How Grožnjan became the artists’ mecca

After it became a town of artists in 1965, a new creative era began. The houses deserted after the Second World War became home to members of artist associations from Croatia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The town’s transformation into an artistic centre took place mostly thanks to the efforts of Aleksandar Rukavina, a sculptor from Zagreb, and his fellow visual artists, who organised various programmes and art colonies in abandoned stone houses. Some thirty of them were gradually turned into galleries, ateliers, studios and dwellings of numerous artists.

Music has also played an important role in Grožnjan’s art community. The International Cultural Centre of the Jeunesses Musicales Croatia was founded here in 1969, due to which Grožnjan became one of the World Meeting Centres of Jeunesses Musicales. Since then, more than 20,000 young musicians from all over the world have visited Grožnjan, giving around 50 musical performances each summer.

A traditional artistic expression anchored in the ‘here and now’ has been preserved up to the present day, mostly through the art event Ex tempore, taking place here since 1994. It gathers visual artists from all over the world, who draw inspiration from Grožnjan to create paintings and exhibit them in this amazing outdoor gallery.

The legendary jazz festival Jazz is back BP is the summer’s musical highlight, bringing together the world’s most acclaimed jazz artists and musicians from the International Cultural Centre of the Jeunesses Musicales Croatia. It was founded in 1999 by Boško Petrović, Croatia’s legendary jazz musician. A strong connection has been fostered between the Jeunesses Musicales Croatia’s summer jazz school and festival, so many former students come back to perform at the festival as distinguished artists.

Another place for artistic explorations, known as the Imaginary Film Academy, opened in Grožnjan in 1995, producing a number of awarded documentary films and esteemed directors.