PHOTOS: Check out the new artistic displays around Zagreb

(Photo credit: Ernest Mazarekić)

In collaboration with the Zagreb Tourist Board, the artistic project “Okolo” invites you again this year to embark on a unique artistic stroll through Zagreb until August 30th. Take a fresh look at the city streets from a different perspective and discover surprises prepared for you at every turn by international and local artists and designers.

For the sixth time, “Okolo” is scheduling an encounter with art in hidden alleyways, forgotten passages, the treetops of Zagreb’s parks, and the corners of the Upper Town. Leading the list of artists leaving their mark on Zagreb this year are international names: Isaac Cordal and Ememem.

Isaac Cordal, a Spanish artist known for his ingenious miniature worlds, has found a home in Zagreb for his latest small sculptures placed in urban settings to comment on modern society in his unique way. 

“Street Healing Art” will be demonstrated by Ememem, a street art collective from Lyon known for embellishing cracked sidewalks, roadways, and facades worldwide with their distinctive colorful ceramic tile mosaics. Cordal’s “Cement Eclipse” can be found at eight locations: Kaptol 4, Dolac 2, Tomić’s stairs by number 9, Tomić’s stairs by the passage, Ilica 12, Zakmardi stairs, Bloody Bridge, and Small stairs. Ememem will leave his unique mark on the stairs by the passage of the Jägerhorn Hotel after August 25th.

Cement Eclipse – Isaac Cordal (Photo credit: Ernest Mazarekić)

In addition to them, the city’s streets come to life with intriguing site-specific installations and street art interventions by well-known names from the local art scene. You can find two completely different textile installations at two locations. 

Sculptor Ida Blažičko, best known for her ambient-textile installations in public spaces, presents the textile sculpture “Waves” on Illyric Square, adapted to the unique atmosphere of the historical Zagreb location. Meanwhile, fashion designer Damir Begović, known for creating visually and texturally rich collections inspired by his native Slavonia, has placed an impressive spatial installation, “Folk Graffiti Ponjava,” at the corner of Splavnica and Tkalčićeva Street, celebrating the ethnographic tradition through a modern lens.

Folk Graffiti Ponjava – Damir Begović (Photo credit: Ernest Mazarekić)

Two designers explore city and summer motifs. Gajeva Street becomes a gathering place for recognizable denizens of the streets and squares – pigeons – as seen through the eyes of Ivana Mrčela in “High Noon.” Once believed to represent virtues like tenderness, love, sacrifice, communication, human fellowship, grace, and peace, pigeons are remarkably happy birds. 

High Noon – Ivana Mrčela (Photo credit: Marko Todorov)

This pink “cloud of pigeons” invites visitors to join the flock and embrace their optimism. Jelena Malenica, on the other hand, transforms the passageway beneath the Uspinjača funicular into a rich field of dried flowers in “Endless Summer.” Crafted from authentic flora from the hinterlands of Šibenik and placed in the urban landscape, this installation, accompanied by the sounds of cicadas, evokes the feeling of an “endless summer.”

A dedicate photographic intervention to the great Croatian and beloved Zagreb photographer with a unique authorial style, Slavka Pavić, who has spent over 70 years documenting cityscapes and photographic experiments, also features.

Over 20 large-format photographs documenting essential aspects of Zagreb’s everyday life, placed at various poster locations, commemorate the artistic creativity and unique poetic of this legendary photographer who was inclined towards subjective photography. The “Photo Diaries of Slavka Pavić” can be found at Kaptol, Zakmardi stairs, Šoštarićeva Street, and Varšavska Street from August 22nd. At the same time, humorous interactive posters connected in a “Roundabout” format, designed by Pavla Kuharić from the Verlauf design studio, reinterpret the meaning of the advertising pillar as an informative object. These posters will appear on Dolac, Ban Jelačić Square – Splavnica, and Ban Jelačić Square – Prague Street.

On this occasion, Martina Bienenfeld, the director of the Zagreb Tourist Board, stated: “We have supported the Okolo project since its inception in 2018 because we believe that this form of artistic expression enriches our cultural heritage and diversity while enhancing Zagreb’s tourist offering. Zagreb is, from a tourism perspective, a hub of contemporary artistic creativity and a leader in urban culture in Croatia. Okolo, through inspiring installations by artists, creates a unique experience of public urban spaces in a non-invasive and sustainable manner. As a project, Okolo grows and evolves from year to year, so I am excited that this August it will present new urban interventions that stimulate reflection and contribute to raising awareness of the values and impact of art on our daily lives.”

By placing artistic works in the urban landscape, “Okolo” revitalizes public spaces and transforms them into places where art spontaneously intersects with the city’s daily life. It places local artists and their personal experiences and visions of the city in the forefront while introducing contemporary art to a broader audience.

(Photo credit: Ernest Mazarekić)

“Okolo” was initiated in 2018 by Nas dve (Ana Mikin and Tina Kovačićek) in collaboration with the Zagreb Tourist Board. Murals like “Lonac” in Klaićeva, “The Red Carpet to the Upper Town,” “Blue Clouds and the Singing Forest” in Bele IV Park, “Golden Hands” in the Craftsmen’s Passage, the woolen heart that became a symbol of Zagreb’s recovery after the earthquake, the silk sculpture in Tomiće’s, the large floor mural above Dubravkin Put, the light installation in the treetops of Ribnjak Park, the “Kumica” on the steps of Dolac, the sleeping giant on Petrinjska, charming street miniatures playing with urban elements, and plants that sing when touched are just a few of the intriguing interventions that “Okolo” has already brought to the streets of Zagreb, delighting both residents and tourists.

Explore the artistic side of Zagreb. You can follow the interventions on the Facebook and Instagram pages or spot them while walking through the city, marked by the red circular symbol. This event is realized with the support of the Zagreb Tourist Board, the City of Zagreb, the Ministry of Culture and Media, and the Zagreb Photo Club.

Check out the first art installations and street interventions that have appeared around the city and go on a small art tour of Zagreb.

1. ISAAC CORDAL – “Cement Eclipse”

Locations: Kaptol 4, Dolac 2, Tomićeve Stube by No. 9, Tomićeve Stube by the Passageway, Ilica 12

Pomrčina Cementa (Cement Eclipse) is a nomadic project composed of a series of urban interventions dedicated to small figurative sculptures that contemplate contemporary society. The central figure is a stereotypical middle-aged, bald, uniformed man in a gray suit. The selection of locations plays a leading role, turning them into semantic spaces where we observe the passage of time, transient decadence, and reflections on our own imperfections. The artist employs humor and irony in a measured, ambiguous manner, always on the brink of drama, leaving viewers wondering whether to laugh or cry.

Cement Eclipse – Isaac Cordal (Photo credit: Isaac Cordal)

2. IDA BLAŽIIČKO – “Waves” 

Location: Ilirski Trg (Illyric Square)

Waves symbolize the deep connection between humans and water, situated at Illyric Square where locals once rested and refreshed themselves from the well. The contemplative harmony with the natural surroundings and the interplay of light, space, and textiles evoke almost tangible feelings of presence and absence. More than a mere object, Waves are a dance of light and shadow, a bridge connecting observers with nature. In the silence of the dialogue with Illyric Square, the sculpture invites passersby to discover the familiar in an entirely new light.

Waves – Ida Blažičko (Photo credit: Ernest Mazarekić)

3. IVANA MRČELA – “High Noon”

Location: Gajeva 2

High Noon pays homage to Zagreb’s pigeons that take flight when the Gric cannon fires at precisely noon. Pigeons were once believed to embody virtues such as tenderness, love, sacrifice, communication, human unity, grace, and peace, making them exceptionally content birds. They possess qualities increasingly scarce in today’s world. This pink “cloud of pigeons” invites visitors to join the flock and share in their optimism.

High Noon – Ivana Mrčela (Photo credit: Marko Todorov)

4. JELENA MALENICA – “Endless Summer”

Location: Passageway by Tomić’s Stairs

Endless Summer is a multisensory installation that transforms the passageway beneath the Uspinjača funicular into a rich field of dried flowers. Crafted from authentic flora from the hinterlands of Šibenik and placed in the urban landscape, even on the scorching asphalt, the installation evokes the feeling of an “endless summer.”

Endless Summer – Jelena Malenica (Photo credit: Ernest Mazarekić)

5. DAMIR BEGOVIĆ – “Folk Graffiti Ponjava”

Location: Dolac Stube (Dolac Stairs)

Folk Graffiti Ponjava emerged from textiles, inspired by the idea of merging tradition with contemporary trends. The inspiration from the native region and ethnographic motifs is connected with graffiti as symbols of the city. A kind of patchwork of layers, fueled by love for heritage, becomes a powerful visual message about who we are, what we represent, and where we belong.

Folk Graffiti Ponjava – Damir Begović (Photo credit: Ernest Mazarekić)

You can follow the interventions on the Facebook and Instagram pages or recognize them while walking around the city by the red round sign.