Right at the beginning of the program, awards for best realizations in all categories were granted, as selected by an extended International Panel of Judges, who, alongside the members of the judging committee, hosted two international designers – the renowned designer and illustrator with a New York address Mirko Ilić and Slovenian industrial designer Jure Miklavc, in both the professional and student categories, respectively.
The Croatian Designers’ Society Lifetime Achievement Award was posthumously granted to Tomislav Lerotić for his outstanding contribution to Croatian design. In the Award’s citation, the Croatian Designers’ Society vice-president Koraljka Vlajo put special emphasis on Lerotić’s observations of important issues in ecology and waste management and reminisced about his renowned project of systems for separate waste paper collecting.

The following awards were also granted:
+ HDD’s (The Croatian Designers’ Society) Grand Prix Award:
CATAMARAN LINER MILLENIUM DIAMOND
Design: Brodarski Institut/ Ivana Peko
Coauthor: Miroslav Bezovnik
Collaborators: Davor Deželjin, Aldo Draguzet, Petra Kitarović, Dino Lončarić, Toni Lučić, Pero Miloš, Marin Reljić, Dino Salopek, Ivan Rutnik [stručni COLLABORATORS]
Client: City Cruises Plc, London, Velika Britanija
Year: 2012

+ ICOGRADA EXELLENCE AWARD:
AS I LAY DYING
Design: Marko Hrastovec
Mentors: Nikola Đurek, Damir Bralić
Study program: University of Zagreb School of Design
Year: 2011

+ HDD AWARD FOR BEST VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN IN PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY:
ISTO LICE/SAME FACE
Design: Oleg Šuran
Coauthor: Oleg Morović
Collaborator: Tanja Draškić Savić
Client: Ink, Pula
Year: 2012

+ HDD RECOGNITION FOR VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN IN PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY:
MILAN RAKOVAC: KVARNERSKI OTOČNI LUCIDAR/ KVARNER ISLAND LUCIDAR
Design: Damir Bralić
Client: Ex libris, Rijeka
Year: 2011
KONTEJNER/CONTAINER – CURATORIAL PERSPECTIVES ON THE BODY, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
Design: Dejan Dragosavac Ruta
Client: Kontejner – Bureau of Contemporary Art Practice, Zagreb
Year: 2010
BABIČINI KOLAČI 5/GRANDMA’S BAKED GOODS 5 – KULINARSKA BROŠURA TRADICIONALNIH ZAGORSKIH KOLAČA/A CULINARY BROCHURE OF TRADITIONAL BAKED GOODS FROM ZAGORJE, CROATIA
Design: Ivana Vučić
Collaborators: Maja Danica Pečanić, Saša StubičarClienti: Krapinsko-zagorska županija, Laboratorium Zagreb
Year: 2011
+ HDD AWARD FOR BEST ELECTRONIC/INTERACTIVE MEDIA DESIGN IN PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY:
HARTERA FESTIVAL – MOBILNA APLIKACIJA/MOBILE APPLICATION
Author: Damir Martinović – Mrle (creative director)
Coauthors: Mirko Trkulja [concept and design of mobile application], Studio Sonda [design of promo material and mobile application], Tea Stražičić, Sebastijan Saganić [comic strips]
Client: K.LJ.B. (Racket Lovers Club), Rijeka
Year: 2012

+ HDD AWARD FOR BEST PRODUCT / INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IN PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY:
3ANGLE
Design: Grupa / Filip Despot, Tihana Taraba, Ivana Pavić
Client: Kvadra d.o.o., Sv. Križ Začretje
Year: 2011

+ HDD RECOGNITION FOR PRODUCT / INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IN PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY:
QUADRUPEDIA
Design: Ksenija Jurinec
Self-initiated work
Year: 2012
+ HDD AWARD FOR BEST EXHIBITION SET-UP DESIGN/ SIGNALIZATION/ SPATIAL GRAPHICS IN PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY:

NOARHIV: DESET RAZLOGA ZA OTVORENI DIGITALNI ARHIV KONCEPTUALNE I NEOAVANGARDNE UMJETNOSTI/ TEN REASONS FOR OPENING A DIGITAL ARCHIVE OF CONCEPTUAL AND NEO-AVANT-GARDE ART
Design: Bilić_Müller studio
Client: Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb
Year: 2012

+ HDD AWARD FOR BEST PACKAGE DESIGN IN PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY:
SOLUM
Design: Studio Cuculić / Vanja Cuculić
Client: Robert Naprta / Vinarija Solum/Winery Solum, Zagreb
Year: 2011

HDD AWARD FOR BEST FASHION/ TEXTILE DESIGN IN PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY:
TORBE (SARA, BISAGA, SINA, WEST), PELERINA, CIPELE/ BAGS, CAPE, SHOES
Design: Danijela Štambuk
Client: KoArt, Zagreb
Year: 2011 – 2012

+ HDD AWARD FOR BEST CONCEPT IN PROFESSIONAL CATEGORY:
EXTRAORDINARY DESIGN
Authors: Sanja Bencetić, Julia Cassim
Coauthot: Mirna Reinprecht
Participants: Krešimir Miloloža, Mihael Tomić, Fredie Yauner, Filip Gordon Frank, Ana Perković, Adriana Pavelić, Dino Ivašić, Dorja Komazlić, Katarina Perić, Sanja Rotter, Valentina Vičević, Marijan Rafaj, Igor Šošić, Željko Labaš, Kreativni tim, Ian McIntyre, Maja Mesić, Ana Armano, Ana Orbanić, Ena Priselec, Ika Peraić, Iva Markovac, Veronika Batinić, Tatjana Vukmir, Gordana Šoljan, Andrew Walker, Nataša Mihaljčišin, Irena Škreblin, Dalibor Šakić, Barbara Radelja, Lidija Lovrić, Tatjana Rajčić, Tihana Mikša-Perković, Vanja Jović, Anica Horvat, Maja Brlek, Nada Tokić, Lana Skeleđija, Dino smrekar, Barbara Zec, Dragana Ileš, Gero Grundmann, Nataša Perković, Marijana Janković, Anna Rupenović, Inja Kavurić-Kireta, Ivana Čuljak, Kristina Lugonja, Lucija Frgačić, Tea Janković, Dolores Škorlić, Ratko Koletić, Gordana Huzek, Ivana Reščić, Inka Krželj, Neven Trbović, Eva Venus, Anita Prša, Lucy Faulke, Ana Perković, Biljana Kleakachkoska, Sanda Zemljak, Marija Tizaj, Barbara Radelja, Mira Anić, Vanja Đumić, Jelena Balač, Martina Kalođer, Gero Grundmann, Dino Smrekar, Laila Cassim, Marija Veteroska, Tatjana Petrić, Tihana Pećirko, Aleksandra Furač, Karim Ančić, Ines Perković, Dora Kučera, Marko Papić, James Tooze, Mirna Grubišić, Ana Petak, Hana Ciliga, Sanja Tušek, Marina Mijatović, Vesna Avramovska, Dean Fajdetić, Dario Luetić, Ivan Medved, Hazel Macmillan, Barbara Zec, Vendi Budić, Luka Predragović, Jelena Jukčić, Vina Ćurčija, Juraj Murgić, Ivan Baničević
Year: 2011 – 2012

+ HDD AWARD FOR BEST VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN IN STUDENT CATEGORY:
LP THE WHITE STRIPES
Design: Tessa Bachrach Krištofić
Mentors: Nikola Đurek, Damir Bralić
Study program: University of Zagreb School of Design
Year: 2012

+ HDD RECOGNITION FOR VISUAL COMMUNICATIONS DESIGN IN STUDENT CATEGORY:
LATINOVICZ
Design: Zrinka Buljubašić
Mentor: Nikola Đurek
Study program: Department of Visual Communications Design, Art Academy in Split
Year: 2012
+ HDD RECOGNITION FOR PRODUCT / INDUSTRIAL DESIGN IN STUDENT CATEGORY:
STOLICA PEGULA/ JINXED CHAIR
Design: Ozana Ursić
Mentors: Mladen Orešić, Neven Kovačić
Study program: University of Zagreb School of Design
Year: 2011
+ HDD AWARD FOR BEST CONCEPT U IN STUDENT CATEGORY:
WOOD: MATERIAL/ INTAGIBLE
Design: Sanja Rotter
Mentors: Mladen orešić, Vedrann Kasap
Study program: University of Zagreb School of Design
Year: 2012

+ HDD AWARD FOR BEST FASHION/ TEXTILE DESIGN IN STUDENT CATEGORY:
CITY LACE
Design: Matija Čop
Collaborators: Rineo dizajn
Mentor: Jasminka Končić
Study program:University of Zagreb Faculty of Textile Technology
Year: 2012

The Croatian Design Exhibitions are to this day the only manifestation of its kind in Croatia that systematically include all areas of design, and have been exceptionally received by both the professional and general public for a series of years running. Positioning themselves between manifestations with a long tradition such as the Zgraf (dedicated to visual communications) and the Zagreb Salon of Applied Art and Design, these exhibitions, through their internal structure and strict selection procedures, attempt to reflect a realistic state of the Croatian design scene from a market-based, social and cultural aspect. The goal of the exhibition is to affirm design as a marketable and socially relevant profession. Through a strict selection the best in contemporary Croatian design is evaluated, and high-quality standards are being established and selected in contemporary production. The exhibition 1112 strives to encompass the totality of design creativity in Croatia – from extremely market-based conditioned projects to those in the non-profit, cultural and research context, all the while systematically following quality student production within the framework of Croatian educational institutions.
It’s also worth mentioning that three exhibitions organized by the HDD (Croatian Designers’ Society) are being set up in front of an international audience – Contemporary Croatian Design IN A NUTSHELL was showcased within the context of the major exhibition “Everyday Discoveries” in Helsinki, the world design capital 2012. “Design Tourism: CROATIAN HOLIDAY“ is set to open within Skopje Design Week as well as at the Festival of Croatian Culture in France, while a completely new concept entitled “CROATIAN EVERYDAY” is also set to be displayed at that same manifestation.
If you missed yesterday’s opening, be sure to check out the HDD (Croatian Designers’ Society) exhibition, open at the Museum of Arts and Crafts until November 15, 2012.
You can enjoy today’s activities as follows:
6:00 PM MIRKO ILIĆ: Symbols of Hate – lecture
7:00 PM STOP, THINK, GO, DO – book promotion and discussion,
while the Croatian Designers’ Society will keep you informed on all further lectures, presentations and related activities.
Congratulations to all the winners!

Artist of light and scientist of weather changes, a Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, has once again turned to nature making it an accomplice in his latest project – Your Rainbow Panorama. It is an impressive installation, a circular pathway made in transparent glass and representing all colors of the spectrum, placed on the roof of the ARoS Museum of Art in the Danish city of Aarhus. Eliasson’s project won the Sky Space competition in 2007, ahead of the entries by Dominique Perrault, Diller Scofidio +Renfro and Maya Lin.

The concept of the contest was to use the potential of the Museum’s roof and turn it into a new exhibition area. The roof’s structure had been reinforced during the building process so it could sustain a construction of monumental proportions. Seeing as the main concept of the ARoS Museum is based on Dante’s Divine Comedy, with each floor representing a certain segment of his voyage (including the works of artists such as Bill Viola, James Turrello, Pipilotti Rist…), the roof has now become a transitory part between Hell and the Gates of Heaven.

Eliasson’s Rainbow, or halo, as it has been named by some critics, is in contrast with the Museum’s manifestation; but it is also a perfect continuation of his laboratory approach to art. His work focuses on the changes in the human perception as consequence of the intensive changes in the environment. Using pure color in a transparent pathway, Eliasson assesses its effect on each individual visitor. It is possible to experience every color in the spectrum as vibrant, static, cold, warm… The experience depends on the visitor’s movements and it is different and unexpected every time – just like the view of the city of Aarhus. Sometimes monochromatic, if the visitor decides to stand in one place; or walk above it and experience the spectrum of its colors.

The installation has become the new focus of the panorama of Aarhus, changing relative to one’s viewpoint; but it has also offered a new dimension of looking at the city from the Museum’s top. This is exactly how Eliasson has intended to connect the city and the museum and their citizens/visitors – by offering them a new reality; a new possibility of interpretation. Ultimately, the project encapsulates the basic themes of art – how to master color, movement and perception by using the perfect geometrical shape – a circle.

Fotografije: Geoff Myers; Studio Olafur Eliasson

Since its inauguration in June 2001, the MuseumsQuartier in Vienna has become one of the biggest centers for arts and culture in the world, as well as a popular meeting place known for its big colored benches. To celebrate its tenth anniversary, this year in the period of April to October, the MQ is offering an even more extensive and versatile program. Here are the main events of the celebratory program.

* Flederhaus

The celebratory program has started in April with the Flederhaus project. This art object, located in the public area in front of the MQ, symbolizes a self-sustainable construction and invites visitors to think about the future in a positive way. Wicked pictures: Masterpieces of Black Humor, an open-air comic books exhibition; PlayFace InterCult, a digital culture exhibition; and an international dance day, were also held.

* Peter Sandbichler

Starting mid-May, the lobby of the MQ will be dominated by giant inflatable plastic sculptures made by renowned Austrian artists Erwin Wurm, Peter Sandbichler and Gunter Damisch, representing tangible examples of innovation in art. The sculptures will be put on display once more in June and September. The summer at the MQ has officially begun on the 5th of June with the Kons Goes Public eclectic music and dance program in collaboration with Konservatorium Wien University. On the 19th of May the Get in the Haze exhibition will be inaugurated. The exhibition is dedicated to the complex relationship between fashion and contemporary art and includes fashion designs, videos, photographs, installations, sculptures, performances, works of textile art, lectures and workshops by the unconventional talents whose work ranges form radical to eccentric and visionary. Sofa unplugged is one of the projects that invites visitors to explore urban space and to take part in activities and discussions. The Sofamaschine chorographical project will be held on the 20th of May.

* Get in the Haze


* Sofa unplugged                                                          * Sofamaschine

June will bring a web of sound objects into the main yard of the MQ. These objects will react with sound to the everyday activities of the people staying and passing through the MQ. On the very anniversary of the first opening of the MQ, which took place on the 30th of June 2001, a big open-air celebration will be held and it will include the participation of the Czech duet DVA; the Polish band Miloopa and the Romanian-German vocalist Miss Platinum. Following their performances, a German artist group Urbanscreen will give an audio-visual performance on the façade of the Leopold Museum.

* frame[o]ut * O-Töne

Like every year, July and August will be marked by festivals at the MQ: O-Töne for literature and frame[o]ut for films. For its tenth anniversary O-Töne will be expending its program with renowned European writers, as well as open-air readings; and for the first time, frame[o]ut will include European feature films and documentaries, as well as films created using some of new media, ranging from crowd-sourced films to innovative animation.

* MUMOK

In September, the MUMOK is celebrating its own tenth anniversary in the MQ with the Museum of Wishes exhibition, and the Leopold Museum, which was also inaugurated ten years ago, will present an extended exhibition by Egon Schiele entitled Melancholy and Provocation. September also brings the Vienna Fashion Week, which will be held at the MQ for the third time.

As the main event in September the organizers announce an open-air music event entitled Experience Music.

Along with the events listed here, numerous other events will also be taking place during the celebratory months. Should you find yourself in Vienna during this period, be sure to take a look at the extensive MQ program.

Tonči Kranjčević Batalić

building in New Zagreb and witness the indescribable crowds that are inevitable to come in droves tomorrow, as visitors will hurl to view the “newest” artistic installation in their collection. Namely, tomorrow, within the Museum Night 2011 Project, at the MCA southwest plateau starting at 8:00 PM, the Frameworks installation will be presented to the public by Ivana Franke, Petar Mišković, and Lea Pelivan & Toma Plejić from Studio UP. Just to mention a brief reminder that this installation was premiered at the 9^th Venice Architecture Biennale in 2004, after which the authors donated it to the MSU. The then Croatian commissioner for the Biennale, Helena Paver Njirić, selected the stated four to create an installation to be set up at the Venetian Arsenal.

Although the installation was announced along with last year’s opening of the Museum within the Museum’s “Collections in Motion” set-up, it was never presented to the public due to an unfortunate turn of events where certain segments of the installation went mysteriously missing while stored in the “slaughterhouse building” following the Venice exhibition.

The authors were promised that the installation would be reconstructed, while tomorrow’s display of the installation confirms that the promise was made good on, thus the public will at long last have the chance to experience the glass steel versatile installation up close and personal – Frameworks, one of the few Zagreb MCA exhibits created by architects.

Upon presenting the installation a meeting with the young artists has also been announced, starting at 9:00 PM, where the authors will talk about how the installation came to being and how their fusion of art and architecture functions. The chat with the artists will be led by curator Nataša Ivančević.

An object of steel construction and parallel glass frames powered by an electric motor forms a tunnel placed in a dynamic continuous space. The tunnel connects the opposite entrances into the room. Each frame is placed on sliders, so it can be horizontally moved. When the frame is synchronously moved by the electric motor, the tunnel layout shape shifts, hence with every movement in a four-minute time span, the layout and tunnel’s intersection change shape, encompassing the visitors in the tunnel. Upon entering the tunnel, the viewer is introduced to a perpetually novel visual sensation with every movement of the glass frames.

photographs:  msu.hr

The end of the year is a time for stocktaking – for looking back at events which have made the year interesting. That’s probably because we like to keep things under control, or perhaps because it’s easier to be wise after the event, or to see how far we’ve come in achieving our plans – or simply because we like to have our place within a certain context. Although the act of looking back might seem somewhat pitiful, at the basis of such behavior is a very simple reaction: learning from your mistakes in the hope that next year you’ll be smarter and that you won’t be haunted by the ghosts of the past. As for public events, more specifically cultural events, they are always submitted to subjective evaluation of importance, to expressions of personal displeasure with certain events or simply with media coverage of the events. Hence, the following list of key events in 2010:

1. The End of the Battle for Warsaw Street

Because state institutions weren’t really into dealing with issues stemming from Horvatničić’s project “Cvjetni prolaz”, the people took it upon themselves to fight the battle and prevent the construction of an entrance to an underground garage. In order to prevent the construction of the garage entrance which would take away a significant part of the pedestrian zone, the public decided to try its hand at civil disobedience, and this went on for several months. Although the goals were ardently, righteously and legitimately set, the protests were put to an end with arrests and the work was light-heartedly continued. For more on last year’s events in Warsaw Street click here.

2. The Sinking of the Croatian Pavilion for Venice Biennale

The first Croatian floating pavilion has, unfortunately, shown a mismatch between ideas and possibilities. In the stormy night of August 28, the south wind put an end to the journey of this “three-dimensional drawing”, just hours away from the dawn of potential Croatian success. The event brought to mind the sad destiny of Ivica Kičmanović. For more on the troubles of the pavilion click here.

3. Politics at the Theater: out with Senka Bulić, in with Duško Mucalo

Politics can be found in the oddest of places – this was illustrated by the debacle of Kerum’s despotism in Split when he appointed Mucalo as the manager of the Croatian National Theater. Local government in Velika Gorica has come to an equally incredible conclusion when it relieved Senka Bulić of her duty as the manager of Community College and Gorica Theater despite the fact that her program has been successful. It has once again been shown that excellence isn’t relevant when politics are at play.

4. And the Award Goes to… Croatian Designers!

It has certainly been a very successful year for Croatian designers, starting with Austrian/Croatian Numens who enchanted the world with their ingenious Tape Installation, won awards across Europe, and rounded up the year with the prestigious Red Dot Award. The Red Dot was also awarded to Šesnić & Turković for the best exposition design “At Cuculić’s”, and Marko Pavlović began manufacturing his didactic toy “The Sphere”. We should also mention the extraordinarily talented students from the School of Design in Zagreb who won numerous international awards.

5. Labrović: the Man at the Center of Attention

Siniša Labrović wanted to fist fight with the minister of culture, he sold his own skin, and he urinated on Marko Square – and that was last year alone. Although the quality of his performances went up and down, he showed that performers are very much alive, and that politics can be a never-ending inspiration. To see the timeline of his performances last year click here.

6. First Museum of Street Art

Although in contradiction with the very notion of street art, the Museum of Street Art brought together painters in Branimir Street in May to educate the public on street art and to motivate people to exchange ideas. Hopefully, this event has changed some people’s view of street art as vandalism. For more click here.

photo: Domagoj Blažević

7. Gilbert & George at the Museum of Contemporary Art

Two charming British artists visited Zagreb in June and hosted a garden party where they talked with their fans and then opened their “Jack Freak Pictures” exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art. It’s one of few exhibits at MCA from the most famous contemporary artists in the world. For more click here.

8. The Museum of Broken Relationships

After years of wandering around the world, the unconventional and rather humorous Museum of Broken Relationships finally got its place in Gornji grad in October. Although it was presented as part of the Zagreb Saloon in 2006, with only several exhibits inside a container, the concept has somewhat unexpectedly outgrown its limitations and turned into one of the most exploited cultural/advertising stories of the year. However, the Museum also presents a very intelligent awareness of market trends. For more click here.

9. Helena Paver-Njirić’s Installation “Moire” at the Opening of Roma’s Museum of Contemporary Art

Fortunately, at least one “three-dimensional drawing” made it safely to the most anticipated museum of the year – Roma’s MAXXI Museum of Contemporary Art, a Zaha Hadid project. Helena Paver-Njirić’s installation “Moire” showed fresh thinking and justified all expectations. For more click here.

10. The Death of Bogdan Bogdanović

For the most part, he was misunderstood in various political systems, and his opus has only recently been reevaluated to show his work in light of primordial forms, folklore, and extraordinary aspiration for forgiveness and peace. For more click here.

foto: Marko Krojač

With traditional budget cuts in culture, this year, if we look back at last year, could make a turn for the better. Well, one can always hope.

How do we view a souvenir in the era of capitalism, hyperproduction and hyperconsumption? By definition, a souvenir is a memento of an event or place, but that description doesn’t refer to its material composition, manufacturing or its origin as an object per se. Souvenirs are most often tied to travel, people, and their collecting tendencies, and are viewed as mass produced goods which pop up around every corner and are thus equated with kitsch. In a time when a museum is a brand in itself, and culture a product, the question at hand is: what is a museum gift shop? Hence the phenomenon of the museum souvenir takes on a whole new dimension. There’s hardly a museum today that doesn’t use contemporary culture management strategies, and almost all today’s museums have an accompanying bookshop or museum gift shop.

Museums/collections of objects, as educational institutions of culture and history, present and practice authority over “the art work’s aura”. Still, museum souvenirs attempt to describe precisely that “aura” of culture through a few iconic images which are recognizable out of context. In the museum souvenir shop, visitors will try to relive what they have just seen, in an attempt to memorize the importance and significance of the art work precisely by buying a certain object, mug, or postcard with the reproduction of the art work so as not to lose or diminish their experience. On the one hand, quite an impending and didactic impression on the museum’s part, while on the other hand a commercial shop area establishes a certain sanctuary for visitors who are not so keen on art. An interesting research in Italian museums showed that during the recession, from 2008 onwards, there was a significant increase of expensive museum souvenirs as opposed to cheap books, which serves to typecast the museum audience as ranging between higher and high social status.

How are Croatian museums faring in the recession and do they have anything to offer? It’s an almost universal issue of bad supply in view of Zagreb’s museums and galleries, whose shops for the most part offer catalogues of previous exhibitions, having a hard time with reproduction copyrights, which, when they actually do pan out, are frequently reduced to kitsch. However, should the supply stay solely limited to reproductions or replicas, thus leaving the impression that museums underestimate the potential visitor-buyer, completely negating the museum branding strategy through souvenirs. The Museum of Arts and Crafts certainly deserves a mention, as their marketing strategy sells mugs of replicas and other objects from its collection, thus showing market awareness, while at the same time displaying a slightly conservative approach toward creativity.

However, the most anticipated museum in Croatia, The Museum of Contemporary Art will soon celebrate its first birthday. Slightly lost in space and time, it looks like it didn’t succeed in meeting high expectations. Thus its “Museum Shop“ is symptomatic of its actual state. First devised as a place of a creative, new market approach, their shop soon became a reserved, unsuitable designer showroom which, by all means, has to change. Nary a representative souvenir to keep a potential customer in the museum shop longer than five minutes is currently available at the Museum of Contemporary Art.

However, we’ll choose to believe that things are taking a turn for the better. At the “0910 Croatian Design Exhibition” held at the Museum of Arts and Crafts, prototypes of future Museum of Arts and Crafts souvenirs were presented. Picture tights with Bućan’s “Birds’ Ardor” pattern, bottled water for cleansing (spiritually and physically), a camera that shoots only historically relevant events…

Of course, this is in reference to exceptionally well-thought-out works-as-souvenirs of design students entitled “Shopworks”. The workshop under the guidance of the Museum of Contemporary Art’s curator, Ms. Tihana Puc who gathered ten students for the project (Dora Đurkesac, Mia Bogovac, Maja Kolar, Maša Milovac, Sarah Baron Brljević, Draga Komparak, Zoran Đukić, Jan Pavlović, Kristina Lugonja, Kristina Ivančić), whose goal was to create a visual identity and offer a new range of products within the museum shop. The museum shop as a platform of new ideas, where the product is placed in relation to an author’s work and mass production while the topic of high and low art is being questioned and borders becoming irrelevant. Thus the created works were in reference to the collection, while inspiration was drawn from Vaništa, Dimitrijević, Murtić all the way to Miroslav Balka. It is also in relation to the works that had to consider realistic production possibilities, as one of the designers, Maša Milovac, pointed out. An intelligent souvenir design which thus results in an intelligent museum buyer-visitor. It’s still necessary to find potential manufacturers, but we don’t doubt for a moment in the success of such original museum souvenirs.

The newly opened Museum of Broken Relationships, institutionalized and opened a month ago in the Upper Town (Gornji grad), certainly deserves a mention as well. A completely original product of Olinka Vištica and Dražen Grubišić, although a private and independent museum, has certainly become a role model, due to numerous satisfied visitors but also to its unconventional and unpretentious bearing. Although highly market-based, the Museum succeeded in capturing the public’s affections with its directness and creativity. It’s all rounded up with an extraordinary strategy – placing a classic, somewhat ironic gift shop among astutely displayed tragicomic love souvenirs which gain importance and meaning by their mere arrangement.

In conclusion, a shop should be an integral part of the museum, facilitating and complementing its educative function, keeping in mind that it has to address the visitors’ desires, expectations and significantly contribute to the museum financially. A museum shouldn’t be afraid of the market and trade, as culture has in any case turned into a highly lucrative business. However, it’s necessary to first and foremost financially invest in people who run art institutions and facilitate education in the field of cultural management – a field almost completely neglected in Croatia.

In late May Rome was probably the most visited city. We have finally lived to see the long-awaited opening of the most anticipated museum of modern art, Zaha’s MAXXI museum – Museo nazionale delle arti del XXI secolo. Zaha Hadid, the first woman to win the prestigious Pritzker Award in 2004, says the 27000m² museum is a link between the old and the new. It was built on the foundations of military barracks, with a record 181 million Euros spent during almost 12 years of construction. From the outside, it looks like a spacious structure which accentuates width and combines glass, steel and concrete. According to the architect, fascination with Roman light was a deal breaker in the design of inner space – a very flexible area allowing maximum freedom in organizing exhibitions. During the opening ceremony the exhibition area was organized so as to highlight the history of architecture and art from the 19^th to 21^st century. To read the article we featured on Helena Paver Njirić’s work which was part of the Spazio exhibition, click here.

At the same time, but with less media attention, MACRO – Museo d’Arte Contemporanea di Roma opened its new wing. It was remodeled and expanded based on the project of Odile Decq, a French architect and winner of the Vienna Biennale Award. The Paris architect is known for her hi-tech expression of which a paradigmatic example would be the Osaka Port project. The layout of the museum is the result of the restoration and refurbishment of the old Peroni brewery, an important industrial building from the early 20^th century. The architect’s thoughts on space were guided by a complex challenge of interpolating the modern art gallery into an old industrial building. Located near Villa Borghese, MACRO measures 10000m² and was built on a 15-million-Euro budget. The extension is almost completely transparent and thus the opposition between the private and the public is eliminated. Particularly impressive is the multi-story roof terrace which adds an additional 2500m² of exhibition area. The museum will open its doors fully in the Fall of 2010, and will mostly display modern Italian and international art.

The fact that the projects of presenting the new Rome, as well as the key element in the development – the museum of modern art was assigned to female architects is of particular importance. It seems that the overwhelming male dominance in capital projects has been somewhat softened.

*Zaha Hadid                                                                          *Odile Decq

The opening of MACRO, scheduled for the same day as that of MAXXI, seems somewhat subversive in that the City and the Ministry of Culture are competing against each other. Actually, the whole situation in the Eternal City is reminiscent of the old rivalry between the baroque architects Borromini and Bernini! Both museums are public property: MACRO is subsidized by the City of Rome, and MAXXI is funded by the Ministry of National Heritage and Culture. Although significantly different in size, the spokesperson for MACRO says that the area is more flexible and that they aren’t afraid that the MAXXI will overshadow their institution. In fact, they see it as an opportunity to present novelty items in the collection. In any case, it’s admirable that the City is ready to open itself to modern architecture by interpolating into its historical core.

Since the Mussolini government, Rome hasn’t been inclined to intervene in the public area, believing that modern buildings aren’t on par with valuable historical buildings. It is well known that the conservative Mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, publicly denounces modern architecture, and that the Minister of Culture, Sandro Bondi, said he doesn’t understand modern art and finds it hard to see it as beautiful. For example, Richard Meier’s project for the museum which hosted Ara Pacis was heavily criticized by the Mayor of Rome. Renzo Piano’s Auditiorium, which opened its doors in 2002, had a much better reception as the first serious concert hall and venue for new film festivals in the capital city. However, it seems that all was forgotten on Thursday, May 27, when both museums opened their doors. In fact, the City expects MAXXI to bring in 400000 people a year.

Finally, Rome has stopped being the usual petrified museum-city by offering its citizens and visitors museums that place the city on the list of most desirable places for modern art and architecture. However, it remains to be seen whether MAXXI and MACRO will have the Bilbao effect and whether they’ll be able to fulfill the conditions of hosting modern art.

For more on MAXXI, click here. For more on MACRO, click here.

The recently closed exhibition in the Museum of Arts and Crafts “The Porcelain Sheen  of Socialism“ presented three decades worth of industrially molded designs within Jugokeramika Factory, emphasizing the design trends and especially the designers’ axis (Jelena Antolčić, Anica Kuhta Severin, Dragica Perhač and Marta Šribar), who demonstrated the whole array of Yugoslav design despite the thankless position of women in the industry.

In the former Yugoslavia, the fifties were marked by rapid renovations, forced industrialisation and gradual turning toward the West. Extremely strong avant-garde streaming expressed through EXAT’51 as well as newly established theater, music and film festivals; first publications of magazines such as Svijet (The World) or Arena along with the airing of TV programmes formed a new type of social stratification. It is quite easy to characterize such an economic miracle as Yugoslavia’s Golden Era which proceeded to become even more consumerist in the sixties. Thus, that’s the general context in which the Jugokeramika factory began with its production in 1953.

Hence the exhibition “The Porcelain Sheen of Socialism” with a somewhat nostalgic overtone implies a sentimental journey in time. The fact that it is possible to find certain dining sets in your grandmother’s cabinets which will remind you of your primary school meals, confirms such an assumption. It is not by chance (or is it?) that the exhibition opening coincided with the shutting down of the Inker factory, ruined during the market economy transition (in 1991), thus it seems that this exhibition performed last rites on the factory. Throughout the complete production, as well as in the catalogue’s introductory, exceptionally severe criticism of factory managers can be observed. It is evident that the managing directors of Jugokeramika, and later Inker, lacked marketing strategies despite having brilliant designers. On that account alone, the Museum of Arts and Crafts marketing scheme is excellent: if you didn’t chance to buy a cup, set of cups or vases in the NAMA or any similar shop, you can now exclusively purchase it in the Museum shop. It is a somewhat paradoxical fact that the industrially designed service, once upon a time aimed at mass usage, is now becoming accessible as a rare collector’s item or souvenir. Unfortunately, at the moment, there’s nothing else left for Jugokeramika. Aside from reminiscing about the good old days.

At the same time, the exhibition of Vienna classical porcelain from the Marton Museum collection is taking place at the Museum of Arts and Crafts. An utter contrast to the elegant minimalism and functionalism of Jugokeramika’s sets! The Vienna porcelain is of bourgeois provenance, steeped in the sheer luxury and lavishness of its design and structure. It is a sort of imperial privilege in itself.  By juxtaposing the Jugokeramika exhibition in the same Museum area with the Vienna porcelain, their significance is inevitably being compared and contrasted. On the one hand, craft-master manufactures working at an imperial palace, on the other hand the working-class employed in factories and managing machines. On the one hand, eighteen-century-long imperialism of the Austrian monarchy, and on the other hand the 1950’s and ’60’s Yugoslavian self-government concept. However, within the concept of musealisation, it’s seemingly possible to place such contrasts under the common denominator of exclusive utensils targeted at the elite. For that matter, the exhibition of the Vienna porcelain, bears the title Showpieces, marking objects of extraordinary quality, and as such, may only belong to the extraordinary. It appears to be more important to present Jugokeramika as a phenomenon of extremely successful industry in Yugoslavia and the beginning of mass production, rather than the history of utensils design through following trends. Yet, the conventional museum exhibition framework often represents exactly the history of a certain artifact through inspired, creative individuals.  The critic and theorist Boris Groys emphasises that for the reception of art the museum per se is superfluous, to the point of being detrimental due to the contrast between the profane environment where the object is situated, and decontextualised museum premises. He furthermore explains how museum evaluation is solely the act of creating a tangible line between the objects that will make the collection cut and those that will be thrown in the trash, so to speak.

Maybe our next step should be awareness of the fact that the value and quality of certain objects is not created at the moment of museum’s authorisation as a supernatural force, but that in such cases only a little common sense is necessary. The donation of utensils that complete the museum collection should not be the Inker factory’s final move, it would rather be far more important to revive manufacture and hold on to a quality product. This way, we’ll probably start importing our own designs under a foreign name, or continue to view them under glass showcases as we do today.

The television monitors in galleries and museums serve for the production of art works, not for watching the television program. It seems absurd to have to explain that to anyone save perhaps children, especially since video art is entering into its fifth decade of existence. That is, however, precisely the kind of incredible incomprehension the Croatian Association of Artists (HDLU) came up against when Croatian Radiotelevision Subscriptions Office zealots paid them a visit with the intent of collecting television subscription for each of the CAA’s seventeen televisions!

This latest CRT blunder could be used as a perfect script model for a Monthy Pythonesque satire. Upon hearing the news a few days ago, we were skeptical regarding its credibility, as it’s hard to believe that it would cross even the CRT’s diligent subscription hunter’s minds to collect tribute on televisions which are used solely for art purposes. However, the CAA confirmed that that is precisely what happened.

Irena Letica, the CAA secretary, says she was flabbergasted when the CRT inspection board knocked on the door and demanded they pay a fine for past usage of the television sets, and proceed to pay a subscription per every television they have. She asked them if they were aware where they had come, and proceeded to explain to them that the televisions in question are used exclusively for exhibiting art works, but alas, the CRT were adamant in their claim that the CAA should have registered them and that they are obliged to pay television subscription on them. aa

The CAA’s 17 television sets and plasma TVs are used in four CAA gallery halls and are frequently borrowed by other gallery halls and by members of the association for their exhibits. Irena Letica states that the CAA wouldn’t be able to bear the expense of the subscription fee for all those television sets and that they would be forced to sell them in that case. Fortunately, the CAA managed to find their feet quickly enough and outwitted the CRT by blocking the receiving signals so they were unable to receive TV signals along with obtaining a certificate from the TV-service which blocked it for them and sent it to the CRT. Since then nobody has contacted them so they gather that the problem is solved.

The Museum of Contemporary Art also has monitors in its set-up where video art is projected. One of them is Siniša Labrović’s “Family News”, placed at the very beginning of the permanent set-up, in which Labrović’s family is watching the main Croatian Radiotelevision News Programme in Sinj, thus they could be an ideal candidate for paying subscription to the CRT. However, we were informed by the MoCA that the CRT’s inspection board hasn’t as yet paid them a visit such as the one they paid to the CAA.

*Nam June Paik,                                                             *Nam June Paik,  Piano Piece  1993.