More than 300 works were submitted to the Croatian Heritage Foundation’s art competition, of which 197 were selected for the exhibition. The expert panel singled out the 10 most successful works, which received special awards, while about thirty works received honorable mention for their creativity and expressiveness.
On July 2, 2025, the event “My Croatia” – an exhibition of art work of learners in Croatian Teaching Abroad programs was officially opened in the premises of the Croatian Heritage Foundation.
The exhibition was opened by the Deputy Director of the Croatian Heritage Foundation Ivan Tepeš, PhD, emphasizing the importance of preserving Croatian identity through education and art among young people in the diaspora.
This exhibition is the result of the art competition “My Croatia” organized by the Croatian Heritage Foundation with the aim of connecting children and young people attending Croatian Teaching Abroad programs with their homeland, encouraging their creativity, artistic expression and belonging to Croatia.
Through the given topics related to their own experience of Croatia – such as the homeland, their love for Croatia and its beauties – learners expressed their emotions, memories and personal meanings that Croatia represents in their lives, thus depicting motifs of sports, celebrities, families, cities, monuments, symbols of the homeland, beaches, churches, islands, events, landscapes, food…
The works were created with a combination of water colors, temperas and markers, and each of them carries a strong message and an authentic take on identity, culture and belonging.
More than 300 works were submitted to the competition, and the expert panel selected the 10 most successful, which received special awards:
– Emily Kaić, preschool, CTA Netherlands, The Hague (teacher: Ksenija Adamović)
– Adrian Šimić, 1st grade, CTA Switzerland, Zug (teacher: Marta Obad)
– Jan Cerić, 2nd grade, CTA Poland, Warsaw (teacher: Denis Cerić)
– Luciana Babić, 3rd grade, CTA Germany, Mannheim (teacher: Ana Ripić)
– Borna Ivanec, 4th grade, CTA Germany, Stuttgart (teacher: Sara Lerga)
– Madeleine Blount, 5th grade, CTA Australia, Melbourne (teacher: Danijela Nowicki)
– Jakov Ivanec, 6th grade, CTA Germany, Stuttgart (teacher: Sara Lerga)
– Matea Paula Josefin Gmur-Lacić, 7th grade, CTA Switzerland (teacher: Martina Kovačević Rakonić)
– Mila Franović, 8th grade, CTA Montenegro (teacher: Maja Širola-Pean)
– Ema Mišković, secondary school, CTA Germany, Mannheim (teacher: Ines Buntak)
Borna Ivanec and Jakov Ivanec, learners in the Croatian Teaching Abroad program in Stuttgart, attended the opening of the exhibition to personally accept their awards, which further enriched the ceremony.
In addition to the award winners, the expert panel also declared about thirty works worthy of mention, and the acknowledgement for the learner Ana Terezija Udovčić at the exhibition was accepted, on her behalf, by her grandparents.
The exhibition will be open to the public throughout the summer, and can be visited by students on summer holidays in the homeland, their parents and families, as well as all other interested visitors.
Our gratitude goes out to everyone – students, teachers, parents and associates – who have contributed to this beautiful project.
Text and photo: Snježana Radoš
