila sam bez plana i programa i ne pada mi na pamet da ikad išta planiram. Evo i knjigu koju sam napisala o svom djetinjstvu U malu je uša Đava napisala sam sebi za uspomenu. U jedanaesti mjesec u HNK Split trebala bi bit premijera predstave po toj knjizi…

Sve što radim je upravo ono što me u tom trenutku čini sretnom, i ne razmišljam o ničem dužem od tog trenutka.

Hvala na intervjuu, Tisja, i hvala za mnogo smijanja. Ako želite dodati malo smijeha u svoj dan, možete zapratiti Facebook stranicu Tisja Kljaković Braić Art.

April 20, 2020 - How to capture the uniqueness and brilliance of the wonderful phenomenon that is life in Dalmatia? Meet Split artist Tisja Kljakovic Braic, author of the brilliant book of caricatures of Dalmatian life, ONI.

Dalmatia is unique. I love it to death and it frustrates the hell out of me. And it took me a full 15 years of living here to find the way to come to terms with my frustrations, which I can now summarise in a single sentence of advice for newcomers. Accept this sentence of advice from the beginning and live by it, and your life will be infinitely better. Refuse to accept it, and you will probably either quit Dalmatia in frustration or end up accepting it and living by it in several years.  The sentence is a simple one:

Do not try and change Dalmatia, but expect Dalmatia to change you. 

There are SO many things which are special and unique to Dalmatia and the habits of Dalmatian people. As a foreigner, when I highlight some of them, I am often accused of referred to outdated stereotypes. And so I was VERY happy to receive a truly wonderful Christmas present from my wife last year - ONI by Tisja Kljakovic Braic. I was laughing for much of the rest of the day. 

Tisja kindly found the time for a quick interview about the book, Dalmatia and her plans. 

I will confess I have never laughed so much because of a Christmas present, EVER, after my wife gave me a copy of your book ONI. The sarma picture in particular. Tell us a little about the book, and why you decided to write/illustrate it?

They were created long ago in my paintings on wood. On them, Oni fly around in the blue sky and do everything they do in the songs. At one point, they came out in the form of drawings and started living real life. Many people call these drawings a caricature even though I never drew caricatures. On the contrary.

And so I posted my first drawing on Facebook, and I was glad that I could make people laugh. Soon, the drawings multiplied and I published a book called Oni that ended up becoming a great success.

What made them so popular is actually that they are so ordinary. Everyone recognised themselves in them. Oni doesn't have a filter.

There are SO many observations of life in Dalmatia. When did you first start noting them and how long did it take to come up with the collection for the book?

I never thought about life in Dalmatia, given the fact that I live my life here. What is in my blood just naturally comes out. I thought that because this is all about typical Dalmatian things, the book would not be interesting beyond Dalmatia, but the opposite happened. Both Serbs and Slovenes bought the rights to the book.

Your illustrating style is unique and very distinctive. Tell us about it, and did you have any particular role models in your head as you did the illustrations.  

It was always my dream for me to be able to draw everything in three moves and I finally succeeded. In the drawing, you can see the way they look at each other. I think by now, you can probably even hear them. The way they look, their height differences, however much I try to fight it... that's my husband and I.

However, they all bear characteristics of our parents, everything that once got on our nerves and everything that we'll eventually turn into ourselves.

The book ''Oni'' became kind of a marriage manual.

Can you give us five of your favourite illustrations from the book (please send the images) and tell us in a sentence each why they are special to you? 

My favourite image is actually not funny. It has a poem in it, like my pictures do. I think a secret marriage hides within that picture.

How would you describe the following to a first-time visitor in Dalmatia in a paragraph?

a - a young Dalmatian male

b - a young Dalmatian female

c - a Dalmatian nona

d - a Dalmatian dida

I'll respond like this to this question - Fellini's Amarcord.

What is the thing that frustrates you the most about 

Dalmatia? 

Dalmatians?

That's like asking me what annoys me about myself, there's a lot and I won't say or admit anything.

What is the thing you love most about 

Dalmatia? 

Dalmatians?

What do I love about myself? It's not good to talk about those things, it isn't nice to brag. I'd just say that I wouldn't even change my neighbourhood, let alone my city.

What's next in the creative world of Tisja Kljakovic Braic? 

Everything I've done, I've done without a plan and without a programme and it hasn't occurred to me to plan anything ever. There's also a book that I wrote about my childhood called ''The kid taken by the Devil'' which I wrote for myself as a memoir. In November at the Croatian National Theatre in Split, the premiere of a show based on that book should take place.

Everything I do is what makes me happy at that moment in time, and I don't think about anything longer than that moment.

Thanks Tisja, and thank you for the many laughs. If you want to add a little humour to your day you can follow the official Tisja Kljakovic Braic Art Facebook page.