In Croatia, ecology and art mend the wounds of the past

One of the completed art installations which was made from the glass. The inspiration for the creation of the circular form, as explained by the artist, draws on ancient historical figures such as snakes, dragons and lizards. It emphasizes cyclical energy and symbolic spiritual regeneration, which is seamlessly incorporated into the authentic local context. Photo courtesy of Tatjana Đorđević

In 2010, Nikola Lončar returned to the village from Serbia with his wife. They endured difficult living conditions without electricity. A decade later, another Serbian family with two children also returned, coinciding with the arrival of electricity in the village and the paving of the four-kilometre road from the main highway. Marko Simić, of Serbian origin, purchased a house and estate in Lončari in 2011, unaware of the existence of a trail near his property leading to the picturesque Bijela river canyon, which was strewn with glass shards. In addition to glass, the trail was littered with other types of rubbish, much of it originating from the abandoned houses, consisting mainly of large amounts of waste and construction materials that are products of nearby tourism development close to the coast.

Birth of the “It’s Not Too Late” project

Vladimir Miketa was only nine years old when he, along with his family, fled Bosnia due to the war. After a brief period as Croatian refugees in Germany, his father decided to buy a house in Zadar, the capital city of Zadar County. This region encompasses much of northern Dalmatia and borders Bosnia and Herzegovina to the east, where a high percentage of the population was once Serbian. Today, at the age of 36, Vladimir retains few memories of the war and his past. However, what bothers him most is people’s attitude towards the environment in his area and how authorities manage waste in the region. As a passionate mountaineer and nature lover, he often explores the surrounding area during his hikes. It was during one of these excursions that he discovered a road leading to the village of Lončari.

“Walking on that broken glass, I came up with the idea for an artistic short film,” Miketa says. Josip Miočić, another passionate mountaineer, has been frequenting the Bijela river canyon for about ten years with friends to practice climbing. He has always wondered where all the glass on the road came from. “We have dogs, and it’s interesting to note that none of them have ever been cut because someone has smoothed out the glass with a bulldozer,” Miočić says.

Titled “It’s Not Too Late”, this short film, released in 2019, features a pregnant woman giving birth to a child on a waste dump. It serves as a powerful indictment of neglect and disregard for the environment.

“I shot this film right on that glass-covered path,” Miketa explains, adding that he imagines a future in which humanity fails to heed the warnings of scientists, and the last person is born among the waste. “I wanted to convey all the anger, helplessness and agony I felt every time I walked in that area.”

The waste in the area is swept away every time it rains, ending up in drinking water, fields, and the nearby sea. The documentary’s message is clear, as its author says: “People must not allow it to be too late.”

Ecological actions around an important social theme

Due to the lack of support from the local municipality in addressing the degradation of nature, Marko Simić took action by founding the Lončari Association for the Promotion of Environmental Protection, Nature Conservation, Sustainable Development and Tourism in 2016. This organization spearheaded its inaugural ecological endeavour in 2020, dubbed “It’s Not Too Late,” aiming to clean up the trail leading to the Bijela river canyon. In 2022, Lončari secured initial funding from the European Maritime Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, alongside two other NGOs. Collaborating with locals, members of the Paklenica climbing sports club and additional volunteers, they launched an international public call for artists. This call underscored the crucial role of seagrass beds in the broader ecosystem and tackled environmental pollutants head on.

The Bijela river in the Dalmatia region of Croatia is a unique phenomenon, originating from a cave at approximately 300 metres above sea level. Its canyon is a rare example of dissolved limestone, which lends it a distinctive white colour, from which it derives its name. Above the river’s stream, there are towering rocks, some reaching heights of 300 metres, offering numerous climbing routes including highlining and other similar sports. Due to its specific nature and geographical position near the Novigrad and Karin seas, which are rich in sea flora, this location is highly attractive to nature enthusiasts, athletes and tourists.

The Lončari Association also advocated for a petition regarding water supply for their village in 2020. This action was prompted by the village’s exclusion from a major water supply project designated for a nearby Croatian-populated village. Following this, a fascist symbol and anti-Serb graffiti appeared on the road leading to Lončari.

Looking back to the past, the events surrounding Operation Storm in 1995 are viewed differently in Belgrade, Serbia’s capital, where it is considered a tragedy due to the massive displacement of Serbian civilians from Croatia, with over 220,000 people forced to leave. Only a small percentage of Serbians have returned to their homes since. Conversely, the official Croatian narrative portrays Operation Storm as the nation’s greatest triumph, commemorated annually on August 5th as Liberation Day. The village is still lacking a programme for water supply development.

“On accepting the undesirable”

No one is sure where all that glass that remained there after the war in 1991-95 comes from. There have been two more ecological actions, one in 2022 and the last one in 2023. Over 500 volunteers from across the country, as well as from abroad, came to contribute to this project. These ecological projects brought together not only Croats, Serbs and Bosnian refugees living in the area, but also a diverse population from around the nation, including artists, students, environmentalists, hikers, associations and organizations, all rallying around an important ecological and social theme.

Davorka Perić, the art director and curator of the international public call titled “On Accepting the Undesirable”, launched last year, explains that the main idea was to focus attention on the problems faced by local people, highlighting their values and potential, and to involve all those living in the area, as well as those who had participated in the ecological action.

“We invited the artists and collectives to use the glass waste collected from the location, the experience of people who worked together on waste collection, the fishing tradition and culture related to fishing heritage, and the natural and cultural heritage of this area as the elements for the creation of the artistic work,” Perić, who is of Serbian origin and resides in Zagreb, explains. “We received more than 46 applications from around the world, and the jury consisting of artists chose the proposal of American artist Dodd Holsapple from Santa Monica.”

The collected glass waste is used by Holsapple to create a drywall with a mosaic of eels in the shape of a ring that will form a space for sitting, hanging out or talking, with a diameter of nine metres. He was a guest for one month at the Lončari village, which in the meantime became a place with international educational and artist in residence programmes, together with a platform for aggregating cultural initiatives around art and environment. This last group is called Pueblo Escondido and is run by Marko Simić.

“Creatively developing the concept of the project, I considered how to best use the collected glass waste in a public art installation. The difficult question was how recycled glass scraps can be effectively used in art while maintaining the spirit of environmental protection and public art. I focused on a design that would avoid creating a process that is wasteful or requires additional significant resources,” Holsapple says.

The inspiration for the creation of the circular form, as explained by the artist, draws on ancient historical figures such as snakes, dragons and lizards. The proposal emphasizes cyclical energy and symbolic spiritual regeneration, which is seamlessly incorporated into the authentic local context through the circular shape adorned with an illustration of the eel species, characteristic of this area.

The experts from the ReStruct Group of the Delft University of Technology in Holland helped examine the usability of the glass that was collected after several years of exposure to external influences. The ReStruct Group is a multi-disciplinary teaching and research group exploring the next generation of safe, sustainable and elegant structures. In addition, the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Rijeka, Croatia was consulted on stabilization techniques for the drywall and the adhesion of natural hydraulic lime and glass waste for the implementation of the mosaic. At the same time, the installation was built with cut-offs of the stone that were the result of waste from local commercial stone and production processes.

As art production supervisor, Jagoda Cupać, PhD, research associate at the Institute of Building Construction, Faculty of Civil Engineering, TU Dresden, advised on the application of glass waste in the art installation Sea Glass Again and took care that additional materials introduced in the nature protected area are chosen with respect for the local environment and building heritage. For the base of the glass mosaic, representing also the main structure of the ring-shaped bench, the team chose stone off-cuts from the local quarry and stone processing plant. The ring was built using a drywall technique, led by the association Dragodid which specialises in education and interpretation of drywall heritage, and supported by local craftsmen and volunteers.

“Much of the glass waste collected in Lončari remains. Researchers from TU Delft who specialise in cast glass applications using all kinds of glass waste, tested the casting properties on the samples of glass waste from Lončari, as received, i.e. including contaminations from the site, and cleaned. The tests showed that decades of outdoor exposure did not compromise the casting properties of the glass. It can easily be recycled into new glass bottles, or up-cycled into building blocks with high compressive strength”, Jagoda says.

The production of the installation took place across several workshops. The glass separation process involved students from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, while the drywall construction workshop received expert guidance from members of the Dragodid NGO, the primary organization in Croatia dedicated to drywall preservation.

“We educate the local population through ecological actions”

Ivan Matić, an ecologist and activist from Obrovac, the nearest town where the majority of the population is Croatian, emphasizes that all ecological initiatives contribute to integration. These initiatives bring people together around a common idea, where identity and issues of national belonging become insignificant.

“We provide this space for nature lovers who, through ecological actions, educate the local population,” Matić says and adds that this project had a positive impact on the environment and the community.

“We removed a significant amount of pollution from the Bijela river. Through this project we have raised awareness of environmental issues, promoted sustainable practices and spread knowledge of the importance of seagrass beds.” On the other hand, Juraj Aras, the director of the Verrdi Theatre in Zadar and one of the initiators of this project, argues for caution in introducing the values of civilization to a deeply traumatized and long-neglected area.

“The reconciliation between Croats and Serbs living here can happen through a process of mediation, and when we stop identifying who belongs to which nation,” Aras suggests.

The “It’s Not Too Late” project was among the fifty finalists of the New European Bauhaus Prizes 2024. It was placed in the category of reconnecting with nature, and it was the only project selected from Croatia. 

This competition, organized and supported by the European Commission, exemplifies beautiful, sustainable and inclusive real-life projects and encourages the younger generation to develop new concepts and ideas. From the first edition held in 2021 until the most recent one, over 4,500 applications have been received from European countries and 52 winners have been awarded up to this year.

The “It’s Not Too Late” project may not have won an award, but its founders and believers have already achieved a victory by transforming the once-abandoned village into a thriving community. “Through public eco-actions and art installations, our aim is to raise awareness among the local community and tourists about the importance of the environment, aiming to solve complex post-conflictual social problems,” Simić says. He adds that their goal is to pursue similar projects in the future and establish partnerships with foundations and international organizations sharing the same values and goals.

Tatjana Dordevic is an award-winning Serbian journalist and writer based in Milan. She writes for Al Jazeera Balkans, BBC News in Serbian, the Croatian weekly newspaper Novosti and the Italian daily newspaper La Stampa. She served as the chairperson of the Milan Foreign Press Association from 2020 to 2022. In June 2021, she published the book Il Pioniere (in Italian), edited by Besa Muci Editore. She has been a chairperson of the Foreign Press Association in Milan since March 2024.

Art, Balkans, Croatia, Ecology