(Draga Ungaro:Sjećanje na Topusko 1944. Zdenka Munk: Nezaboravni „Rodoljupci“ (“Memory of Topusko 1944. Zdenka Munk: the Unforgettable ‘Patriots’”) / Vjesnik, 13 June 1984)
Inspired by the 80th anniversary of the Third session of the State Anti-Fascist Council for the People’s Liberation of Croatia (ZAVNOH; 8 – 9 May 1944) and the First Congress of the Cultural Workers of Croatia in Topusko (25–27 June 1944), as well as by the significance of the former for contemporary Croatian history, and considering the relevant materials the Croatian History Museum has preserved in its holdings, the Museum has organised an exhibition of the works of art from the Twentieth Century Art Collection entitled Art in the Face of War, displaying works that were originally exhibited at the Fine Arts Exhibition that was held as part of the Congress in Topusko.
From the very beginning, a large number of cultural workers from the fields of literature, journalism, music, theatre and fine arts, Croatian anti-fascists who were members of the People’s Liberation Movement under the leadership of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia or its supporters, participated in World War II. With the establishment of the ZAVNOH and the liberation of a large part of Croatia’s territory after the capitulation of Italy in 1943, cultural and educational activity gained increasing importance under the ZAVNOH’s Propaganda Department. Its activities developed in a way that was technically and operationally possible in the harsh wartime conditions, and took on a mobilisational and educational-ideological political form. A Culture and Arts Section was organised within the Propaganda Department, employing Partisan artists. After the Third session of the ZAVNOH was held in May 1944, the spa town of Topusko became the centre of cultural events in June, thanks to the programme of the First Congress of the Cultural Workers of Croatia, which consisted of three parts: ceremonial, practical and artistic, within which the Fine Arts Exhibition was set up.
The exhibition Art in the Face of War is based on a reconstruction of the Fine Arts Exhibition in Topusko, which featured cca 270 works by thirteen artists – Zvonimir Agbaba,Ivo Čaće, Vilim Čerić, Lela Čermak, Marijan Detoni, Alfred Krupa, Franjo Mraz,Edo Murtić, Zlatko Prica, Vanja Radauš, Stjepan Rajković, Vjekoslav Rukljač and PetarŠimaga. The principal sources for the reconstruction were the photographs ofthe exhibits of the Fine Arts Exhibition and the Brochure of the First Congress of the Cultural Workers of Croatia from the holdings of the Croatian History Museum. Theresulting exhibition features 32 original works of art by nine Partisan artists, namelyZvonimir Agbaba, Ivo Čaće, Vilim Čerić, Lela Čermak, Marijan Detoni, Alfred Krupa,Edo Murtić, Zlatko Prica and Vanja Radauš. It was established with certainty thatthese works had been featured at the Exhibition organised as part of the Congress.Five clay sculptures by Vjekoslav Rukljač were not preserved and can be seen onlyon the photographs of the exhibits of the Exhibition in Topusko. Considering thatthe works of the remaining three artists—Franjo Mraz, Stjepan Rajković and PetarŠimaga—could not be identified, their artistic endeavours in Topusko throughout1944 are exhibited as part of a multimedia presentation.Short war biographies and evocative quotes, extensive photographic (such as theFresco in the main hall of the Sanatorium) and documentary material, and memorabiliafrom the Croatian History Museum complete the information about theauthors of the works of art, and the overall atmosphere of the First Congress ofthe Cultural Workers of Croatia.
For the final part of the exhibition Art in the Face of War, we have chosen one of the most significant works of the period – the graphic portfolio by Edo Murtić and Zlatko Prica, illustrating the poem Jama (“The Pit”) by Ivan Goran Kovačić, printed in November 1944 in Topusko. The idea for the work was conceived in the summer of that same year, during the Congress, and the work itself sends a timeless anti- war message.
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Gallery of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, Zagreb
17 June – 4 July 2024
ORGANISER
Croatian History Museum
AUTHORS OF THE EXHIBITION
Maša Pokupčić
Ana Filep
VISUAL SETUP AND VISUAL IDENTITY
Maja Karić
Ana Filep
EXPERT ASSOCIATES
Petra Braun
Tomislav Čanković
Nikola Seiwerth
Maja Karić
PHOTOGRAPHS
Ivana Asić
PROOFREADING
Iva Klobučar Srbić
TRANSLATION
Ena Prokić
MULTIMEDIA
Multimedia presentations: Ana Filep, Zdenka Šinkić, Ivica Tarle
Documentary feature TV FELJTON – Ratni Ateljei Zlatka Price, RTS, 1975 (Archive of the Radio-Television of Serbia)
SOUND BACKDROP
Compositions for guitar by Rudolf and Slavko Fumić (performed by Rudolf Fumić, Slavko Fumić, Darko Petrinjak, Iz romantičnih albuma, 2007)
Leonard Cohen: The Partisan (Songs from a Room, 1969.)
Ladarice: Šume, šume (Partizanske narodne pjesme, 1978.)
TECHNICAL SETUP
Ivo Margaretić
Ozren Solić
Ivica Tarle
Mario Zrakić
Ivan Troha, Archaeological Museum in Zagreb
COORDINATING CURATORS
Hana Ivezić, Archaeological Museum in Zagreb
Jana Kopáčková, Archaeological Museum in Zagreb
We would like to thank the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb for the provided venue and to all who contributed to the realisation of this exhibition.