Ante Milas (with permission from Ante Milas)

During my studies, I understood all the necessities and ruptures of the historical development of modern art from Cezanne onward and tried to integrate them in my works; not in the usual modernist way of radically breaking with the long tradition of Western, Christian art; but, in the way which is much more demanding, trying to make a possible synthesis of these two greatness, said Ante Milas in an interview I conducted with him on January 30, 2025 in Cologne, in the nice Boesner Kunstbedarf Bistro.”

He is known for the monumental work of the History of Salvation (2004), an altar painting in oil on canvas, 14 and 8.40 meters in length, set at the Holy Cross Church in Fulda – Maberzell in Germany.

Ante Milas has continuously exhibited in Germany and other countries (Duesseldorf, Koeln, Paris, Rome, Zagreb, Rijeka, Madrid, Venice, New York, Dubrovnik). Many of his works are in public and private collections.

Born in 1953 in Croatia (Ivanovac), he studied theology at Đakovo (Croatian) and Bochum (Germany), as well as painting and graphics at the Duesseldorf Academy of Arts (Germany) obtaining master’s degree.

At an early age, aware of his talent, he decided to pursue art. He says that when asked why he chose art, he used to jokingly quote Ovid: “As a boy, I liked the song of heaven, and even then, secretly, the Muse was drawing me to her work.”

His early childhood experiences and impressions shaped his personality as well as the vision of his art. It also helped him maintain his independence and create his own way. The talent of Ante Milas is manifested in his sense for colors, balance, expression, and especially in an extremely precise and perfect drawing, which is unattainable to many painters. In his works one can recognise elements of past epochs in art, but only in the sense that he has mastered them. He uses them in a new, kind of way, thus bringing completely other emotions and thoughts.

The “blurriness” and dark tones on some Milas’ paintings might be compared to the most beautiful pianissimo in music composition when silence tons enhances attention and frees thought and emotions. Sometimes by “blurriness” he achieves spirituality.

His paintings reflect intellectuality, knowledge and spirituality. They encourage thought and attract the viewer to immerse deeper and deeper into the image, and they could always be viewed again.

Two monographs of Ante Milas have been published: Ante Milas-In Zikkurat (Firmenich 2002) and Ante Milas-Selected Works, ISBN 978-3-7319-1472-3

Ante Milas – St. Peter the Apostle (with permission of the author, Ante Milas)

Milas’ works of sacral content were included in the monograph Ante Milas-Selected Works; The History of Salvation, the Apostles (Disciples of Jesus), studies for the altar image of the Holy Spirit as well as several representative works from other cycles.
The altar painting History of Salvation with a rich and suggestive depiction, encompassing key moments of the mystery of salvation of the Christian faith from the fall of the angel, accompanied by the flash of lightning, the expulsion of Paradise, the Babylonian tower, the general flood, Noah’s Ark, Abraham with Isaac, Sinai, Golgotha to the Resurrection.

The cycle of paintings of the 14 Apostles is interesting and attracting attention with its different depiction, both in the unusual shape of the triangle on the rhombus and in the inspiredly chosen iconology of the painting, different from what has been the case in the long history of Christian art. The Monograph presents seven paintings of the apostles, and Ante Milas is currently working on the remaining seven.
The monograph Ante Milas – In the Zikkurat brings together several cycles, created during his studies at the Academy, whose titles suggest that Ante Milas depicts the world around him in a certain space and time. This is true, but Milas’s way of depicting it has made that world timeless, whether it be Memory of the Old Town, Asphodel Meadows – Flowers for Vukovar, University Cafe Duesseldorf or paintings of landscapes and cities ( Old Townt, plaster and pigment for paints on reeds, 180 x140cm).

Jasna Lovrincevic: If you could please tell a little more about your works from your student days, published in the monograph Ante Milas – In the Zikkurat.”

Ante Milas: “The main themes that I have been developing in series over many years and to which I always return cyclically after a shorter or longer period of time date from that time; University Cafe Duesseldorf, Asphodel Meadows – Flowers for Vukovar and Memories of the Old Town. The series of works begin with a drawing and oil on canvas in the manner of the old masters, so that the motifs in the next drawing or oil on canvas gradually develop, so to say, from drawing to drawing, from painting to painting, in the direction of abstraction until the edge of figurativeness. Parallel to this it is the process of realizing motifs in other techniques and materials, such as works in plaster, mortar, concrete or in collages of motifs in plywood of different thicknesses and colors, includig luminous panels that act like stained glass windows in a church.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “In the Zikkurat there are several works from the Memory of the Old Town series. It is amazing how many characters you have depicted in these paintings, each character is different in appearance, clothing, position, movement and facial expression, each is fully crafted, but the painting leads the viewer to view it as a whole rather than individual characters.”

Ante Milas – In Laoocom, oil on canvas,75 x 100 cm. (with permission of the author, Ante Milas)

Ante Milas: “These are early works. If you look at the first drawings in the series University Cafe Düsseldorf or Memory of the Old City, all that multitude of faces and figures squeezed into the space of a cramped cafe or the multitude of geometric shapes that create the illusion of the interior of a modern room; the theme here is the relationship between parts and the whole. The relationships must be perfect, not a single part of the picture must jump out of the “circle”, it must not be profiled at the expense of the whole picture or its neighboring shape, neither in color, nor in shape, nor in the arrangement on the surface of the picture format. This is the essence of the art that my professor Klapheck has been engaged in all his life; the absolute harmony of the relationship between the elements of the picture and its whole. It cannot be identified in any place in the drawing or painting, but is constituted in the consciousness of the observer and created in the act of observation.
That is why, in front of Professor Klapheck’s work Bicycle, my acquaintance and Croatian poet Boro Lukšić once said; “What we see in his paintings is agonizing geometry, but Klapcheck transforms it into great poetry!”
I think that in the University Café I managed to satisfy all the requirements of such an aesthetic, while additionally lending a touch of atmosphere and thus spatiality with my colors!?

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Among your early works is Hiroshima – Christ (pencil and oil on canvas, 90 x 220 cm) from the Rise of the Titans cycle, originally called Prometeus. How did the name Hiroshima – Christ come about?”

Ante Milas:“I was inspired for this work by a picture in the news of Pope John Paul II stepping out of a plane onto the ground in Hiroshima, bending down and kissing the ground. A very moving picture, full of symbolism.

Ante Milas, The Last Guest, oil on canvas, 140 x 180 cm. (with permission of the author, Ante Milas)

If in the aforementioned series Memory of the Old Town and University Cafe the construction of the picture played the main role, in the series Rise of the Titans and Fields of Asphodel it was colour; grey paint and pencil drawing on canvas. The task was to achieve, following the example of Leonardo’s “sfumato”, a deep spatiality of colour. Leonardo succeeded in this by applying extremely thin glazes on glaze; like dew, layer upon layer, until the colour achieved, not its consistency but its appearance.
I tried to achieve this transcendentality, this spirituality of color, if I may call it that, by washing off the semi-dry paint with turpentine and a cloth, layer upon layer, until the illusion of color appeared as a membrane on the surface of the canvas, that is, on the border between this world and the next.

This is also the case with the painting Hiroshima Christ. I painted it during my academic studies as a summary of the spiritual life of my past and at the beginning of a new period of life that I wanted to devote entirely to art. I dedicated the painting to my mother.

I wanted to give the painting to Pope Benedict XVI. I got an appointment and came to Rome with the painting. The date for the painting’s delivery was postponed until further notice because the Pope suddenly had to attend another meeting. The painting remained in the Vatican with Monsignor Held (the German ambassador to the Holy See), who on the same day forwarded it (the painting) to the Secretary of State, Monsignor Genswein, in charge of the Pope’s gifts. Unfortunately, I did not get another appointment and to this day I do not know where the painting ended up.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: In Svjetlana Lipanović’s book The Splendor of Croatian Art, (ISBN 978-88-6864-213-6) in the text entitled “Ante Milas – Symbolic Realism” it is stated that you explained your art by quoting Franz Kafka that the art of a man will always contain the light of the church of his childhood. ”

Ante Milas: “Kafka probably wanted to say that a child in church experiences the world as holy, in terms as a liberated, saved world. The beautiful and most important Croatian words for this are: everything, universe, light, holy…, which are deeply connected. They are the beginning of metaphysics!? Is it any wonder that all monotheistic religions begin in the desert?! A negative landscape, as they say, only heaven and earth and the Spirit of the Lord hovering over the abysses?! And the wonder, or rather the admiration that Aristotle puts at the beginning of thought!? He puts wonder at the beginning of philosophy. Or in Kant the starry sky above us and the moral the law within us!?

Let’s go back to Kafka and the light of the church from childhood.

Ante Milas (with permission of the author, Ante Milas)

Until the Independent War, we Croats lived in a state that was not ours, in a regime that was imposed on us and in political misalliance with neighbors who were not kind to us as a people. That is why in church, during Midnight Mass of the Christmas Eve, for example, we got a feeling of liberation of the people *who walked in darkness and saw great light* (Isaiah, 9:1), we experienced mutual unity, harmony, reconciliation of heaven and earth because the Savior was born. I remember well how it snowed on Christmas Eve, how sleighs with horses came to our parish church at midnight from afar with lamps and the singing of people and children, wrapped in thick woolen blankets and fur coats, fragrant shade…

When I arrived in Germany, the world changed fundamentally. Duesseldorf, a rich and beautiful liberal city on the Rhine, a colorful society, crowded with people, the Old Town until late at night…Professor Dr. Frank Guenter Zehnder would later speak in his monograph Ante Milas in the Zikkurat about the “culture shock” that I experienced in the face of civilization. He was primarily referring to the encounter with art that I saw at the Academy (in Duesseldorf).

Unlike the city and German society, the Academy really shocked me. But not in a positive sense, as the professor’s text suggests, but in the sense of the famous scene from Tarkovsky’s film about Andrei Rublev, the famous icon painter, when the painter comes to a village that has just been devastated by the Tatars and to a devastated church…

The last priestesses of the Pythias in the ruined temple of Apollo in Delphi sent a message to Emperor Hadrian in Rome through an envoy
-Tell him that the hall of Daedalus has been destroyed, the source of the holy waters has dried up and the mouth of the prophet has become silent forever…

During my studies, I understood all the necessities and ruptures of the historical development of modern art from Cezanne onward and tried to integrate them in my works; not in the usual modernist way of radically breaking with the long tradition of Western, Christian art; but, in the way which is much more demanding, trying to make a possible synthesis of these two greatness.

Here I see my place in the wide range of what is being tried to encompass today with the “futile” word art!?”

Diana Brekalo (Photograph: Jasna Lovrincevic)

Pianist star Diana Brekalo, who by her musicianship and virtuosity inspired the leading English composers Christopher Gunninag and Peter Fribbinas to write works especially for her, while Croatian composer Milko Kelemen entrusted her with the premiere performance of his Sonata oubliée in London, and the German composer Hubertus Schwinge with recording his works on four albums, for her piano recital in Germany and in London she chose works by female composers from the nineteenth century and the beginning of the twentieth century. The concerts titled Rebellious Female Composers she performed in Liederhalle in Stuttgart on March 10th and in the Lancaster Hall in London on March 14th.

In the Liederhalle in Stuttgart, the enthusiastic audience did not stop with loud ovations and thunderous applause as an expression of sincere joy and gratitude after each performance.

Diana Brekalo introduced herself to the audience in Liederhalle not only as an excellent pianist, but also as an excellent presenter, introducing each composer individually. She chose interesting and key details from their biographies that best characterize them; their personality and approach to music. She told about Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel, that her father did not allow her to perform in public, so her brother Felix performed her works under his own name, while Clare Schumann’s father strongly encouraged her to compose.

Brekalo started the piano recital with two movements by Fanny Mendelssohn-Hensel work The Year: January The Dream and February Scherzo and at the very beginning she impressed the audience with her convincing and inspired interpretation,with her lightness and virtuoso octave performance. Brekalo emphasized how Anne de Belleville/Oury met the leading composers of her time, Beethoven, Chopin and Verdi, and played together with Paganini. In her composition Rigoletto Phantasy, these acquaintances are precisely reflected through the processing of recognizable themes by famous composers. Melanie Bonis sent her compositions to competitions where she won under the pseudonym M. Bonis, and the members of the jury considered that it was a male person. Lily Boulanger, with lasting health problems what can be felt in the melancholy of her works was the first woman – composer won a competition. It was Prix de Rome. Brekalo performed three movements from her Trois morceaux pour piano, with meditative parts and beautiful pianissimo. For Dora Pejačević, Brekalo pointed out that she was looking for new musical forms and that as a countess she could not identify with the social class to which she belonged by birth and how she spent most of her time in the company of artists and publicists. For the concert in the Liederhalle, Brekalo chose Sonata op. 57. by Pejacevic.

Diana Brekalo played each composition with lithness, dynamically impeccable, virtuoso and with a lot of feeling and expressiveness, and on the other hand temperament and energetic, but always very musically. Her pianissimo is beautiful, quiet but sonorous which few can achieve. She fantastically conveyed to the audience all that radiates from the performed works and all the feelings that she brought into the interpretation.

Diana Brekalo (Photograph: Jasna Lovrincevic)

Her entire performance in the Liederhalle, from her first step on stage to taking a bow at the end, was a fantastic performance that captivated the audience from beginning to end. Diana Brekalo simply moved the audience with her performance, smile, immediacy, presentation of the pianists, posture and creation of a special atmosphere, which the audience rewarded with a standing ovation, everyone stood up in delight to pay her respects and thank her.

Following Diana Brekalo concert in London I spoke with her about her impressions of her London concert and about the resonance about the female composers

Diana Bekalo: The concert in London was also very successful. The audience was very excited about the stories of the lifes by the women composers. Their favorite music in the concert was the Pejacevic Sonata and the Rigoletto Phantasy by Anne de Belleville. They all thought it was throughout a fantastic concert, where they learnt a lot and were fascinated to discover some more music.

Jasna Lovrincevic:How did you do your research and scores for the female composers and their lifes!?

Diana Brekalo: It was quiet challenging to find the only biography about Dora Pejacevic written by Koraljka Kos. My cousin sent me a link to a second hand store in Zagreb, where I was able to order the Croatian version of the biography.
Some of the scores I was able to find on the Internet. However I did have a score which I received from the Croatian consular in Stuttgart a long time ago. During that time it was lead by Dr Vera Tadic and the cultural attache Mrs Belamaric. Apart from that I visited the Pejacevic castle in Osijek back in 2019 and actually was going to visit the Castle in Nasice in summer 2023. Unfortunately there were refurbishments at the castle at that time, so I am planning to continue my research this summer. I’ll be looking forward to see the grand piano on which she was practicing and composing. Apart from that I was also visiting the Mendelssohn House in Leipzig where I read a few letters by Fanny Mendelssohn and her father. It was very exciting and interesting to see the garden in which the famous garden concerts took place. I remember reading that Fanny used the possibility to perform her music at this concert. There are a few books and biographies however I feel it is missing more informations.

Jasna Lovrincevic: Do you feel a difference or something female like in their music?

Diana Brekalo (Photograph: Jasna Lovrincevic)

Diana Brekalo: To be honest I don’t feel a difference while performing music by the female composers. Maybe the flower titles are more likely to be written by a female composer. However it was the best example that Melanie Bonis won a composition competition by signing her score as M. Bonis, so nobody assumed it could be a women writing such wonderful music.
I especially feel the second Sonata by Pejacevic and definitely Fanny Mendelssohn’s work have a strong and deep musical insight so it is worth performing it more in the future.

Diana Brekalo was born in Stuttgart, where her talent for music was recognized very early, she is the winner of several national and prestigious international competitions for pianists. She completed her music studies at the Guidhall School of Music and Drama in London, where she also obtained a Master of Music for performance.
She is engaged at the School of Music in Würzburg, gives master classes and she is a member of different pianist competition juries in Germany and England. Her performance of the Clara Schumman concerto was selected for the Canadian film The White Fortress, presented at the 2021 Berlinale International Film Festival.

Marijana Dokoza

Marijana Dokoza, poet, author and journalist, will soon publish a poetry book together with the poet J. H. Macado, titled The Offenders, which is especially interesting because J. H. Macado’s poems have been written in response to Marijana Dokoza’s poems. The entire poetry collection is set as a conversation between lovers, but separated lovers whose love is eternal. Like some of the love duets of the opera scene whose beauty is created by a lovely melody and harmony of contrasting voices, the poems in The Offenders are in the harmony of the verses of two different poetic expressions.
Two poems from poetry collection The Offenders have been set to music, and a review for this poetry book was written by popular Croatian singers Željko Bebek, Peter Grašo and Đani Stipaničev.

Marijana Dokoza is the author of five novels, published in German and Croatian and two poetry books: Castle of Secrets and Shadows of the Past. She shares her poetry on Facebook, Instagram and online poetry pages. Josip Horvat Macado known as J.H. Macado has created a huge opus with 3500 poems, published in various literary magazines. He participates at the Rešetari Meeting of Poets and at poetry event Stina pradidova (Great Grandfather Rock).

On the occasion of the forthcoming release of the poetry book The Offenders, I spoke with Marijana Dokoza at the end of February 2022, immediately after her poem I am Hire, Behind You, was set to music by singer and songwriter Myriam Fuchs Kavelj.

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Your new collection of poetry with love poems, created in collaboration with the poet J. H. Macado, is titled The Offenders. The title is associated with something that is not allowed. What is wrong with their activity, with their love?”

Marijana Dokoza: “That title has been suggested by J.H. Macado. It is about the love pain of people who love each other forever. Their love is really eternal, but it cannot become public. They live their love in the present, not looking back to the past and not thinking about the future. Well-known French writer Honoré de Balzac said that love recognized neither the past nor the future but lived in the present.

This is exactly the case with the feelings woven into the poetry of the poetry collection The Offenders. The love of both offenders lives in the present not paying much attention to the past or to the future. They live in the present because it is much easier to live in the present than to think about it what the future will bring or what they experienced in the past. ”

Jasna Lovrincevic: How have you been acquainted with poet J. H. Macado?

Marijana Dokoza: We ‘ve got in touch through social media where we both publish our poetry. We have a similar style of writing and. We immediately recognized each other in poetry. In his poems, Macado, I would say, recounts life and describes love in an old-fashioned way. His poetry reminds me of those old times when one reflected about love, spoke about love in verses, suffered because of love, died, rejoiced, lived for love. It is something as…. when at the end of the day you sit somewhere and look at the horizon and you see a world that already happened but it still waiting for you. That’s how I would describe my feeling when I read Macado’s poetry.

Jasna Lovrincevic: “How have you decided to publish together?”

Marijana Dokoza: “Every word in Macado’s poems has a certain depth asocciated with life but also with death and with that what awaits us after our death. In poetry book The Offenders, the lovers will wait for each other even after death. Macado writes his poetry on the way as it used to be written in the past. His poetry is like some old nineteenth century poetry, it is not dry, it has feelings. Each of his poems is a story. He writes in imperfect tense which is usually not used so often in modern Croatan poetry. I told him that his poetry brings me to the distant past, to different world which can be seen by true romantics. Through our conversation we came up with the idea that he could respond to my poems with his own poems and that it could be like a lovers’s conversation. ”

Jasna Lovrincevic: How do you find Macado’s and your poetry if you compare them, are they contrasting or complementary?

Marijana Dokoza: “My and his poetry is quite similar, that’s why probably we found each other. It seems that we speak the same language. We’ve only met once when the poetry for the book was already written, but we recognize each other as poets very well through poetry. I can’t say if we feel similar through poetry, but we have a similar feeling about poetry.

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Is it recognizable in the poems that it is about a woman and a man, or is the emphasis on love as a universal feeling?”

Marijana Dokoza

Marijana Dokoza: “The poetry book is designed as a conversation between lovers. Like in real life a woman is more sensitive, reacts very quickly to the slightest change, tends to romanticize everything. She feels everything. A man retains a dose of reality that we women often forget. The woman in the book talks about the possibility of the impossible as a kind of limbo, the man primarily talks about desire. The readers can have impression that they read the letters of lovers, or transgressors in love.

Each poem is motivated by another poem. They have a narrative structure, essentially they come out from the heart and need and they open up a number of questions. It is a poetically emotional oasis in which one is easy to meet the needs of the heart. ”

Jasna Lovrincevic: How long have you written the poems for your poetry book?

Marijana Dokoza:”My poems had been created over a period of two to three years before we had an idea to publish a poetry book together. I selected 60 poems for the poetry book. Macado read them and for each of them he wrote his poem as response, like a conversation with me.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You said that the poems opened some questions. What kind of questions have arisen from the poems?”

Marijana Dokoza: “Each poem opens up a question about endurance, about needs, about passion, desire, love, readiness for what the life brings to you, it re-examines everything that happens in one impossible love.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You have written those love poems for two to three years. Have you considered those poems from beginning as a whole and connected with each other or as individual poem?”

Marijana Dokoza: “No, I always write my poems in a moment. I can’t write a poem if that moment doesn’t come . That momemt belongs to those verses that come out of me. It’s really impossible for me to know when it will happen. Macado has written his poems as a whole, because he already had a part of my poems. He has “entered” into my poems and he has taken from them that the most intimate and has answered on that.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: It means each of your poem is individual? ”

Marijana Dokoza: “Each of my poems is individual but at the end it has happened a whole, something as a story. Probably it’s good that my poems have been created individually and Macado has given them a whole. After all, when you refer to life, at some point someone comes into your life and makes you complete, gives you a whole.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Two poems from this poetry book have been set to music by Myriam Kavelj Fuchs and Stella Mcrawli. How is colaboration happened between you and these musicians?”

Marijana Dokoza: “I have collaborated with both musicians through my work as journalist. When the conversation about the songs started, I sent them a few poems regardless of the new poetry book. I have offered them three to four poems and they have chosen the one that impressed them the most.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You have written poetry since your primary school. Following your first poetry book published in the year 2000 you were included among the contemporary authors of the Zadar region. Have your changed your attitude to poetry since then?

Marijana Dokoza

Marijana Dokoza: “My attitude to poetry has not changed much. Poetry is always for me the same as it used to be at that early time. Maybe, the only thing that has changed is the expectations of people related to poetry. I have realized, the world that is for me worth to enter into it or just to open it’s door and see what awaits you behind that door, that world does not have to present the same worth for someone else. I mean, I realized poetry is not loved and understood by everyone. Probably it is inappropriately to say, but I think it is good so because it is not necessary that everything should be understood, comprehend and loved by everybody. In some period of time I thought poetry was dying. I wondered how it would survive in a world where it seems that most important thing is to post an attractive photo on social media, to reveal where you are, with who you are and what you do and even what food you eat, to whom you comment, etc.

But I also have realized poetry lives in each person and that comes to the surface from time to time. I think there is no person who at the moment of happiness, sorrow, pain, fear, or uncertainty is not be halted by at least one verse, whether in form of a citat, a lyric set to music,
or a poem.

I am extremely glad that some musicians have accepted to set my poetry to music, because on that way the new life is given to my poetry, but also they have immortalized some of my moments.Thanks to them for that.”

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs (Photograph Otto Witte (s/w)

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs is a singer-songwriter, guitar player and author of poetry book, who impress with her love for music and her life energie. In interview I conducted with her at the beginning of March 2022 Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs spoke about her continuous love for music since her childhood, including learning how to play guitar, playing with her bands as a young musician, teaching music at her own music school “Musikraum Fuchs”, and finaly her big turn in life when she started to play on the stage with her band Myriam Unplugged.

Since 2016 she has released several albums and for her song “Brown Mustang” she received an Award at the 39. German Rock and Pop Price 2021 in the category for the Best Country Song. In 2020 her album “Dreamcatcher” was awarded 1.Price at 38. German Rock and Pop Price by German Pop Foundation in the Country Section. At the same Competition her band MyriamUnplugged was awarded 2.Price as the Best Countryband. This year Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs is nominated for Vecernjakova Domovnica, the competition organised by newspaper Vecernji list and the winners are selected by readers.

In 2015 Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs published her poetry book MyriamUnplugged, a sample of little stories and poetry.

Jasna Lovrinčević: “You are famous and popular as a country music songwriter, guitar player and singer. How have you developed love for country music. What do you like about that music?”

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs: “Thanks for the compliments, well when I learned to play guitar one of my first and favorite songs was “Blowin in the wind” from Bob Dylan. I also played hits from Johnny Cash, like “Ring of fire” and more. I still like this music very much. Country music and Blues are the roots of our Popular Music.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “When did you start to play guitar?”

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs: “Well, I´ve got my first real six string in the age of threeteen years. A black dreadnought by Ibanez, a present from my parents to my confirmation. I was very proud and I love this great instrument which I´m still playing. When I started to play guitar, I felt that it was very important to have a good teacher to keep playing. Maybe this was the reason for me to open my own little music school. I love to teach with heart and soul – individual lessons for individual people – to let them get in touch with the music.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “You and your band Myriam Unplugged have released several albums. The first one titled “From Las Vegas to L.A.” , published in 2016, is connected with very interesting story about your journey through America. It is especially impressive that you almost every day wrote one song. What was so inspiring for you on that trip?”

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs: “I´ve got the inspiration to my first album “From Las Vegas to L.A.” during a road trip across Nevada and California. The amazing Mojave-Desert, the Grand Canyon and the Sin City –Las Vegas are reflections in the lyrics and music of my songs. Especially Wild, wild Pony and Beautiful Balloon, close your eyes and you are riding on a train trough the desert sun. You find yourself in the middle of the Big City Lights again and get married to the song Take me to the moon.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “The lyric for your second album “Heartbeat-Soulbleed” is also associated with your same trip to America but from Chicago do Detroit. Could you please say something more about your second album?”

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs: “The album “Heartbeat-Soulbleed” picks up some political themes – primarily the situation of homeless people, especially in songs like Waterfall and Hopeless Avenue and Trump. The Song Adriaan, a song about the famous Painter Adriaen Brouwer… and also the song Spring… written in the Hotel Monaco, April 2017 in Chicago. The Album Cover shows me at the 16th floor of the MGM Hotel in Detroit.” Detroit, the city of motown and Chicago, the city of blues, really impressed me.

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Your album “Dreamcatcher” was awarded 1 First price and your band won the Second price at 38. German Rock and Pop Price. Your song Brown Mustang received an award at 39. German Rock and Pop Price (Deutschen Rock und Pop Preis). Who do organised that competition and what does it mean for you that prices?”

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs: “In 2020 we published our third album “Dreamcatcher“. Songs about our earth, oceans and the wheel that keeps turning. Hard work, with great musicians, by the way. And then came the corona-pandemic. No concerts, no release, it was very sad. So, I decided to send our new CD to the 38. German Rock and Pop Competition 2020 that was organized by the Deutscher Rock Musiker Verband (German Rock Musicians Association) and the German Pop Stiftung (German Pop Foundation) in the Country Section. And guess what, we won the first price as the best German Country Band. What a pleasure, we were very happy and proud. After this we´ve been invited by the State “Rheinland-Pfalz” to play a Streaming Concert, without public. You can see it on Youtube Open Stage RLP-MyriamUnplugged and on OKTV. 2021 I get an award for my Song Brown Mustang from the 39. German Rock and Pop Competition 2021, as best Country Song

Jasna Lovrinčević: “When did you found your band Myriam Unplugged?”

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs: “I found the members of my band 2018 on an Open air concert in Wiesbaden/Germany. Erich Altenkirch, guitar player and Ralf von Horstig, percussion. Wiesbaden is a very special place – here I found my producer “Peter Richter” and his Living Room Studio in which we recorded our music. Our “special guests” were Gerd Vogel (Dobro & Slide-Guitar), Helt Oncale (Banjo & Fiddle) and Martin “Martino” Gerschwitz (Keyboarder – Iron Butterfly).”

Jasna Lovrinčević:”Your band Myriam Unplugged have played on different stages in Germany, and also at popular music club Crown in Darmstadt where you have met some famous people. Are those people inspired you for you song “Meet & Greet” ?”

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs: “Our first Gig was in Darmstadt in the Crown – an old famous location for live music. Later on we played in many Blues Bars, Cultur Clubs and Open Airs in the Rhein-Main Area. 2018 I met a very famous Irish Singer-Songwriter in my Hometown Ingelheim, the great musican “Chris de Burgh”. We talked together and I´ve got the chance to ask him: “How do you write a song?” – and after our conversation I was inspired to wrote the song “Meet&Greet”, Number 5 on our CD Dreamcatcher.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “The latest song you have published is the song “I´m Here – Behind You” with the lyric written by Croatian poet Marijana Dokoza, who is also chief editor of Fenix -Magazin.
The Music Radio Show has presented it and it can be heard on YouTube. Will you include that song on your next album?”

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs: “February 2022, I published the song “I´m here – behind you”, written by Marijana Dokoza. She asked me to find a melody for her lyrics. That was a good addition. I was able to put myself in the shoes of the text very quickly. And the musical editing was fun. I was so inspired that I made a video clip afterwards. That was a great experience. This song will appear on our next CD.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Your third album has a very interesting title: “Dreamcatcher”. Is it possible to catch a dream? ”

Myriam Kavelj-Fuchs: “Maybe, Dreamcatcher caught at least one.
Plans for 20222 – a new album – 12 brand new songs are waiting to be heard. Some Live-Concerts, but first of all „health and peace“ more important than anything else in these times.”

Radovan Matijek ((Photographer: Peter Thielen)

“In the process of developing a sculptural construction, it inevitably arises my subconscious autobiographical dualism between dynamic dance movement and that one halted in one sculptural statics” said Radovan Matijek, talking about his sculpture Clamor Lugubris in a interview we had in December 2020.

An unbelievable life energy, power and courage radiate from the whole work of Radovan Matijek. During his studies at Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in Croatia, he danced in an ensemble for contemporary dance, presented performances and exhibited in solo and group art exhibitions. Later he has expanded his artistic expression to acting, film production, scenography and choreography and he has specialized butoh dance. He was born in Split (Croatia), where he still has one of his studios and where he gets new ideas for his work. The other two studios he has in Germany, where he lives after spending some time working and studying among Berlin, London, Amsterdam and Paris.

His work indicates a high creative potential, which he by the power of his talent and broad knowledge directs towards the creation of impressive work. The uniqueness, aesthetics and expression of his work attract viewers attention, leading them to think and reflect.
It was a great pleasure and enrichment to talk to the artist Radovan Matijek whose new projects are awaited with great curiosity.

Jasna Lovrincevic: “In the autumn 2020 you exhibited a sculpture called Clamor Lugubris at Kreislauf 2 exhibition in Kranenburg and an installation at Katharinenhof Museum. At the same time, the play Kaltes Herz (The Colden Heart) for which you have created puppets and objects was shown at Hof Theater on the other side of Germany and you worked with Sabine Seume as a stage assistant for her dance performance Infinity at Atelier for Performing Art in Düsseldorf.

Through these three different simultaneous artistic events, it has been presented your artistic personality focused on different forms of art expression.

How do you feel about a situation like this where you are presented by different art forms
at three different distant places at the same time? ”

Radovan Matijek – Clamor Lugubris

Radovan Matijek: “First of all, I am a artist of fine art, sculptor and then a performer. But I almost always intertwine several media, I am quite present in the theater, I do special objects for various theater productions collaborating with various directors and choreographers. I act and dance and I make objects and create complete theatrical scenery. I make choreography and I exhibit my work.

This year 2020, there was a lot of turbulence due to covid 19, many projects have been canceled or postponed. Here, however, I have successfully realized three projects between the two ‘lockdowns’.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Your sculpture called Clamor Lugubris I associate with two figures in a butoh dance pose, perhaps knowing that you are known as a longtime dancer of that dance. Could you please tell more about the sculpture and your installation with glasses exhibited at Kranenburg until mid-November? ”

Radovan Matijek: “Kranenburg is a small, picturesque town. It is the place with the Pilgrimage Church and Way of St. James leads through it. Twenty German and Dutch artists exhibited their works in the outer circular belt of the town, between the walls and the water, and in the Museum.

Radovan Matijek – Clamor Lugubris

The sculpture Clamor Lugubris (Lamentation) is displayed at the beginning of that circular belt.
In this object, I have combined one insectoid and one floristic form. The sculpture stands on four legs which look like the legs of an insect. Out of the body twist two elegant necks ending in two stylized flowers, which look like wide-open mouths from which emerge vibrating tongues screaming toward the heaven. It’s actually a 4.5 meter high mutant.

You have nicely noticed that in the elaboration of the sculptural construction itself, it inevitably arises a subconscious autobiographical dualism between dynamic dance movement and that one halted in one sculptural statics.

But the dynamics is timed, the feeling is that the creature will move in a new direction at any moment and start to beat us on the heads. We should not forget Chernobyl, Fukushima… not to close our eyes to the flames of fire which swallow the Amazon, to the plastic which floods the oceans, to the CO2 which suffocates the already congested atmosphere, and our egocentric mind…

The sculpture is bright yellow and it has high´gloss. It is a bit robotic, futuristic and yellow colour is a sign of optimism at all this negative perception of the sinking world.

I hope deeply and sincerely that my multiplied sculptures of this type will not adorn the future gardens of a lost paradise.

At the Museum, I exhibited one installation of broken glasses called Fragil.

Radovan Matijek – Fragil

On one larger table, I set a hundred broken wine glasses without chalices or pedestals. Instead of missing parts, they carry thin branches of finely processed wood. The fragile, almost delicate constructions of inorganic glass and living wood have a metaphorical meaning. Broken glasses symbolize the fragility of human civilization which is always destroyed by wars or natural disasters. Each war leaves behind dead and wounded, ruins and ruined identity. It is questionable how something new can emerge from such seemingly hopeless remnants.
But each shard carries within it a small remnant of identity remanding of what it was before the disaster. The branches growing out of broken cups symbolize emerging life. This installation speaks about fragility of human life and about conditions under which a traumatic identity can be redeveloped for the good without concealing the ruptures and deformations left behind by the trauma. There is reason for quiet hope, but not superficial optimism.”

Jasna Lovrincevic/strong>: “In 2018 you participated in an extraordinary and significant German-Dutch project Brokopondo, travelleing to the state of Suriname where you exhibited an interesting wooden object called Lucifer (Mach). In fact it is the Dutch word for match as you have explained in our introductory conversaton.

Could you tell more about this project. Did you use the wood taken from an artificial lake, created by constructing a hydroelectric plant, actually wood from a submerged forest?”

Radovan Matijek – Brokopondo Project

Radovan Matijek: “Suriname is a small country in Latin America, a former Dutch colony whose area is 80% covered by the untouched jungle under the protection of UNESCO. Dutch is also the official language in that territory.

At the invitation of the Seewerk Gallery and Museum in Moers, I joined to ten selected artists for the Brokopondo project. Back in 2013, I exhibited at Seewerk Gallery, among other pieces, an installation called Streichhölzer, translated as Matches. Some twenty twisted “trees” whose ends are burnt blackened heads, actually make one burned forest. Such activist accents were followed by this invitation for Suriname.

There I made a sculpture of Lucifer, in Dutch it means a Match. It is made of hard wood ‘walaba’ which has been preserved in the fresh water of the Brokopondo Reservoir for thirty years.

The sculpture is 7 meters high and it is displayed at the New Amsterdam Open Air Museum at Paramarib, the capital of Suriname. When I returned to Moers, I made a very similar object which has been permanently set up in Seewerk Park.

My matches are accents against the burning of rainforests and the uncontrolled exploitation of wood in the Amazon and other rainforests across our planet. ”

Jasna Lovrincevic: You are graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, in the class of Prof. Stipe Sikirica. In spite of the fact that you were educated in some way by traditional classical approach you already as a student presented various installations. What challenges was the combination of modern and traditional presented for you at that time and what about nowdays? ”

Radovan Matijek: “Although I graduated in the class of sculptor Stipe Sikirica, I was already involved in installations art work at the time, which was a continuation of world and Croatian avant-garde heritage. Later, I have participated in my own installations as a performer.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Your biography is very rich, in addition to sculpture, dance and theater, it also includes work on film. In 1990 you produced the film Cej for which you, together with your collaborators wrote the script, did choreography and you were director. How did you start to work on that film and where has it been shown?

Scenes from the film Cej (Digitized by Miodrag Trajkovic)

Radovan Matijek: “The film came as a spontaneous reaction. We were looking for a venue for our new play and we didn’t find any theater where we could stage it and we decided to make a film. That was before the war (in Croatia), I act, dance and direct together with a colleague Ljiljana Mikulcic. The material was recorded in 1989. The title Cej has no meaning, it is just a sound or sigh.

It was a premonition of our war when people even didn’t think about it. We made a film about the horrors of war in an allegorical, metaphorical expressions.

It is a short film, it is a sound film, and there is no text. The film has been shown at many festivals, it lasts for 34 minutes, and it has been shown in France, The Netherlands and Germany on the television channel Arte. ”

Scenes from the film Cej (Digitized by Miodrag Trajkovic)

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Have you continued with film production?

Radovan Matijek: “Between then and now I have produced several short films mostly related to my art or dance performances.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You create and make puppets and different objects for various plays at several theaters in Krefeld, Monchengladbach, Essen and Hof as well as for the theater Freilichtbühne Alfter and Westfälisches Landestheater. How do you approach a design of all that objects or puppets? Are you independent at that work? ”

Radovan Matijek – Puppets (Photographer: H. Dietz, Hof Theatre)

Radovan Matijek: “I work in the theater in terms of making special objects and puppets. These puppets are big, two to three meters high, they are mobile, actually they look very lively, they are always animated by dancers or actors. Now, in Hof in Bayern on the Czech border, it is performing the play with title Cold Heart (Kaltes Herz). For this project I have made ten, long fingers. Each finger is carried and moved by one dancer. At the end of the show, a naked puppet which looks like a child stands on the stage supervising the audience by its big blue eyes and staring at it – ‘ the life goes on’.

Ideas arise in conversation with the director according to his needs of visualizing the play. In the realization itself, I have unlimited freedom. ”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “One unavoidable topic related to your artistic expression is dance, especially the butoh. You have danced as a student in Zagreb and later in London and Germany. In Zagreb you danced in the ensemble of Milana Broš, about whom the author Maja Durinovic has written that she (Broš) was “known for destroying elitist and aesthetic notions of art.” Did Milana Broš attract you by her ideas in dance or perhaps have you come under her influence in some way, in terms of dance? ”

Radovan Matijek – Puppets (Photographer: H. Dietz, Hof Theatre)

Radovan Matijek: “At the same time, while I studying at the Academy of Fine Arts, I danced in the ensemble of Milana Broš. She has received a large number of awards for contemporary dance both as a dancer and as a choreographer, abroad and then in Croatia.

Milana Broš at the time, in the mid-80s, was the only one to offer the dancer an avant-garde line within contemporary dance that I immediately recognized as a young performer, desirous for new experiences. I completely agree with Maja’s opinion, by the way, my colleague in the ensemble at the time.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You have made numerous performances with the butoh and you have written choreography for it. When did you start to dance the butoh and why do you like that dance?”

Radovan Matijek: “Butoh is an avant-garde, expressive dance, which originated in Japan in the early 1950s. It builds on the expressionist experiences of German dance in the 1920s of Mary Wigma and it brings an unavoidable aesthetic of the Far East with an enormous possibilitiy of improvisation and exploration of one’s own body and movement. Tatsumi Hijikata and Kazuo Ono are the fathers of this new stage expression.

And how did I start? I presented one performance in Zagreb with idea to perform one moving sculpture. I intended to play one stone sculpture in motion. I painted myself in white color and I somehow began to move in space. Someone told me it looked like the butoh dance. At the time, I didn’t even know what was the butoh. It was in London, while I was working at the Oktober Gallery, I met a butoh dancer. The dance immediately won me over with its expressiveness and at the same time by its mystery, its spontaneity, the aesthetics of the white body and the so-called ‘black soul’. The butoh is always associated with some dark side of our psyche. I am an artist who likes to try new things, who likes to dig through his own subconscious and complement the mosaic of the world around us. In this dance, the subconscious component, which deepens and opens new horizons, is very important. It allows your own body to move without any control.

Arriving to Krefeld, I have joined Sabine Seume, at that time a well known butoh dancer and choreographer, and I have specialized in butoh at her workshops. Still today, we are close collaborators.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “I have read butoh dance doesn’t need choreography because of it’s spontaneity?”

Radovan Matijek: “Oh, of course the butoh has a choreography, but also the possibility of improvisation.

There are special techniques to make choreography. Kacogen is one of these techniques or rather a state of mind which progressively moves towards the exploitation of its own body. The process is very subconscious; with half-closed eyes the organism enters a trance state and then the body moves on its own. In this process, one tries to turn off the real mind system and to give the body the ability to expose itself without any control of mind. The movements can be very wild but can also be very slow so there is a wide range of sensation.

Of course, in that process, it is needed a person who observes all this from the outside. Then the choreographic elements are written down. One performan is built on a collection of active images.

Jasna Lovrincevic: ” You always have a lot to say and show. You always express yourself in a new aesthetic way and all your work indicates a high artistic potential and a talent that has no limit.”

Radovan Matijek: “Somehow these are my animations and interest that I have always had: stage and visual art. It’s hard to set boundaries where one art begins and where another. It’s my nature. Everything draws me to something and then it comes out that I have to accomplish it. Why (?), I haven’t thought about it yet. I just go to realize that project which presents a new challenge for me. ”

Radovan Matijek – Pirate Ship- Performance

Jasna Lovrincevic: “It is nice and interesting that you manage to fulfill and present your art ideas, what it is usually not easy and mostly unattainable for many artists.”

Radovan Matijek: “Probably, the collaborators and the audience love and respect me, they appreciate my creations, my way of thinking and acting.”

Kristina Orlovic (Photographer: Alex Gallardo)

Both film and theater are one big school of life where you never stop to learn and get inspiration” says the artist Kristina Orlovicin a interview we had in November 2020 following her filming for the short film Sueños rotos, where she is one of the leading actress.The film is produced by Nanu Film .

Conversation with Kristina Orlovic is pleasant and interesting. Since the beginning of her Studies of Scenic Design at the Academy of Fine Arts in Florence, driven by a love of performing arts, she has been constantly exploring new artistic expressions, especially contemporary and butoh dance. Kristina Orlović easily introduces you to challenges facing physical theatre, which she has specialized at the International School of Dramatic Corporeal Mime – MOVEO in Barcelona, as well as to the complexity of the butoh dance, which she has studied by different artists like Sayoko Onishi and Imre Thormann in Italy and later in Spain by Sua Urana, Yumica Yoshioka and Rosanna Barra. With her great enthusiasm for the theater and dance she has faunded her own theater. She likes to talk about it because it is her own creation. It is a visual theater where she has used unusual theatrical techniques based on her academic knowledge and her dance experience.

Kristina Orlovic is currently focused on film. She belongs to small group of actors who have academic knowledge, stage experience and physical control acquired through dance. She made her film debut in 2011 acting in the short film Alkiler. In the year 2018 she was a guest actress in the Spanish series Cançó per tu, La Fossa, and Mira la que has hecho and in 2019 in the serie El inocente.

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Until two or three years ago, since you have started working on film, theater and dance had been dominant in your artistic career: from your Studies of Scenic Design and physical theater through your training in contemporary dance and Japanese butoh dance to founding your own visual company. Today, when the film is one of the most powerful and for many young people one of the most attractive industries, what is so amaizing about theater for you? What challenges present the theater for young artists today? ”

Kristina Orlovic: “Unlike film, theater takes place in real time, in front of the viewer’s eyes, what enables emotional and human connection (between actors and audience). That is lost in other formats. Theater requires a lot of preparation, presence, creativity, memory and precise coordination of all stage elements. responsibility and adrenaline because the whole performance of the play depends on it. I am most impressed by this direct communication in front of the audience, adrenaline and presence at the time of performance and the process of creating the play. I think every young actor should initially make experience in the theater because the theater is much more complex and there is mach more demanding approach to acting, and the actor receives immediately feedback from the audience.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “In Florence you completed the Study of Scenography at the Academy of Fine Arts and in Barcelona the International School of Physical Theater Moveo. If you could say more about School of Physical Theater Moveo in Barcelona. What was the focus of the study?”

Kristina Orlovic: “International School of Physical Theater MOVEO runs a full-day professional development program in physical theater, based on a dramatic body mime developed by French actor Etienne Decroux. It is specific training focused on dramatic body mimicry. Through this artistic training the students obtain knowledge, methods and technical foundations that allow them to use their body as a central element of creation and interpretation so that they can become creators of their own projects.
The training is focused on the idea of turning the actor’s movement into something tangible for the viewer, using his (actor’s) body as the main tool like “the thinking body”.
The aim is to make the invisible to be visible: feelings, thoughts, situations, dreams, objects, etc. ”
The study program is structured around four main blocks: technique, improvisation, composition and repertoire. Graduate program lasts for two years and specialization program for three years.”

Kristina Orlovic (Photographer: Carlo de Rosa – Libre)

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Together with the Swiss artist Nathalie Pierrehumbert, you have founded your visual and physical theater company Ooops! Company in Barcelona, where you have realized two plays: Libre (Free) and Orphfic (Orpheus). What did drive you and what vision of future work did you have at the time of foundation of your Company? Did you already have ideas for the plays you have created?”

Kristina Orlovic: “Originally we were driven by a passion for physical theater and a love of creation. We wonted to retain the pleasure of doing what we love and to explore originality in artistic expression through a variety of stage methods and skills. The play Libre started as our final project in specialization program at the International School of Physical Theater in Barcelona where I and Nathalie Pierrehumbert met. Following our graduation we decided to continue with that play and to start a company.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Following the success with the Libre, you have received the status of an artist ” in residence “. What has this prestigious international program enabled you to do?”

Kristina Orlovic: “It provided us with financial support for the project, the use of the L’Epicentre Theater for the performance and premiere of our play in Geneva in Switzerland, and collaboration with several other artists from the world of music and digital art who took part at the final form of the play. Let’s call it a great creative pleasure.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Libre (Free) has fantastic scenes, the flight dance is particularly impressive, the set design, music and lighting, the whole performance is amaizing. If you could say a more about the theme itself? Where did you perform that play?”

Kristina Orlovic (Photographer: Carlo de Rosa – Libre)

Kristina Orlovic: “Libre is a metaphorical theatrical creation that reveals a divided, sensitive and irritated character, a victim of one’s own thoughts, desires and nightmares. It explores the boundaries between body and soul, reality and imagination within a world that calls itself ‘free.’ It combines different stage methods where body movement, music, sound, lighting and video mapping merge into space and influence each other, externalizing the inner world of the main character as well. We have performed it in Barcelona and Geneva on several occasions in various theaters and halls.”

Jasna Lovrincevic:”The Orpheus had been prepared, but unfortunately it haven’t been performed in front of the audience. Have you prepared Orpheus in Barcelona or Switzerland? You said that the play contained fewer dance scenes. What approach did you have to that play?”

Kristina Orlovic: “Yes, unfortunately we were not able to perform the play publicly due to financial problems that arose during the creation of the play. We prepared Orpheus in Barcelona where we also got an art residence, in fact a rehearsal space, but this time without financial support. The main event of a play is a rival relationship between love and art, and an addiction to it. The approach was based on physical theater stage techniques such as body mimicry, E. Decroux techniques, live music and improvisation. We were inspired by poetry, fine arts and music.”

Kristina Orlovic (Photographer: Carlo de Rosa – Libre)

Kristina Orlovic: “I sincerely hope it could, although the approach and dynamics are different in film. Both film and theater is one big school of life where you never stop to learn and get inspiration”

Kristina Orlovic (Photographer: Amador Camargo – La Soledad)

Jasna Lovrincevic:”You are the author of the theater play La Soledad and the co-author of the production El visitante de la oscuridad, created in 2013 in Spain. You performed it also in Zagreb and Italy. In addition to physical theater, butoh dance is the main means of expression in both plays. Did you have an idea about the butoh dance before starting your courses with that dance? How would you characterize butoh dance in terms of your experience?”

Kristina Orlovic:”I started with butoh dance while I was living in Italy where I saw a performance by Japanese butoh artist Sayoko Onishi and it aroused my great curiosity because it surpassed anything I had seen before. Then I decided to explore this form of contemporary Japanese dance because it seemed very interesting, daring and original. There are no set style, it can even be purely conceptual without any movement. It is defined by aesthetic features that oppose Western archetypes of beauty, unusual minimal or almost non-existent costumes, white body color, grotesque movements and strong expressiveness. I would characterize it as a meditative state of the soul in motion, in search for individual and collective memory desireing to explore primordial human conditions.

Butoh inspired me to do a solo performance of La Soledad in Barcelona, where I met Catalan artist Lydia Zapatero who was also exploring this form of
dance. Lydia and I decided to independently produce the play El visitante de la oscuridad in collaboration with the Vueltabajo Theater, with which we were creating and collaborating in Barcelona at the time. The play was inspired by Edgar Allan Poe’s song “The Raven” and the butoh dance technique. We presented both plays in Zagreb at the FAKI Festival of Alternative Theater.”

Kristina Orlovic (Photographer: Constanza Manescau – El visitante de la oscuridad)

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Contemporary dance is also important in your career. When did you start with contemporary dance? Where did you perform it?”

Kristina Orlovic: “I started with the contemporary dance quite “late”, at the age of twenty, when I moved to Florence to study. I performed it mainly in Florence and Tuscany and later in Spain where I continued with my studies.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “During the arrangement for this interview, you mentioned that you have traveled a lot. As a student you visited India and you were in the Himalayas. How inspiring these trips were for your artistic life, although your growth in Croatia as well as your stay in Florence were equally attractive and inspiring?”

Kristina Orlovic: “I find that every experience, country and culture I have lived in, has influenced and inspired my way and have added something authentic to my personal and artistic growth. I love to travel, meet different cultures and customs, learn languages and seek inspiration in various forms of artistic expression.”

Anton Cetín

“What was really important for me was to leave the stamp of the time in which I lived,“ Anton Cetín saidin a conversation we had on the occasion of his recently completed series Covid-19.

When Mr. Anton Cetín sent me the image of the first painting from his Covid-19 series on May 14. I did not expect that I would have the privilege of following the creation of the whole series of 19 paintings, which I was finally able to view at the beginning of September. These paintings with Eve as a witness of the time, reflected a unpredictability of the coronavirus, just as scientific studies have revealed. After receiving the first nine paintings, my response to Mr. Anton Cetín was: “Something completely new!” So I was delighted when Mr. Anton Cetín agreed to an interview about his latest painting series.

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Your latest series Covid-19 is a rare artist’s response to this frightening pandemic disease. Through history, artists have thematized past infections much more, especially the emergence of the plague. The war, which is also disturbing and drastically life-threatening, has been a regular theme in almost all of the arts. However, artists remain mostly silent about the present-day coronavirus which has forced mankind, as scientifically and technologically advanced as we are, to resort to medieval methods of protection. Why have you decided to break the silence in this series?“

Anton Cetín: “From the very beginning the appearance of Covid-19, which is completely and irreversibly changing our previous reality into a completely new unimagined, unpredictably dramatic, frightening, perilous and worrying one, aroused in me the need to do something to react in my own, pictorial way – on canvas. The idea itself was not enough – it was necessary to think of what to paint and which elements would have to take precedence and which would be the best, the most picturesque to realize and show in such a complex and demanding task. And it wasn‘t simple and easy. And then how, by what technique or by what techniques to achieve all that. It was immediately clear to me that one painting would not be enough, that more of them would need to be painted – one larger series of paintings, the number of which was not really in sight at the time.

What was really important to me was to realize the idea in terms of leaving the stamp of the time in which I lived, the way I saw it, understood it, experienced it for the whole time I was painting it. That’s why I reacted in my own way, and I wasn’t silent. And that’s why I decided on this series.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Just before your departure for Paris, in 1965, your series of drawings of the Ominous Birds was created in Zagreb as a reflection of, as you said in one of our previous conversations in 2016, the ominous threat of apocalyptic proportions of the A bomb. The drawings, which you sent me, also strongly alluded to scenes from the Apocalypse: the devastated Earth, the smoke, hunger and exhaustion of the rare survivors, the self-destruction of man by his own technology, as well as the influence of cosmic forces. Has this, extremely imaginative series through the richness of drawings and especially shaded large dark as well as white surfaces, been an inspiration for your Covid-19 series?“

Anton Cetín: “It is true that in Zagreb in 1965, my series of drawings of the Ominous Birds was created as a reflection on ominous threats of apocalyptic proportions of the A bomb. All the rest of what you have stated in this question is also true. And, to be able to find an answer to this question in terms of the inspiration of the Ominous Birds series for the Covid-19 series, we must first go back to 1965, which means only 55 years back, so, in the year in which the scenes you mentioned in this question first appeared in my work. Some of these scenes from the Ominous Birds series became in fact a link to those in the Phantom series, created in Paris in 1967; and those from the Phantom series appear again in the Universe Desturbed series, created in Toronto, 2001; and now these scenes and symbols find their way to this new Covid-19 series.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “In the first painting of Covid-19 series, which you showed me at the beginning of May 2020, one could notice the enigmatic number 2001, as I characterized it in my response after receiving that painting. The author Branka Hlevnjak in her text entitled New Series of Paintings by Anton Cetín Covid-19, published on the Epoha Portal in July 2020, stated that for this new series of paintings you have used forgotten, unpublished works from your series Universe Disturbed, created in 2001. This is a very interesting fact in addition to the fact that there were nineteen of those works.

That incredible coincidence with the number 19 that this horrible virus of unexplained origin contains in its name, as well as the connection with the Universe Disturbed series is strange. Did it come as a surprise to you? Did you perhaps accept this coincidence as synchronicity or as something connecting and anticipatory?“

Anton Cetín: “At the beginning of the spring of 2001, I started working on a series of paintings that did not have a title at that time. Early in the morning on 9/11, the day of the demolition of the World Trade Center in New York, I went to the city to do some work. As I was passing through the underground part of the buildings in one place I noticed a completely mute – silent and motionless bunch of people looking at something on the screen. It stirred my curiosity so I joined them and also saw the whole demolition. Those images impressed me terribly. I went back to the studio with the idea of recording it, but under the weight of everything I saw, I just wasn’t able to do anything. And when I looked around at the paintings I had been working on until then, the name Universe Disturbed emerged for them – at that moment I wasn’t even aware from where. One portion of the works on paper in the acrylic technique in preparation remained unused, so I stored it in a box and put it aside, completely forgetting about it.

Thinking about how I would start working on the Covid-19 series, I remembered the box. I opened the box and started counting, and to my great surprise there were exactly 19 of these unused works, which I simply – without any thought have decided to use. And so I decided on a series of 19 paintings. I accepted it as synchronicity because everything coincided in time, connecting because it was thematically related to previous events, and also as anticipatory because in my painting I sensed the arrival of something new – a new beginning.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Could you clarify if these works were unfinished and now in some way are completed, or have you painted over those paintings, leaving number 2001 visible?“

Anton Cetín: “These works were not previously completed, they waited while I worked on the Universe Disturbed series. I have transferred each of them to the canvas with a specific technique and I have painted new symbols over them related to this series – Covid 19. And since these unfinished works were created in 2001, I left the numbers visible for documentation. For example, in the upper part of the first painting of this series, one can see a character also painted in 2001 and now transferred to this series, a demon character in the role of generator of enormous energy of evil behind the viruses that dominate the entire image space accomplishing their task. From their empty dead whiteness, the white eyes of this character sow death. An evil satanic smile is a reaction to the doom that has befallen us and in which we are only helpless observers and victims.“

Anton Cetín – Covid-19, the First Painting

Jasna Lovrincevic: “In the first painting of this series, regardless of the frightening symbols, its symmetry and colours, lightness and brightness create a feeling of harmony and tranquility, as I wrote in reply after receiving the first picture. The following paintings reflect the horror and dramatic events that this virus has created in the world, showing its unpredictability. But, on the last image Eve appears smiling, symbolically representing the winner. In this sense, the whole series creates an optimistic impression. Has optimism guided you through the creation of this series?“

Anton Cetín: “Regardless of everything shown in the paintings, from the first to the last, optimism has carried me the whole time I worked on this series and leads me with hope to the positive end of this frightening pandemic.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Covid 19 has become the subject of intensive research by scientists around the world and we hope that some solution will be found to end this pandemic. In your depiction you have gone much further, giving a vision of the world future. In the last painting, the four graphic symbols of the coronavirus are associated with the four riders of the Apocalypse according to John’s Revelation in Chapter Six: a white one, a red one with brown ends of the coronary part, and a black one, all of them with corresponding contents below which reflect events of recent times.

The fourth rider of the Apocalypse is Death on a Green horse, while in your painting the fourth one, actually is the first symbol in gray. In addition to the content below it, the face in profile is painted in green, the colour of death. Did you intentionally make such a sequence of symbols of the coronavirus?“

Anton Cetín – Covid-19, the Second Painting

Anton Cetín: “In the last, 19th painting, I followed the order of current events: first the disease appeared – a pandemic symbolically represented by a rider on a gray horse; second, there is hunger and misery symbolically represented by a rider on a black horse; third, at the time it usually occurs, war is symbolically represented by the rider on the red horse; and finally the fourth, when the time comes for victory symbolically represented by the rider on the white horse. That is why in the upper part of the picture we have 4 viruses – gray, black, red and white, and below each of them is a more detailed pictorial representation of what each of them symbolizes. Beneath the gray virus, a green-colored figure at the bottom of the image represents a dead face.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “The mysterious coronavirus has aroused different opinions about its origin; it has sparked varied research about previous infections through history; it has led many to read various prophecies, to think about economic prospects or about psychological consequences on the new way of life; and, it has provoked many other considerations related to all aspects of human life. One can say your last painting has summarized all of these reflections; an infection that turns life to gray, turns hunger to misery, war to blood and death; and finally, the yellow color of the sun and Eve represents the colours of new life. Such an explicit depiction certainly requires courage, but also it encourages viewers to reflect. Did you experience a dilemma regarding posting the last painting?“

Anton Cetín – Covid-19, Painting No.16

Anton Cetín: “No, I did not experience dilemma in posting of the last painting. Soon after the first few completed paintings, I started thinking about the last painting, which should complete or determine the series. Thinking about it and considering several other possibilities that have arisen, the idea of the possibility of applying one perhaps more specific solution – the apocalyptic one – suddenly appeared. I decided to tackle that challenging idea. While working on other images, I searched for the basic features of the Apocalypse, accepting the ones that I thought would be the most appropriate to best represent the content of the image and thus justify its final outcome.“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “All nineteen paintings individually retain the viewer’s view by the richness in diversity in terms of form, and expressiveness manifested by fantastic colours, as well as the richness of the characters because the individual paintings are almost figurative. The individual paintings, 16, 17, 18 as well as 15 or 14 are so rich in fine detail in terms of variety of lines, colours and shapes that they are reminiscent of the richness of miniature painting. What challenges has this series presented for you in terms of painting?“

Anton Cetín – Covid-19, Painting No.19

Anton Cetín: “As in my case this series is an artistic expression of the situation caused by the frightening Covid -19 pandemic disease, it has been quite clear to me that hundreds of human characters – portraits in all possible physical and mental situations in the paintings of this series, I can realize my ideas best in a figurative way.

Everything you have stated and described in this question is so beautiful and true to me that there is no need to repeat it. Thank you. And all this has been made possible by one of my specific techniques that I discovered while I was painting the series Universe Disturbed. Now, working on my Covid -19 series, I have discovered even more new possibilities that have enabled me to further develop this technique, I would dare to say, to perfection.

And it doesn’t surprise me when you say that individual paintings are so rich in fine details in terms of a variety of lines, colours, and shapes that they are reminiscent of the richness of miniature painting. The idea has been to achieve this with the greatest possible richness of lines and shapes, to connect them with other symbols, and to achieve a dynamic rhythm needed within each painting.

I think that in this sense it would be an omission to ignore some of the features or at least not briefly explain them in the mentioned pictures: 15, 16, 17 and 18. For example in the 15th painting, the characters, especially accentuated with bright colours, are actually wanderers in an almost apocalyptic depiction of a devastated landscape. In painting 16, the squares symbolically depict the graves of the unknown, without the religious features that are insignificant to the corona virus anyway. In painting 17, with its richness of lines, colours and shapes, I wanted to show children’s toys scattered everywhere, disturbed by a powerful virus, unfortunately in this case without children, but also with the hope of their quick return.

Painting 18, still rich in details as in previous images, essentially shows the virus-trapped Eve, who in spite of being trapped, firmly and irrefutably believes in the very end of the epidemic. Well, my idea from the very beginning was to paint not only viruses and ugly scenes of human beings in the situations they found themselves in – worry, fear, pain, suffering, death – but also the hope and belief leading to one final and more positive end of Covid 19.

In terms of painting, this series has been a huge challenge for me, enriching me with many new life insights and opening up new painting possibilities – I have a feeling that it expects to continue…“

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Your Eve recently celebrated her fiftieth birthday and at the promotion of Eve’s Monograph 1967-2017, you announced in your inspired speech that Eve would continue to be your muse and inspiration to the end. And now Eve has witnessed this difficult time as well. After the series of Universe Disturbed, Revival and the triumph of the Rainbow, Eve has taken you through the horror of the corona virus and has continued on to a new life. Eve has become like one original painting element. Could you imagine a composition without Eve?“

Anton Cetín: “That’s a very good and interesting question. As you say, it is true that in my speech at the promotion of the monograph EVE 1967-2017, I announced that Eve would continue to be my muse and inspiration to the end. And that is absolutely true, with two exceptions: the first would happen the moment I betrayed Eve, and the second in the unwanted one.

And a composition without Eve could only happen with a transition to abstract painting. And for that I see neither need nor purpose.“

Antonia Cetín: You’ve Got This Mom!

Antonia Cetín, who has spent lots of time scientific researching bilingualism, is an instructional coach for teachers at one of the largest school boards in Ontario, Canada. She has taught English, French, mathematics, history and natural sciences and she is the owner of her own company. Applying her professional knowledge, personal experience and her research, she has written a book to help mothers in raising their children with the challenges of modern life.

Conscious, Engaged, she does not Indulge in Tears

It is interesting how the book has been created.

The afternoon of the last day of a year of homeschooling, as her was leaving, she felt extremely sad about the end of a beautiful and extremely fulfilling year spent with her son. After crying for awhile, she consciously decided not to spend the evening crying and indulging in sadness, and tried to turn her mind to something else. She accidentally discovered an advertisement for a course on how to write a book that was starting in Ottawa that evening, in forty-five minutes.

In this unbelievable turn of situation, her sadness was replaced by the joy of a new beginning, a new acquired knowledge and cognition of her own abilities. During the course, she began to write her book.

Antonia Cetín: You’ve Got This Mom!

Jasna Lovrincevic: “It is your first book. How did you decide to write your book?”

Antonia Cetín: “Everybody has a story to tell, and lots of people think they might write a book someday. But, we all know that intention is far from action and even farther from realization. For a book to actually emerge, I think there has to be some deeper motivation or some catalyst or series of events that makes it impossible for us to not act, to seize the moment.

During a sabbatical year while I was homeschooling my son, I kept my eyes open for interesting activities or workshops that we could participate in, and I came across one by Black Card Books Publishing about writing a book. Cool! I signed us up right away. However, what I didn’t realize was that it was only for adults, so my ticket arrived in my inbox, but there was no ticket for Matthieu. Oh, well, my ticket stayed unopened in the box and we went on to other activities, other workshops, other outings.
Before I knew it, the school year was over and on the last day, as Matthieu was leaving to go to his Dad’s, the realization that our year together was over hit me like a ton of bricks : that precious year I had to spend just with my son was over. The opportunity to spend this kind of time with him was amazing and it was over. And, I cried. A lot. Big ugly cried.
There was no one to save me from myself that afternoon: my son was gone home with his dad, my partner was off to a sporting event, my friends were celebrating the last day of school. And I was not exactly in the celebrating mood. I moped for awhile and not really knowing what else to do with myself, I checked my emails. While checking, I came across that ticket for the Black Card Books workshop. The workshop was on that very night, on that very weekend. It was starting downtown. In 45 minutes. I had a decision to make: was I going to stay home and feel sorry for myself all night? Or, was I going to get out of the house and maybe learn something?
Well, I cleaned up, put on some makeup, got dressed and headed downtown arriving about 5 minutes before the workshop started. The publisher running the workshop gave all kinds of advice about the whole writing and publishing process and it stirred up all kinds of questions, all kinds of thoughts about that desire to write a book. The traditional advice is to write about what you know. As a teacher and a parent, I knew a lot about the guilt, worries and self-doubt parents experience as they raise their children. And, I knew that parents all want their best for their children and need to know that they can get through the hard times and that they are exactly the right parents for the job. I wanted to encourage parents. So, I had to make a decision: was I going to go through with this? Was I going to actually make the commitment to write this book?
Over that weekend, I did lots of agonizing (fear of failure; fear of success; self-doubt; self-worth…) and lots of praying. Finally, I decided that I could always find excuses to postpone or to say no. However, if I was going to say yes, I needed to make the commitment to myself and to make this a priority. As soon as I had made my decision and said yes to myself (and to the publisher) I felt relief and calm. Once I had made the decision, I knew it was the right one. Once I had made the decision, I knew it would become real. By the end of that weekend, I had started writing my first book.”
Jasna Lovrincevic: “How long did it take to write your book? What did your book resonate in Canada?”

Antonia Cetín: “In all, once I made the decision to write, things moved relatively quickly. With the help of Black Card Books, by the end of that June weekend, I had a working title and the outline for 12 chapters of “You’ve Got This, Mom!” Over the summer, I conducted some interviews, did some extra research (I had already spent years reading parenting books and magazines and being a working mom!) and wrote the first rough draft for those chapters. During the Fall, with the generous help, comments and suggestions of friends and family, I did lots of editing. And, I convinced my son to write a bonus chapter: “What your Child Wants You to Know (Don’t Tell my mom, I’m Telling You!)” The rest was in collaboration with the publisher who organised all of the details. So many details!

So far, my book has been featured in Parenting magazines and blogs, and I’ve participated in a few Expos. A few Chapters book stores have also had me in as a guest author. My book can be found a the Ottawa library and I’m happy to say that I don’t often see it on the shelf (which means that people are borrowing it!) I have also made donations of copies of my book to organisations where it will be of benefit to mothers for example, Big Brothers Big Sisters and a local women’s shelter. I think the farthest reach has been to Singapore for a podcast with Kenneth Choo, Mother Industrialist.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “The book “You’ve Got This Mom!” is informative and encouraging, it includes your professional knowledge, research and your experience. One could say the motto of your book is: create the life that you love. It is just principle, an intention. Are we really able to create our life how we like it?”

Antonia Cetín:” Live the life you love is definitely the core message.

We all have circumstances in our lives that we cannot control. No one has control for example of the circumstances and environment of their birth and depending on when and where that is, there are degrees of oppression we have to manage (political, cultural, familial, situational…) Furthermore, we all have hardships, problems, disappointments and we all have times in our lives when we just don’t know how we will get through. But, even when circumstances are beyond your control, no one else can decide what you will do with those circumstances. Only you can decide how you will see your circumstances, how you will react to them and what your experience of them will be.

Research, reading, and listening to powerful stories of survival and coping have taught me that the way people cope is by choosing how they will perceive their circumstances. There is always this choice to make. By making the decision to focus on inwhat they can control in their lives, miraculously, even people who live through the worst hardships find joy, kindness, and peace.

Life experience has taught me that I need to look for that joy, kindness and peace in my life. And that I need to invite more of it into my life by looking for those moments and circumstances that I can create to make my life more and more the life I love. It is a process.

For me, that means I need to connect with my source, my faith. I need to believe in myself and not to focus on guilt, worry and self-doubt. I need to get a handle on things that I can control: how to raise my kids, how to take care of my money, how to get the most satisfaction out of my work. It also means I need to do those things that will bring me joy: spending time with family and friends, going for walks or bike rides in the forest, reading, exploring the world… writing a book. These are the choices I make. Daily. It’s not always easy. But, it’s worth it.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “In your book you have emphasised the importance of having a goal in life, something to stimulate you through your life. You have also defined very clearly activities and processes in one’s life over which one can have an influence, or control. If you could please, say more about that.”

Antonia Cetín: “Without purpose, our lives can feel like a constant meaningless, directionless trial. Wake up, commute, work, commute, chores, sleep, repeat. But what is it all for? If we can’t answer that question, it makes life it hard. That’s when we know we are not living the life we love.

A sense of purpose makes this life bearable and enjoyable. For example, even though motherhood has its share of challenging moments, when I focus on the “why” (watching my son become a strong, loving, independent and resourceful man) I can get through the challenging moments more easily. Even thought teaching is an ever more challenging profession, when I focus on the “why” (helping teachers to better serve the needs of their students, helping teachers reconnect to the joy in their profession, sharing a love of languages and a belief that all students can learn) I am more aware of the contribution I make and see how it helps one teacher, one student at a time. Even though writing a book is a daunting process, when I focus on the “why” (encouraging mothers to find have faith in themselves, to take care of themselves) I can find the courage to write my book and to share it.

And, it is my choice to look for that purpose and to see my life with that perspective. That is where I have control: in how I see my experience.”

Teaching Her Son and Travelling With him was a Privilege and a Blessing

Antonia Cetín

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Your courage to teach your son at home and travel with him around the world, as you describe in your book, was a big challenge, like adventures which include very big responsibilities and being ready for different demanding situations. How old was your son at that time? What were his experiences?”

Antonia Cetín: “Thank you for that acknowledgement. I saw that time in our lives as a great opportunity and a wonderful adventure. Certainly, it was a privilege and a blessing. By teaching my son at home, I was able to fill any academic gaps he had at the time and to provide him the world as a classroom. We were able to spend so much time together and to share incredible life experiences.

At the time, Matthieu was 10-11 years old. As the year progressed, I saw him grow in confidence and develop new and existing interests. During our travels, he became more tolerant of walking tours (LOL!) where we learned so much History and Geography. He had an interest in architecture and when we returned home, he used Minecraft to create buildings inspired by the architecture we had explored: medieval castles, Roman amphitheatres, Greek temples, Gaudi buildings. Matthieu loves racing and we were able to visit the Formula 1 museum in Modena, Italy which he still talks about. He also loved the Leonardo Da Vinci Museum in Florence, and the gelato! The Museum of Science in Trieste, the Postojna Caves and caves in Greece… So many amazing places.

For both of us, it was great to see how people lived and celebrated events in different parts of the world. We got to visit places, but we also had the opportunity to interact with communities and families from various countries: Back to school with a family in Nantes, France; doing presentations about Canada at a school in Koprivnica, Croatia; Celebrating Halloween with an Italian family in Ravenna; living with a lovely family in Greece who took the time to show us their favorite places; visiting family in Croatia and Switzerland… so many adventures!

Some of our fondest memories are in Croatia which warms my heart. I am so happy that Matthieu has the opportunity to visit family and to connect with his heritage. We loved pretending to be gladiators in Pula. We still talk about our visit to the Contemporary Art Museum in Zagreb where he was impressed by a work entitled “The Sea” and where we made an exit through the three story slide. And, Bol is still his happy place: lovely, welcoming island village, pristine warm water and beaches, and a bakery where he can find a delicious “krafna s cokoladom.” We hope to visit again next summer, 2021.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Does this mean, in Canada there are possibilities for children to be taught at home by a private teacher?”

Antonia Cetín: “Yes, there is the possibility of Homeschooling. The requirements are to follow the curriculum as outlined by the Ministry of Education. Parents who are interested in this possibility have to apply and provide an account of learning. There are websites and organisations to facilitate the process, and to guide parents in the process.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “As a parent, do you need to sign the contract with the school or government for teaching at home?

Antonia Cetín: “There is an application and a form of contract, yes. In our case, the year before my sabbatical, I met with the Principal of Matthieu’s school at the time who guided us through the process. Once she discovered I was an Instructional Coach, we were able to advance more easily. Upon completion of our year, I provided his school with an anecdotal report card outlining what he had learned.”

Essential Oils like Little Miracles

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You run a business with essential oils. How did you start that kind of business? What is the difference between essential and aromatic oils?”

Antonia Cetín

Antonia Cetín: “Aromatic oils have some essential oils at their base, at least 2% according to one website, but have other content including other base or carrier oils, and possibly other ingredients. This makes them more affordable, less potent but still pleasant to use for aromatic purposes.

Essential oils which contain fewer other ingredients have a higher potency. They come in different grades: synthetic grade, food grade, therapeutic grade. DoTerra is the company I work with because they test and guarantee their product to be 100% pure and have a Certified Pure Therapeutic Grade of oil. No additives or other chemicals. For this reason, depending on the oil, they can be used aromatically, but also topically and internally. I even cook with some of my essential oils and use some as supplements.

I started using essential oils because a friend of mine used essential oils. But, I was stubborn and I needed so much proof that they were effective. When Lemongrass helped with the pain of my sprained ankle, I was not convinced. When Peppermint helped soothe my upset stomach, I was not convinced. When Melaleuca (Tea Tree) eliminated my son’s ear infection and we didn’t need to get antibiotics, I started paying attention.

As I leaned more about these little miracles and all of the good they could do for my family’s health, I started using them more and telling people about them. Once I realised that sharing this information paid for my product, I started my business. The great thing is that my own oils are paid for and I can spend as much time on my business as I want depending on how much I want it to grow. I am always happy to share information about DoTerra Essential Oils or how to start a business with them. Distance is never an issue! Get in touch with me at antonia.cetin@gmail.com ”

Jasna Lovrincevic:”How one can use the essential oils, for what kind of health problems?”

Antonia Cetín: “The inside joke is that there is an oil for everything. But, there is lots of truth in this joke. I am not a physician and I always suggest people work with their health care providers to ensure they get the treatment they need. As with traditional medicine, what works for one person may not work the same way for another person, and you have to find what works for you for a given ailment. Using essential oils, is a great compliment to traditional health care.

I have helped people with sleeping problems and anxiety issues; with muscular aches and pains, relief from arthritic pain; with treating skin problems and infections; colds, flus and other seasonal problems; finding relief from respiratory issues such as asthma. In my own family, we have cut down the use of over the counter medication to almost none and rarely need antibiotics anymore, which means we are healthier and are spending less money on treatments.”

Learning Languages and Helping Others Learn Languages is my Passion

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You are an instructional coach for the teachers. What are your responsibilities?”

Antonia Cetín: “Having been an educator from Grades 1-8 for over 25 years, I have enjoyed the opportunity to extend my role to Instructional Coach for the last 5 years. My main foci have been Math, Literacy and Languages, although my focus for the last couple of years has been mainly French as a Second Language instruction. In my school board, this includes a Core French program of 40 minute language instruction daily, as well as Immersion programs where students study other subjects in French such as History, Geography, Science and the Arts for at least half of the school day.

My work is always exciting because there are so many facets to it: I work directly with teachers and students in the classroom to help teachers meet the needs of their students by developing their instructional practices; I provide Professional Development opportunities to Second Language teachers including live presentations, Google classroom presentations, live workshops (from an hour to a few days), distance workshops, video instruction; and, I facilitate Collaborative Inquiry Learning for teachers. I have also had the opportunity to present at conferences such as OMLTA, EducLang, OCETF, and at Summer Academies such as OCDSB, ETFO, and University of Ottawa. I have also developed Instructional Materials and Resources for teachers to use in the classroom. My job is to share latest research in Second Language Instruction and to develop best practices.

As such, I have done extensive research into the CEFR (Common European Framework of Reference) and am a Certified “Formatrice DELF/DALF A1-C2” (Diplôme d’études de langue française / Diplôme avancé de langue française) with France Éducation International . In the Spring and Fall, I organise the testing of over 800 students to challenge the DELF, and I train the teacher assessors who facilitate this testing. This incredible CEFR training has helped to move language teaching practices from content based to competency focused with great results in the classroom.

I LOVE my job!!!!”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You have studied French and Spanish: Have you done some research regarding bilingualism? Have you been in contact with dr. Ellen Bialystok?”

Antonia Cetín:” A fellow Canadian! I don’t believe I have met Dr. Bialystok although it would be great to work with her. As it turns out, I have done quite a bit of research on bilingualism and find myself fascinated by how the brain learns languages. Recently, I’ve worked with Dr. Katy Arnett and Dr. Léo-James Levesque to promote differentiation practices in the Second Language Classroom. I’m also using the Neurolinguistic Approach to Language learning developed by Dr. Claude Germain and Dr. Joan Netten and have read research by Dr. David Sousa.

Learning languages and helping others learn languages is my passion.”

Studying at the Oldest European Universities

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You have studied in Canada, in France at the Sorbonne and in Spain in Salamanca, which are famous and also among the oldest european universities. What is your European experience, comparing with your experience in Canada, regarding university, the way of life, geography and ….?”

Antonia Cetín: “As a University student, I found the European and North American systems quite different. Coming from a system where studying was project and problem solving based to a system where studying was content and research based took some adapting. Ultimately, I consider myself so lucky to have had the opportunity to learn from and survive both systems as the combined experience made my whole educational experience so much richer. (Thanks, Mom and Dad!)

I’m certain that if I had not had those experiences in France and Spain, I would not have become a second language teacher nor had the job I have today. I am truly blessed to have such a background.

As far as a way of life goes, there are aspects of each lifestyle that I love which is why, although I live in Canada and enjoy my professional life here, I frequently return to Europe to travel and learn, as evidenced by my sabbatical travel with my son and an art history course I took at the Louvre one summer! Next summer, I’m looking forward to a trip to Croatia to visit with family and spend some time on the Coast. I hope to do even more travelling and learning in the future. Anyone have ideas on where I should go to work on my Italian or Greek? Or maybe using my DEFL Formatrice qualifications abroad?”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You have written a book, you have your own business, you are an instructional coach for teachers, you are teacher, you write your own blog, and you are a responsible mother; how do you organize your time?”

Antonia Cetín

Antonia Cetín: “That is the greatest question. Time is so valuable and we don’t even know how much of it we have.

There are always so many things to do. Some are responsibilities that need to be met and others are things we impose upon ourselves or choose to do. I’m thinking that you have already deduced that I am an A-type personality who always finds something to do, some project to work on, something to learn. My challenge is to build in time where I am not doing and where I am just being. This is my time with my family, by myself and with God. And, I need to consciously make the decision to spend my time this way, otherwise I get lost in the doing, and I forget to appreciate what I have and to feel the joy.

The greatest challenge is finding the balance that will have us doing the musts and the shoulds but still having time for the want tos. I think daily life is about finding this balance. What helps me find that balance? Prioritizing: I can only do one thing at a time, so I always have to decide, “What is the most important thing right now?” I can’t be or do all of those things all of the time. But, if I concentrate on each one separately, and allow myself the time to develop in that area, it gets done. One step at a time. I also have to come to terms with the fact that sometimes, the most important thing to do has to be to do nothing. To rest.

What else helps? Surrounding myself with like-minded people who will inspire and motivate me. Accepting help from other people and accepting that I can’t do everything by myself. Remembering to be patient with myself (hah!) and remembering to notice what brings me joy and to include more things that bring me joy. Little by little… Living the life I love.”

Helena Mamich (Photo: Jasna Lovrincevic)

“Through avant-garde music, I have absolutely felt my freedom of expression”, stated soprano Helena Mamich, whom I have interviewed on 27 th of March 2019 during her pause in Split between performing and rehearsals in Berlin. In October she will perform the role of Madam Butterfly (Giacomo Puccini) in Sydney and at the beginning of the year 2020, she will perform the role of Magda Sorel from Gian Carlo Menotti’s opera The Consul in Melbourne.

Helena Mamich, Canberra born medical doctor and musician, at age of five came to live in Split, Croatia, where she completed her studies in Medicine at the University of Split. She studied music at School of Music, Australian National University where she obtained Master’s degree in music performance in the class of Australian tenor Dr. Paul McMahon.

She has devoted herself to classical contemporary music repertoire. She has won the first prize at Australian Competition for Contemporary Music, New Music Art Song 2015.

As a soloist she had performed in Croatia, Italy, Germany, Estonia and France, and in the previous two years she has been regularly performing with the chamber music ensemble Arbor Vitae Trio.

Jasna Lovrinčević: “In Berlin you have been engaged at Opéra Ivre where you usually perform new composed music. Is that your first experience of singing the new, recently composed works?”
Helena Mamich: “No, I had already such experiences, but with the chamber music repertoire and art songs. It was in Australia during my undergrad. Those were composers Gerhard Stäbler, Kunsu Shim, Kyle Ghann, Calvin Bowman, and there were plenty of young composers who were preparing compositions for their exam. The main point of collaboration was that a work was performed for the first time.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “What are the differences between your approach to a role in the opera and approach to solo songs or chamber music?”
Helena Mamich: “The differences are obvious. When one prepares an opera, a musical play on the stage, especially this sort of opera that I am now preparing in Berlin which inludes also fragments with dance, one must be a good dancer, a good singer with an ability to memorize very fast and to have a excellente rhythm. All these factors need to unite to achieve the desired result. In the chamber music, there are no movements on the stage.

However, in contemporary chamber music there is one very difficult point that many of us are not conscious of. Unlike the opera, in an avant-garde composition can be over 35 different instruments including different percussion instruments what can be very confusing. At this point anatomical section beginns, sometimes you need to work on half of bar because of its complexity. Especially the rhythm can be very complex. Therefore it is necessary, as I would like to say, to adopt microsurgical approach in avant-garde to achieve the desired result.

The avant-garde seeks the greatest accuracy because if you make the slightest mistake, it is evident, no matter how many people say it is not audible. Individuals who understand the avant-garde music will hear any mistakes. And a small mistake will become a big, cardinal error; each minimal rhythmic or melodic failure. Therefore, avant – garde chamber music is not easy. It is often underestimated in comparison to an opera, but that part of chamber music makes it quite complex.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Accuracy is required mostly in all music genres, isn’t it?”
Helena Mamich: “It is required everywhere, but in a work from romanticism it will not be so audible, those minor mistakes are forgiven. Avant-garde is not considered as a lovely music, we have to know it. It’s an aesthetic of uglyness. Many people who listen to it, they experience it in that way. And then, if a performer makes the smallest mistake, they become even bigger because it’s not a pretty music. The people do not see the beauty in avant-garde music, so a small mistake escalates to a big mistake. This is not just my observation, it is a remark of my colleagues who deal with that music, but also of those who are not inclined to this type of music but they listen to it for educational purpose.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “When did you decide to pursue avant –garde music?
Helena Mamich: “During my undergraduate studies, it was a small part of the chamber music course and then I realized through this program that it was very good for me and that I could continue my master’s degree dedicated to the contemporary composers. But that little part was responsible for starting seriously with avant-garde because I have absolutely felt my freedom of expression.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Have you continued with the reportoire of contemporary music?”
Helena Mamich: “Everything from the twentieth century is my sphere in which I have been active. Following my studies I have been promoting these composers from the beginning of the twentieth century untill now.

Helena Mamich (Photo: Jasna Lovrincevic)

Jasna Lovrinčević: “How do you draw back the difference between the beginnings of a modern opera from the beginning of the twentieth century such as Berg and the composer of the third millennium?”
Helena Mamich: “Berg was an interesting introduction to the twentieth century. He was still under influence, I would say Tchaikovsky, but Mahler, he had fused harmony that was still very beautiful for the ear. However, all that emerged after the First World War, around 1920, 1923 and 1927, caused a sense of discomfort because the harmony was a little too condensed and because of the content itself. The background story of these works was depressed. It contained death, tragedy, illness, mental illness as a result of war, starvation, or all those horrors that occurred during that period and that’s why it caused such reactions of the audience. All this was part of the taboo, but unfortunately that is still happening today, it means we have not much changed in that matter.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “You often sing the vocal music of Olivier Messiaen, as you mentioned in our previous interview few years ago?”
Helena Mamich: “Olivier Messiaen is a category for himself. He is just something else. He was influenced by oriental music and dances and he used to listen the birds singing in nature . By recording it on paper he created music. He had the tremendous power to harmonize birds singing. He had relied on an songbird as it was a vocal line while he harmonised the rest. Sometimes there was a situation when he composed according to several singing birds and he recorded it as a polyphony of four simultaneous lines or four voices melorythmic dictation. That was really very effective and interesting.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “The spirituality of Olivier Messiaen is well known and you have performed his spiritual music. How difficult or easy is it for a performer to transmit all spirituality and emotions behind his music?”
Helena Mamich: “At first I have red what it is all about and then translated lyrics written in French into Croatian language. French is a beautiful language, it is very melodic and it has facilitated the situation for me. When one feels a sense of ecstasy in his songs, and its energetic charge, by singing that music you receive desire to dance because of all these asymmetrical measures, which I’m fond of. The impulses in your soul, evoked by that sense of ecstasy are unbelievable. You simply dance in your soul, but you stay calm beside the piano. Your soul dances and it is manifested on your voice being focused on it. The feeling that can be produced by this melody is incredible, you feel like a singing bird in nature.

It is one of my impressions, directly from my soul. I feel it like that. It gives me an incredible feeling of soul ecstasy because that bird was created by the beloved God, and with his music Messiaen has returned his talent to God, thanking Him for such a wonderful nature.

I feel very much inspired by Messiaen and I cannot stop admiring this composer. Discovering him as a composer was due to my lecturer from university who told me that I had a perfectly suitable voice for his music. When I have listened and tried to sing a little bit his melodies, I have been completely stunned by his music and then I have realized that my heart is in his repertoire, whether it is his instrumental or vocal music. I got intoxicated in a positive way with his instrumental music. Later I used to listen to his music during my working shift in clinic where i used to work. This had been for educational and therapeutic reasons. It was a dual effect.

When I listen Messiaen’ Improvisations on the organ, recorded by himself, I could sense those moments when he was in a fusion with some supernatural; In those momoment it looks like his soul, mind, and body were floating in paradise. His fingers and a pedal might have been glued to that organ, but he was somewere else, in some other sphere.

He was so inspired by something supernatural what we as a human species can not perceive it. Evidently he had received some gift which he converted into music so that we could also experienced it.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “You have recognised that in his interpretation and in his music, but it is hard to expect that all of performers to be so convincing.”
Helena Mamich: “I’m pleased that I have found his music very interesting, and that I gladly return to listen and learn his vocal reportoire. It is a great pleasure to me to find all of his vocal opuses – his music is an excellent exercise for the brain.”

Helena Mamich (Photo: Jasna Lovrincevic)

Jasna Lovrinčević: “In Melbourne you will perform the role of Magda Sorel from the opera The Consul by Gian Carl Menotti. The libretto of The Consul is gloomy like most of the operas by Alban Berg. It is about imigration, one of very actual themes today.”
Helena Mamich: “I have been choosen by that opera.Through the main character of Magda Sorel I have seen the struggle of my parents. My parents found themselves almost in the same situation as Magda Sorel. They emigrated from former Yugoslavia very young because of unpleasant factors. They were looking for a better life in Australia. Long-lasting oppression in our homeland unfortunately has forced many people to go out of the country.

I can connect The Consul with exodus of that time, but of course also with the struggle of those people for their rights in the sea of bureaucracy which is unpleasnt in every foreign country. These problems do not last for a month, but for a year or more. They create a serious sense bitterness.

But when it all terminates, we ask those who work in bureaucracy when will they become human beings and be able to feel what we feel. One day it will be a situation when we will be free from that horrific sense, but then it comes to my mind regarding the question, if there is a refuge for a man who has died across the border. Considering all of this, I could make the regie for The Consul because I can absolutely understand Magda Sorel. She was a very young woman whose soul had aged very quickly. She was in an extremely desperate situation. She fought. We have lot of Magda Sorel. Magda Sorel is the mother of many of us who have emigrated. The mothers like Magda Sorel have made the first breakthrough and have raised their children in other countries, desiring a better life for them. They have not liked to live under the opression of the regimes which destroyed them, and not just them, but also their children and their grandchildren. They just had good intentions.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “It is interesting that you, with similar experience of your parents have been selected for this role? You also have been forced to seek a job abroad as a medical doctor!”
Helena Mamich: “That is so interesting. I have not looked for that role, she has found me. This is something like destiny. It has found me because I have an important message to convey to my audience. I will, through the image of Magda Sorel, revive all the mothers who have been migrated with their children. I have migrated to Germany because of similar situation. Maybe I am Magda Sorel too, who struggles with that bureaucracy, and who has fought with a corrupt system that I have abandoned with a hope for a better and happier time. Perhaps, with my example, I could show that it might be possible to break this sad cycle of Magda Sorel. My mother says “never,” but I say, probably there is hope.”

Split (Photo: Helena Mamich)

Jasna Lovrinčević: “This is a libretto, dramatic part, and what is your opinion about the music part of The Consul opera?”
Helena Mamich: “I can honestly say Magda Sorel is the best choice for my type of voice. Menotti was sesitive to singers’ needs. Menontti hasn’t written a big number of tones on the passaggio part. They are few of them, but they are set in a logical way that is not taxing for the voice. Menotti demands a very good singing technique and all other vocal elements. In this case it is not tiring to sing his works. It suits me to sing Menotti as I have a darker vocal timbre and currently my vocal fach is a young dramatic soprano.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “When will be The Consul performed and where?”
Helena Mamich: “In February, 2020, at the Culture Center in Melbourne. This is an independent project of our fellow colleagues who were together at University and several contract singers from the Melbourne Opera. We are all over the world with Australia connecting us.”

Ivica Matijevic (Photo: Jasna Lovrincevic)

“Creativity to me is being able to allow an accident to happen at the process of creation”, says painter and sculptor, Ivica Matijević
in an interview I conducted with him in February 2019, at his studio, in Moers.

Ivica Matijević, well-known for his wooden objects, has completed his studies at the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo and since 1991 he has lived in Germany where he works as a self-employed artist. His works are regularly exhibited in Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina, but he has also exhibited in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Poland, Montenegro, Spain and Mexico. His works are displayed in several museums and galleries in different countries, some of them belong to privat art collections and some of them can be found in open spaces and at some churches in Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina. One of his paintings has been selected for the art collection of the German Federal Parliament in Berlin.

Ivica Matijević is an artist of great personality, with recognizable style and his own art technique. To meet him and his work is a very special experience. His cordiality, his confidence, his work attitude, his love for art and it’s power and his artwork are equally impressive. When you step into his studio, you are faced with a huge round wooden object attached, to a opposite wall. That work occupies you immediately with it’s beautiful blue colour, covered with different coloured dots. The scene is magnificent and mysterious, like a starry sky. It fascinates you so much that you with the same feeling continue to look at other pieces of art, sieted in the studio and in each of them you recognize something monumental and unique: whether it is wooden sculptures, various objects, wooden miniatures or open public space models. In the studio there is also one wooden creation of Matijevic, designed for an exhibition organised to mark 100 years since Bauhaus. Ivica Matijević is among three artists invited to exhibit there.

“A puerly geometrical form, and a flat roof are characteristic of Bauhaus architecture. The name of the exhibition is Inspiration Bauhaus”, said Ivica Matijević. On the sculpture, created for this exhibition, he has applied his original technique, a kind of intarsia.

Ivica Matijević says that he has discovered his technique by accident. His three-year-old daughter had put a pencil into the crack of the wooden cube and when she could not pull it out, he has tried to help her. He also could not do it and he has cut the pencil. Then he has noticed that wooden surfaces with the cut pencil has became so vibrant that he has decided to use different pencils in the similar way for his artistic work.

Until the year 1996 Ivica Matijević was known as a painter. For the first time he exhibited his oil paintings at his high school in Maglaj when he was fifteen years old. His first oil paints he received as the present from his uncle when he was only ten years old.
Jasna Lovrinčević: “Why have you continued using wood and what is so attractiv about that natural material?”

Ivica Matijević: “For twenty years I have been working exclusively in the wood. Wood is a warm material that can be sculpted and painted. When I sculpture an wooden object, I lead a conversation between it’s natural beauty or it’s form and aesthetics that arise by my hand. Wood is natural material and I am inspiried by its natural structures. Coming from Bosnia, I have a special feeling for the wood. Bosnia is forest-rich land. When we, people from Bosnia, live abroad, we notice how much it is in us.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “How do you define your wooden objects, attached on the wall, which give impression of pictures, with smooth surfaces, without any texture?”

Ivica Matijević: “In art jargon, I make the objects. My objects have height, width and depth and in work process I use the sculpture and painting tools. With drill I make holes into which I put pencils. Then I apply different structures and about 20 to 40 layers of different paints onto a surface. It is interesting that time is important factor of my creation process; when I leave the studio, my works continue to be in process of creation, they are drying. Different structures, cracks and forms emerge from that drying process. That process is impossible to control. These new structures can be very inspiring for me. The following phase is the phase of archeologist. I start to hone and doing that I remove the paint layers. It is very important to recognise the moment when I must to stop it.

To be able to control this process to as extent as is possible, I always make an archive with apllied paints on one surface. Removing paints layers by honing I can approximatelly predict what paint is the next. If I remove larger amount of paint than is desirable, then it will be everything destroyed what I have done for 30-40 days.

Classic painting is the act of applying paint onto a canvas. If I do not like the colour, I wait until the paint has dried and then I apply a new paint. My technique is the opposite to that. I remove the paint. This principle is similar to method of archeologists who remove the layers of soil in order to penetrate into the past time.

The Principle of Accident

Ivica Matijević: I consciously apply different paints onto the surface, but what happens during the drying process, it happens by chance, what I call it: the principle of accident. This principle of accident is desirable for me because with it I get structures which is impossible to achive by painting or to create it. These new structures present certain aesthetic moments and it is important for me to recognize them. The interaction between applied paints and other materials create some of surprising effects. It gives the art freshness.

The classic painting that I had previously done, had been created more consciously, but now, my creative process is characterised by conscious and controlle.

Creativity to me is being able to allow an accident to happen at the process of creation.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “There are often visible line likes ribbon on the painted surface edge of your object. Is that also a conscious part of your creative process?”

Ivica Matijević: “One important and recognizable aspect of my art is constructivism. I apply certain geometric shapes and lines with which I try to limit and to tranquillize my compositions to a certain extent.”

Jasna Lovrinčević: “Your artworks mostly have the names. How do you give them?”

Ivica Matijević: “The name is not given to the artwork, but it happens during the process of creation. The name of the artwork is something that has emerged as the painting itself. I can not give the name or title in advance, then it would be work on the subject as by the commission artwork. The name occurs in the process of creation or does not occur, there is no obligation to give a name.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “What does it mean art for you?”

Ivica Matijević immediately answered “all” and he sincerely laughed.

Ivica Matijević: “All. What does it mean art for me? It is difficult question. Life is not art, but life without art is much poorer than with it. I have good luck that my profession, besides my family, is my great love. So, art is my preoccupation. I come to my studio every day. I start to work at eight o’clock and I leave my studio at five o’clock in the afternoon. I don’t need special inspiration. I find it at my work because I have been in a work continuum. Of course, for these 20-30 years of art, my way of thinking and approaching the image has become something as a science. I am constantly in some kind of aesthetic process like quest and search. To me the art is still an adventure and research. Each of my objects is a new challenge for me. At the start of a new work, I often have the feeling as I do it for the first time.”

The Cubes Enriched by Intarsia

Jasna Lovrincevic: “How did you have the idea to designe these cube?”

Ivica Matijević: “Sometimes the worthless pieces of wood that I usually receive from my friends, inspire me and thanks to my original technique, they become, I hope, something special. Today, many people think it is two hours enough to create an artwork. That is not true. It is very important for me to have patience and perseverance and to be clear and precise. Also it is important for me to have a concept and vision about it; how should something look like, not today or in two hours time, but in a month or in two months time.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You have designed a seriesof wooden cubes. It is interesting, each of them is different?”

Ivica Matijević: “One craftsman creates works using his skills and tools known to him, but one artist always starts from a zero. As an artist I know a technique, but the way how to produce the peace of art, how to breathe aura into my art object, that does not depend on my technical precision. One painting needs to have an aura. It is not necesseraly to look beautifully, but it should initiate some new thought in the viewers or give them an opportunity for discussion. Otherwise, it is just a imitation, an illustration of some idea. I do not accept it as an art. It means, a peace of art has to posses height and depth and each of breach what has to exist in one art work. What is specific to my works today is that they have an esthetic quality. I’m perfectionist, considering the style. It is said that my works look like baroque works considering their high aesthetic quality. Aesthetic is a very important element of my work and I always try to achieve it. The painting should be produced professionally and of high quality, it should have high aesthetic values and should be emotionally charged.

From The East

At the atelier of Ivica Matijević there is one big wooden sculptur, that attracts attention. It is one of fifty that Matijević has done. He says he would like to see them arranged in row, one by one.

Ivica Matijević: “It’s a standing figure. It’s called From the East. To create sculpture like this it is meditative and intensive work process. Actually, I liberate a figure from the wood, led by the structure and the natural growing form, trying to reveal what is hidden beneath the surface. Every beam has its own mystical power, it has something special in itself, and I could repeat the words of Michelangelo, who said: -There is one person inside each stone and I just need to set him free.”

The Public Art

Artworks, produced by Ivica Matijević are often commissioned by different institutions or organisations. Some of his commissioned artwork are still in process of production, and two of them sited on the squares of Neukirchen-Vluyn: a bronze figure called Homeland (Heimat) and Clogs (Klompe).

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Who has given the name for the bronze figure in Neukirchen-Vluyn?”
Ivica Matijević: “Homeland (Heimat) is a statue, created in 2004. That work was a gift to the city, given by a businessman Imre Ladocsi, who came from Hungary. He financed it together with the City of Neukirchen-Vluyn. In fact, he donated the statue to the city in gratitude for his successful years he spent there as an entrepreneur. This is a male figure, 2 meters high, in the middle is broken. The word homeland is written in seventy different languages because so many nations live in that city.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Who has commisioned The Clogs (Klompen)?”

Ivica Matijević: “The Clogs is an interesting project. Ten or fifteen year ago the Clogs were commissioned by The Clogs Friends Association from Vluyn (Die Vluyner Klompenfreunde). Once a year there is a tradition of dancing in the clogs on the square where this work is located. About 300 to 400 couples belong to that Association. Looking for inspiration I have asked what they are doing and what happens when they dance in the clogs. My wife who comes from that city, has said: “The floor is shaking.” So I have created clogs for men and women on an oblique surface to accentuate that dramatic movement. Creating the Clogs I had to learn about tradition and culture of the people from this region. It was interesting to Germans that someone who was not born here, could understand their tradition preserved for hundresd of years. Beside the clogs on the same surface it is written the text of a song on Plattdeutsche Sprache (Lower German Dialect).”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “One of your paintings has been selected for the art collection of the German Federal Parliament in Berlin. What is that painting and who has made selection for that prestigious collection?”

Ivica Matijević: “Every year, they seek written documents from 1000 of artists from all around Germany. The artists receive a invitation and 1000 of artists sent their catalogs. Original artworks are demanded from 100 of artists, and the artworks from circa10 artists will be purchased. I am lucky that I have been among those ten. We artists can not be recommend by ourselves to the Art Commission. The names of artists are suggested by museums, galleries, art historians or curators who arrange the exhibitions. My painting with the name The Way ( Der Weg, 2002, oil on canvas, 180 x 120 cm) was selected in year 2008.”

Sacred Art

Ivica Matijević is also known in Germany and Bosnia and Herzegovina by his sacred works, placed at several different churches. For Our Lady Church in Duisburg and for St. Quirinus in Neukirchen-Vluyn he has made the Way Of The Cross. At the St.Quirinus Church he also has created an altarpiece and a monumental image of the Resurrection. This year he has bee engaged for the first time in an evangelical church in Morse to create Tree Of Life. It is impressive circular shaped artwork. The diameter is two and half meters but now it is in a producing process.

Matijević’ first experience with fine art was in his childhood through the Nazarene Christian art.

Ivica Matijević: “At our churches the sacred paintings inspirire us to think and contemplate about thema that features in a work.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “When did you begin to create sacred art?”
Ivica Matijević: “Very early and also I pinted it at the Academy in Sarajevo. The Academy was founded in the early seventies. The professors were young and modern and there was no special direction or style. We had freedom and we could experiment quite a lot. Although it was a communist country, there was no socialist realism as in the countries of Eastern Bloc. Having artistic freedom is often more difficult than to have a specific task. We had professors who knew how to give us instructions and to each of us to give advice for the next step, but not to follow their way but to stay on our own way.

For the first time I made a sacred painting when I was in seventh semester of Academy. The professor came and said: “Ivica, what is that? It looks good.” The professors were liberal and open. There were no problems. I am very happy and grateful to former professors who have taught us about discipline, persistence, and a beautiful cultivated artistic sensitivity.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Have you got any requirements, in terms of style or way of representing the theme for Church commisioned artwork?”

Ivica Matijević: “As an artist I have absolute freedom because there is no canon in the Catholic Church like, for example, in the Orthodox Church. If we artists receive orders from the Catholic Church, we have freedom to interpret and to make a picture as we see the theme. Of course, sacred architecture is very demanding and one of the tasks or challenges for an artist is to designe a work that will fit into that space, not in the sense of being subordinated to it, but to enoble it. By entering one of the peace of art into the church, it gains a completely new function and role that is, perhaps much biger than the image itself. I have done a hundred of works for various churches, here and in Bosnia. When they talk about me as an artist who makes also some sacred art, they often say about my non sacred objects that I do, that they have also something of that sacred significance and greatness.

Working for the sacred spaces like churches is always a pleasure for me. I do not have to change myself, especially my attitude and my style in order to make a sacred image. That is recognisable on this commisioned artwork, Tree of Life. I think it’s impossible to learn how to make sacred art, it somone brings with himself, he has it within himself or not. We artists sometimes need such great topics to make special works. We still have great respect for sacred space. Churches have always been the biggest and the generous patrons of fine art.”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “You have made one art installation for the Our Lady Church in Duisburg. If you could please say more about that installation?”

Ivica Matijević: “It’s art installation The Resurrection. This installation was created as a joint project with me and members of the ecclesiastical community. They brought some objects and we have done this project at my studio in three to four days. Among other things in that installation there is a mirror. Resurrection is a yearning; we wonder what will happen later on. The mirror is a symbol of a reality and our physical presence. In Resurrection it is about that; at first look at yourself in the mirror, maybe you are already the oucome of some resurrection. Before you start looking in the future, first recognize the moment in which you live and how you live, recognize yourself.”

Open Your Eyes And Watch It!

Ivica Matijevic (Photo: jasna Lovruncevic)

Talking about today’s tendency of seeking explanation from artists about their art, Ivica Matijević considering that in visual art the people use the sight more than other senses, supports idea to experience the visual art watching it.

Ivica Matijević: “We use mostly the sight (in visual art), all the other senses we use only 10 percent and in spite of that, many people look for instructions, some text or something written about the artwork. It is interesting, if a large picture is set in a museum or gallery, the most of visitors read the text beside it; title, year of creation and technique as though they could better recognize a picture or experience it. In visual art it goes about that to allow yourself, to use your eyes, inteligence and feelings to recognize a picture, to wander into the picture and to experience it, but not to try to decipher it theoretically or in whatever way. What does this artwork mean? Open your eyes and watch it!”

Jasna Lovrincevic: “Today when art can hardly surprise us with something absolutely new, how difficult is to be original, to find own way?”

Ivica Matijević: “The fact is that we live at a time when there are no special artistic tendencies, no some particular styles. If there is no strong style in 2019, for today’s artists it is fortune or misfortune. Most of them, who are unable to find their own style are guided by fashion and trends. Those who have their own style, without worryng about what is going on, wherever the wind blows, whatever happens, they continue their way. Here, in Germany, they say “Heutige Stillosigkeit ist unsere Stil in Kunst” (Today’s lack of style is our style). To have no style and to have absolute freedom, for many artists mean permanent wandering and seeking, but not for me! There has been no time when I have not known what to do, where and how to work. I have my own style in art, I’m recognizable. It is that what is main intention in art. We recognise it as a compliment when someone says, “You have your own brand!” That is a big compliment.”