May 12, 2021 - Earlier in May, Boka Kotorska, in the town of Tivat in Montenegro, was the host of the scientific conference "Identity of Boka Kotorska Croatians" which will introduce changes in Croatian education.

Croatia has a big diaspora, no secrets there, but its worldwide spread makes you miss the region.

In Boka Kotorska, in Montenegro, Croatia's first neighbor on the southern border after Dubrovnik, not only is there a huge population of Croatians, but they also have a significant cultural impact on the area. So significant it even calls for social science to step in.

As Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute reported on its website, May 6 to 9 saw the conference “Identity of Boka Kotorska Croatians“. The three-day conference gathered crucial scientific institutes in Croatia to the town of Tivat in the Bay of Croatian Saints. Headed with Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute, Croatian Catholic University, Croatian Studies Faculty, Institute of Croatian Language and Linguistics as well as Institute for Historical Sciences in Zadar attended the conference while Croatian ministries of European, and Foreign Affairs, Science and Education, Culture, and Media, as well as Croatian Central State Office for Croatians Outside of the Republic of Croatia, founded the event.

„The scientific conference went well as well as signing conclusions with recommendations that that knowledge on Bokelj Croatians we learned on this conference enter the Croatian national curriculum in important subjects. These conclusions are the crown of our efforts to launch this conference in public, not just in an academical way, but to massively popularize to ensure long-term benefits for Bokelj Croatians as for every educated citizen of Croatia and Montenegro“, said Dr. Željko Holjevac, head of the Ivo Pilar Social Research Institute.

Conference conclusions suggest additions to the curriculum documents on key definitions of Croatian National Identity to make space for Croatians outside Croatia, including Boka Kotorska Croatians. Identity features and creativity of Bokelj Croatians in Croatian education, and the book „Boka Kotorska - the Bay of the Saints and Croatian Culture“, by Vanda Babić to be the mandatory literature for tourist guides in Montenegro.
Final meetings at the conference, as well as sailing with a „Katica“ ship through Boka Kotorska Bay, Saw the participation of Boris Bastijančić, the advisor and representative of the Montenegro president and representer of Croatian parliament and MP, Zdravka Bušić, and others.

„I'm glad to be at this scientific conference, and I want to thank everyone's effort for something like this to happen in Boka Kotorska. I would especially like to thank students that took part in this and gave their part as young people who love the truth of Boka, the place of saints. This is a message that we too need to do something to mark this time with love, hope, and faith“, said the Kotorska bishop, mons. Ivan Štironja.

Some Croatians live outside of Croatia, but maybe you would want to live in Croatia. Learn more about living in Croatia on our TC page. 

For more about the Croatian Diaspora, follow TCN's dedicated page.

ZAGREB, 18 March, 2021 - Eminent French-Belgian playwright, writer, director and actor Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt was a guest at the Croatian Music Institute in Zagreb on Wednesday.

Eric-Emmanuel Schmitt is one the most widely read living Francophone authors in the world, whose works have been translated into 46 languages, including Croatian, and staged in over 50 countries.

This is the author's first visit to Croatia and it is the culmination of the Rendez-Vous at Francophonie 2021 project, a part of the programme of the Francophonie Month on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the French Institute in Zagreb.

He spoke about his works and his attitude towards art, and the focus of the conversation was on Schmitt's most famous and translated work, the short novel "Oscar and the Lady in Pink" from his Cycle of the Invisible series dedicated to childhood and spirituality.

The author also spoke about his latest book, "Paradis Perdus".

On Thursday, 18 March, Eric-Emmanuel Scmitt will perform in Zagreb's Croatian National Theatre in the adaptation of his story "Mr Ibrahim and the Flowers of the Koran", a text which has travelled the world, has been published in 50 countries and staged numerous times in different languages. The first Croatian performance of the famous play is the result of cooperation between the French Institute in Zagreb, Wallonia-Brussels International and the Croatian National Theatre in Zagreb.

During his visit to Zagreb, on 17-19 March, the author will also meet with Croatian students and teachers of the French language.

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