Mostar Spring 2025: XXVII Days of Matica Hrvatska Mostar

An exhibition from the rich art collection of the Matica Hrvatska opens

Mostar Spring 2025.

On Thursday, April 24th at 7 p.m., another cultural festival begins in the city on the Neretva River. Namely, with a large
with the exhibition The Art Collection of the Matica Hrvatska with as many as 102 works of art at the Museum of Modern Art
The University of Mostar will open the Mostar Spring 2025 – XXVII Days of Matica Hrvatska Mostar.
This is a rich collection of the National Museum of Croatia, which will be presented to the public for the first time.
"Some of the artworks have been loaned several times from other institutions and exhibited at thematic exhibitions."
exhibitions, but this is the first time that the Art Collection of Matica Hrvatska is presented under that name and in
to its full extent. The most deserving of this are the vice-president of Matica Hrvatska, prof. dr. sc. Damir
Zorić and the economic secretary of Matica Hrvatska, Mr. Ivica Nuić, who recognized the idea and included it in
program of the Matica Hrvatska Council in Bosnia and Herzegovina and presented the proposal to the President of Matica Hrvatska
academician Mira Gavran, and they also took concrete steps in the realization of the entire project. It is important
It is worth noting that the late academician Josip Muselimović used his authority to support the project and present it.
to the president of Matica Hrvatska Mostar, academician Ljerka Ostojić, with the intention of being part of the official
program of the Mostar Spring – Matica Hrvatska Mostar Days, which was accepted. We can state
how the Matica Hrvatska Art Collection, by being exhibited at the Museum of Modern Art in Mostar, is the first
recognized, described and presented to the public as a unique heritage entity in the culture of the Croatian
"people", said, among other things, the director of the Museum of Modern Art, University of Mostar, about the exhibition
Marin Ivanovic.
Ivanović, in turn, wrote in the preface to the exhibition catalogue that the Art Collection of the Matica Hrvatska
arose spontaneously and over the course of more than a century was formed without any particular plan, in a similar way
how museology defines the concept of "internal addition".
"Namely, the portraits that make up a large part of the collection were commissioned when the president of Matica's term of office expired or
for late presidents, which means that their role is celebratory and commemorative, that is, the purpose of those
The commission was not about creating a collection per se. Also, given the fact that the building also houses the Gallery
Matica Hrvatska, some artists who exhibited there donated their works, which was an act of respect
individual according to the Matica, and yet not a strictly defined plan for forming the collection. The third group of works of art
are those works that were received as gifts or purchased independently of the two previously mentioned
criteria. Therefore, it would be correct to say that there was a collection of paintings in the Matica Hrvatska that had not been
recognized as a collection. Until now, there has been no public or internal document that the works of art are owned by Matica
defined as a collection only the standard inventory of assets and a separate inventory of works of art that he compiled
"Mirko Cvjetko," added Ivanovic.
"From the insight into the methods of collecting artworks in the Collection, it is even more important to classify its thematic division and
analyze the quality. We can establish a basic division into (1) official portraits and (2) other works of art,
all created in the period from the last quarter of the 19th century to the first quarter of the 21st century. Among the official
The portraits include portraits of the president of Matica Hrvatska, artists, scientists and prominent
members of Croatian society (Stjepan Radić, Ante Starčević, Ante Trumbić, Antun Gustav Matoš),
and other works of art include landscapes (Ljubo Babić, Zora Preradović, Fra Petar Perica Vidić), still lifes
nature, vedute (Emanuel Vidović), figures and portraits (Jerolim Miše, Vladimir Becić), abstractions (Darija
Dolanski Majdak, Zdenko Bužek, Vladimir Bašić) and templates for illustrations of Dante's Divine Comedy
comedies published by Matica Hrvatska (Vatroslav Kuliš, Igor Rončević), as well as sculptures, reliefs and
medals (Rudolf Valdec, Ivan Meštrović, Stipe Sikirica, Ivan Paleka, Josip Turkalj). This simple
The division refers to the fact, as we have previously stated, that official portraits constitute the numerical majority in
to the current Collection, although it is possible, if the Collection is systematically expanded in the future, to establish and
some other division," it also says in the preface signed by Ivanović.

The exhibition, or Mostar Spring 2025 – 27th Days of Matica Hrvatska in Mostar, will be officially opened by
will be opened by this year's high patron, the federal minister of culture and sports, Sanja Vlaisavljević.
Partners in organizing the exhibition are Matica Hrvatska, MH Mostar, MH Council in BiH, University of Mostar and
The Museum of Modern Art and the Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports.

Incidentally, this year's Spring brings about 20 top literary, theatrical, musical and visual works.
program, and will last until mid-June. The high patrons of this international cultural event are
The Federal Ministry of Culture and Sports, headed by Minister Sanja Vlaisavljević, is the general sponsor
HT Eronet.