On hand to welcome everyone were the head of our culture department Snježana Jurišić, CHF director Mijo Marić, priest Zvonko Martić from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ms Ivana Perkušić, the deputy state secretary at the State Office for Croats Abroad, who also officially declared the exhibition open.
The I Proudly Wear the Croatian Folk Costume exhibition, an event jointly organised by the Croatian Heritage Foundation and the Stećak Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Croatian Traditional Culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina was formally opened on the 7th of June. The opening ceremony kicked off with ethnologist Marko Brkljačić playing the dvojnice instrument, a local form of double flute, and performances of the dances and songs of the Posavina region by the Željezničar Croatian Culture and Arts Society, led by artistic director Katarina Horvatović Medarić. On hand to welcome everyone were the head of our culture department Snježana Jurišić, CHF director Mijo Marić, priest Zvonko Martić from Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Ms Ivana Perkušić, the deputy state secretary at the State Office for Croats Abroad, who also officially declared the exhibition open.
Also on hand for the opening of the exhibition were Ms Olivera Majić, the deputy mayor of Zagreb representing the mayor of Zagreb, representatives of the Municipality of Tomislavgrad, the president of the Tomislavgrad municipal council Mr Luka Krstanović and the assistant for veteran issues and joint affairs Mr Ivica Šarac, the speaker of the assembly of Hercegbosanska County Mr Robert Bagarić and the secretary of the assembly Mr Zdravko Skočibušić, representatives of the State Office for Croats Abroad, representatives of the municipal demography bureau, representatives of ZAFAZ (the City of Zagreb Amateur Folklore Association), Federation of Croatian Associations of Sweden managing board member Mr Zvonko Djidic, members of the Turopolje banderija (a honorary military unit of the Turopolje aristocracy) of the Noble Municipality of Turopolje, representatives of the Ministry of Culture from its cultural heritage protection administration and department for ethnographic and intangible cultural heritage, the head of the International Folklore Review Mr Tvrtko Zebec and other members of its management, representatives of the Institute of Ethnology, members of culture and arts societies, representatives of the Roman Catholic Church and other friends.
Snježana Jurišić, the head of our culture department, noted that this exhibition has two objectives: to showcase for Zagreb viewers and the broader Croatian public the programme of the folk costume review and the Miss Croatian Folk Costume Pageant for Croatians Abroad, which has been staged in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the fifth consecutive year. Ahead of the event slated for the 2nd to 7th of July in Tomislavgrad, the I Proudly Wear the Croatian Folk Costume exhibition also contributes to raising public awareness of the importance of Croatian folklore heritage and preserving the Croatian identity among our diaspora communities, the Croatian indigenous minority communities in European countries and the Croatians of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Stećak association is the organiser of the Miss Croatian Folk Costume Pageant for Croatians Abroad, joined by co-organiser the Croatian Heritage Foundation. The pageant is held under the high patronage of the Croatian member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina Dragan Čović, the State Office for Croats Abroad, the government of Hercegbosanska County and the Municipality of Tomislavgrad. Ms Jurišić also noted that this event also raises public awareness of the significance and role of traditional Croatian garb as an important element of the cultural and ethnic identity of the Croatian diaspora communities, of the Croatian indigenous minority communities in European countries and of the Croatians of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Emphasis has also been placed on raising awareness of the importance of Croatian folklore heritage in the current context and strengthening pride in Croatian traditional culture.
Ms Jurišić also said that the exhibition is of the modular type and will be accompanied by various content. The 52nd Junior Cultural Federation Tamburitza Festival of the Croatian Fraternal Union will be accompanied by a workshop on the fabrication of the Turopolje region podgutnica—the forerunner of the modern necktie (cravat)—that will see participants create their own cravat and proudly wear it as part of their outfit. This, says Ms Jurišić, will contribute to a better understanding of the significance of Croatian folklore heritage as a constant process of the transmission of a set of values and as an essential element of our identity. Along with the workshop there will be a round table discussion on heritage and migration and a demonstration of the use of the national folk costume among Croatian minority communities with an emphasis on the reconstruction of garb, i.e. pointing to the importance of the renewal of traditional textile handicraft in the present day.
The exhibition photography is by Sarajevo based art photographer Jasmin Fazlagić, shot during previous reviews in Tomislavgrad.
The exhibition at the Croatian Heritage Foundation headquarters will be open for visitors through to the 22nd of July when the 52nd International Folklore Review wraps up.
By: Naida Šehović; Photography: Snježana Radoš