Visible/Invisible: (Un)veiling the Mythology

The Croatian Student Exhibition is a visual and performative (re)interpretation of pre-Christian Croatian mythological topics and characters, inspired by traditional texts, legends, and fairy tales of Croatian writer Ivana Brlić Mažuranić. It explores the way(s) traditional mythology and mythmaking correspond to the contemporary realities, related cultures, and (inter)national mythologies.

The project is grounded in the idea of synergy of various artistic fields and creative interchange between students of visual arts (costume design, set design, textile and clothes design, applied arts, fine arts) and students of performing arts (stage directors, actors, dramaturgs and playwrights, photographers, video arts students). The principal idea is the visual/performative project/exhibition based in visual art, and an attempt to use the costume designs inspired by Croatian mythological characters as the basis for further visual, textual, and performative exploration of the topic. In close collaboration of costume design students and mentors, students from various artistic fields developed the performative exhibition in which costumes, set, sound design, video design and actors work together. After the students of costume design created costume designs and masks, their ideas and visual material as well as the input of a student of stage direction inspired students of dramaturgy to write monologues of various mythological characters, which were then performed by students of acting, recorded and made into a video installation. The PQ Student Exhibition also included a live performance based on visual art and held within the space allocated to Croatian students in active collaboration with the PQ audience.

The project focuses on the significance of the costume and set designer within performance art, the performative potential of costume design, and the inevitability of mutual collaboration of artists working with different artistic media.

Country/Region Croatia

Curator Dr. art. Ivana Bakal, Faculty of Textile Technology, Zagreb and Martina Petranović, PhD, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, Zagreb

Team MENTORS: Ivana Bakal and Marin Sovar, Faculty of Textile Technology, Zagreb; STUDENTS: Faculty of Textile Technology, University of Zagreb - Costume design: Leana Alić, Martina Hrup, Paola Grgurić, Lorena Jurčević, Antonia Klarić, Ines Krmpotić, Tea Mihalinec, Marija Nakir, Dora Prah, Bruna Prlina, Karla Repić, Luiza Serblin, Andrea Šundov, Ivan Beritić / The Academy of Dramatic Art, University of Zagreb - Director: Rajna Racz, Performers: Nika Korenjak and Maruška Aras, Video: Jozo Schmuch, Urh Pirc, Marko Milohnić and Domen Martinčič; EXHIBITION LAYOUT: Ivana Bakal and Marin Sovar; PHOTO: Sara Filipa Delić, Ines Grahovac (Academy of Dramatic Art), Đurđica Kocijančić and Sanja Jakupec (Faculty of Textile Technology)

Partners ULUPUH – Croatian Association of Artist of Applied Arts; Department of Costume Design, Faculty of Textile Technology, Zagreb; Academy of Dramatic Art, Zagreb and University of Zagreb