The men’s and women’s costumes on exhibit from the collection of Zagreb’s Folk Costume Loan and Workshop, and the photographic images, present the variations of Croatian folk garb present in modern Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Czechia, Italy, Hungary, Kosovo, Serbia and Romania.
Outside the Boundary / Inside the Frame is an exhibition of folk costumes opened at the Croatian Heritage Foundation on 9 June. The exhibition celebrates seventy years of the CHF and looks ahead to the 8th Folk Costume Review and Miss Croatian Folk Costume Pageant for Croatians Abroad. The exhibition draws on the resources of the Travno Culture Centre (KUC Travno) and the Folk Costume Loan and Workshop of Zagreb.
The opening, broadcast live via the CHF’s profile on the site of the internet social networking platform Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/231777773503011/videos/775325566491689), saw the participation of the author of the exhibition layout, ethnologist Bojana Poljaković Popović and Folk Costume Loan and Workshop director Josip Forjan, with CHF director Mijo Marić on hand to open the event.
“The Croatian Heritage Foundation is an institution that in 2021 is celebrating seventy years of collaborating with Croatians abroad,” Marić said in his opening comments, adding that, “this exhibition is a small part of the mosaic of programmes through which we contribute to the preservation of their cultural identity. This exhibition aims to show that all these stunning folk costumes, while very diverse in their appearance, are in fact an integral part of a single Croatian culture. The same is true of the dialects, local vernacular and idioms used among Croatians living in the country and outside its modern borders, all of which are facets of a single Croatian tongue. Preserving this broad wealth of our language and culture is critical to safeguarding the identity of Croatians abroad, and the CHF will continue its mission to support these efforts,” Marić concluded.
Taking part in the opening of the exhibition was Ivan Vidić, the folklore director of the HKUD Čapljina Croatian culture and arts association in neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina, presenting a medley of Herzegovina-region round dance melodies played on the bagpipe. Ms Poljaković Popović presented the individual folk costumes. The live broadcast also included images of previous Folk Costume Review and Miss Croatian Folk Costume Pageants jointly staged in Tomislavgrad by the CHF and the Stećak association.
The traditional cultural heritage of a community and a group is created in response to the environment, shared activity, nature and history. It gives the community a sense of its identity and continuity, promoting respect for cultural diversity and human creativity. Folk costumes are part of the traditional cultural heritage that mirrors the wealth and diversity of a people. The various cultural influences are evident in their composition, as are the impacts of historical episodes and the dexterity and imaginativeness of the people that created them. The richness of traditional textile handicrafts and folk costumes is a testament to the exceptionally rich intangible and tangible cultural heritage of Croatians abroad.
The Outside the Boundary / Inside the Frame: Traditional Clothing Among Croatians Abroad exhibition showcases the diversity of traditional garb among ethnic Croatians outside the homeland. This apparel was shaped over centuries and incorporates a broad range of national, cultural and fashion influences in the lands our people have settled in. As the title of the exhibition notes the ethnic Croatian communities outside our country’s borders remain part of a single nation.
In our folk costumes we see a core traditional cultural heritage that has survived for centuries and evident external cultural and historical influences that have been incorporated by Croatians in the other modern European countries in which they have settled. The men’s and women’s costumes on exhibit from the collection of Zagreb’s Folk Costume Loan and Workshop, and the photographic images, present the variations of Croatian folk garb present in modern Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Czechia, Italy, Hungary, Kosovo, Serbia and Romania.
By: Bojana Poljaković Popović & Snježana Jurišić
