Batana's Sails - The Decoration of a Special Weekend in Zagreb

While the center of Zagreb sparkled in the Festival of Lights this weekend, and the most beautiful magnolias in Zagreb bloomed on King Tomislav Square, in the nearby Gallery of the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb, during Saturday evening, Batana's Sails talked about the sea and Rovinj's heritage.

Through a presentation, song and bites of the sea, members of the Association- Associazione "Kuća o batana-Casa della batana" presented 20 years of successful work of their Ecomuseum-Ecomuseo "Batana", led by the president of the association Ennio Cherin and the director of the institution of the same name, Nives Giuricin. Sail by sail, photo by photo, they conjured up before the eyes of the Zagreb audience the blue of the Rovinj waters and regatta of important moments that marked the Batana's sailing through two decades of its preservation.

After a short introductory speech by Silvija Jacić, associate for the promotion of the Ecomuseum "Batana", the director of the Institution "House of Batana," Nives Giuricin began the presentation entitled "Ecomuseum as a reference point of Rovinj identity". In the introductory part, she introduced the attendees to the history of Rovinj and the importance of batana for the local community. She then presented the development of the Rovinj Ecomuseum and all its components, activities, projects, achievements, and awards. In the second part of the presentation, she introduced the audience to Rovinj's musical heritage and dialect using video materials that brought the voices of the unforgettable Liliana Budicin Manestar, the young Alessio Giuricin, and members of the SAC-KUD "Marco Garbin" CI/ZT "Pino Budicin" to the heart of Zagreb.

At the end of the presentation, a member of the association, Francesco Budicin, spontaneously addressed the attendees with a specific and melodic dialect, or as the people of Rovinj call it, a language (Favièla ruvìgniʃa). Although the audience did not understand him, the emotion with which he thanked everyone involved in preserving the maritime heritage of Rovinj-Rovigno for their commitment moved many, so Vesna Jurić-Rukavina, a journalist and editor at Zagreb's HRT Radio Sljeme, where she hosts the award-winning show "Prstom po globusu", concluded the presentation with well-chosen words: "Although I only understood a few words, it was a real pleasure to listen to this linguistic wealth. It is just a part of the heritage whose symbol is the batana and about which we learned a lot tonight. The story of the batana is the story of the real Rovinj, and it deserves to be turned into a documentary film. As vice-president of FIJET (the World Association of Travel Journalists and Writers in Tourism), I will be particularly involved in this regard so that these valuable and important heritage efforts are recognized beyond the borders of our country."

Thanks to the members of the association, especially Enio Sošić, Jasna Bešker, and Dolores Smoljan, after the presentation and the exhibition tour, an informal gathering followed with a glass of Malvasia, a pint, and snacks with cod and salted anchovies. The second edition of the book "Rovinjska batana i njezino jedro - La batana rovignese e la sua vela" by Libero Benussi, new promotional materials from the Ecomuseum "Batana," and original postcards by the painter Gianni Pokrajc depicting Rovinj views were waiting for the guests on the tables as a gift. Luciano Dandolo was responsible for the real Rovinj atmosphere, who, despite his flu, encouraged the members of the association with his voice and guitar to join him in performing "Viècia batàna" and other Rovinj songs, which brought smiles to the faces of those gathered. Although he left the main role in the further development of the ecomuseum, including this evening, to the younger generations, among the harmonious singing voices, the voice of Marino Budicin, the initiator of the ecomuseum and the current vice-president of the Association-Associazione "Kuća o batana - Casa della batana" could also be heard.

The evening with the batana and its people was joined by photographer Damir Fabijanić, who is responsible for a series of conceptual solutions and fantastic photographs of the batana and Rovinj-Rovigno, experienced Zagreb guide Marjeta Trkman Kravar, who led the Rovinj people through Zagreb in 2018, Katarina Varenica, editor of the Croatian Cultural Centre's cultural program, who has been following the work of the ecomuseum for many years, and its associates and excellent experts in the fields of museology, ethnology and folklore, Tanja Kocković Zaborski, curator of the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb, and Jelena Ivanišević, senior research associate from the Zagreb Institute of Ethnology and Folklore, who shared her impressions: "I remember with joy the visit to Rovinj-Rovigno, where I was invited as a lecturer by the program manager and then president of the association, Tamara Nikolić Đerić. The involvement of the local community in the Batana Ecomuseum project is truly impressive. The passion, knowledge, and effort invested in the two decades of this heritage story show impressive results in preserving Rovinj's maritime heritage. The "Batana" Ecomuseum is much more than a museum dedicated to the traditional knowledge of making these wooden boats. Instead of merely preserving the past, which always seems more beautiful than it was, it demonstrates the vitality of a community to embrace and design its future based on the past. It seems that the Rovinj community The Batana-related culture accepts that change is the fundamental principle of the survival of everyday cultural practices, and accordingly actively works to reflect on the place that the batana, in a social and symbolic sense, occupies today".

The evening presentation of the Ecomuseum "Batana" was preceded by a meaningful and educational tour of Zagreb for members of the Association "House of Batana - Casa della batana" thanks to the host, the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb. During the tour, members of our association viewed part of the AMZ exhibition, its most attractive part with the Egyptian collection and the famous mummies, which delighted the youngest members of the association. This was followed by an interpretive walk through the center of Zagreb with curator Ozren Domiter, who, presenting copies of artifacts at the place of discovery (Zrinjevac, Petrinjska Street, Ban Jelačić Square, Kaptol, Gavella Theater), presented the project "Zagreb before it was even there", giving the people of Rovinj a special experience of the capital. A walk through sunny Zagreb, the Dolac market, The Splavnica, Oktogon Passage, Cvjetni trg and the main street, Ilica, and lunch at the traditional restaurant "Stari fijaker" as well as enjoying the attractions of the Festival of Lights before returning to Istria, made this day unforgettable.

Impressions of the study visit, as well as the presentation of the Ecomuseum "Batana", were presented by the president of the Association-Associazione "Kuća o batana - Casa della batana", Ennio Cherin: "Our association has always had the habit of organizing study trips and gatherings throughout the year, but due to the pandemic and other reasons, we were forced to give up this practice. This year, we started organizing study trips again and for this reason chose the capital city, which welcomed us with a magical atmosphere because our arrival coincided with the Festival of Lights. Thanks to the Archaeological Museum, we experienced Zagreb differently and got the opportunity to present our many years of work. Promotion is very important today, both on social networks and in person. Therefore, we tried to provide the Zagreb audience with a visual experience with our photo exhibition and, through a meaningful presentation, to convey everything that the Association and the Institution are doing to increasingly revitalize the maritime and cultural heritage of our city. Our goals in the third decade of work include efforts to revive all those still hidden customs that are gradually dying out and offer them to young people so that they become interested in them".

Nives Giuricin, director of the Institution-Istituzione "Kuća o batana - Casa della batana," concluded by emphasizing, "We are extremely pleased to have been allowed to present the work of our ecomuseum at such a level in the capital. We would like to thank the Zagreb audience for their arrival and interest in our heritage, and we look forward to the announced visits to Rovinj-Rovigno. We would also like to thank the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb for their truly warm hospitality, especially director Ivan Radman Livaja and senior curator Ozren Domiter for the impeccable organization and compliments they gave us, as well as for the educational content with which they brought us closer to one of the most important cultural institutions in Croatia. The contacts established have brought us some new ideas and opportunities. "We hope for another opportunity to present our heritage wealth in an even more creative and innovative way, aimed at a wider audience, so that as many Zagreb residents as possible will recognize our little batana as a symbol of our beautiful city," concluded Nives Giuricin, director of the Institution-Istituzione "Kuća o batana - Casa della batana".