Bust to Slovenian director unveiled in Zagreb theatre
Zagreb, 28 June - Bojan Stupica, a Slovenian actor, director and set designer, was honoured with a bust at the foyer of the Croatian National Theatre (HNK) in Zagreb on Monday at an event that marked Slovenia Statehood Day and the 30th anniversary of independence. The ceremony was also attended by Minister for Slovenians Abroad Helena Jaklitsch.
Zagreb, Croatia
Croatian National Theatre
Photo: Hina/STA
File photo
The bust to Stupica (1910-1970), was unveiled at the gallery of HNK greats in cooperation between the theatre and the Slovenian cultural association Slovenski Dom (Slovenian Home) in Zagreb.
"I am happy and proud that Bojan Stupica got a memorial at the HNK, having contributed exceptionally to the theatre's development even if he was here for only three years," Jaklitsch told the STA after the unveiling ceremony, which she believes boosts the Slovenian community's confidence and their "feeling even more welcome in Zagreb".
The ceremony was also attended by Croatian Culture Minister Nina Obuljen Koržinek, who welcomed the initiative of the Slovenian community to unveil the bust. She said the bust would testify to Stupica's oeuvre and great contribution to Croatian theatre as s well as to the bond between Croatia and Slovenia.
Darko Šonc, the long-serving head of the Slovenian Home, said today it was not possible to imagine Croatian theatre without Stupica, who was also a member of the Slovenian Home in Zagreb.
Stupica studied architecture in Ljubljana but after visiting several theatres in Europe he dedicated his life to theatre. An actor in his young age, he established himself as director. He served as HNK director for almost three years between 1955 and 1957 and lectured at the Zagreb Academy of Dramatic Art.
He directed his first production in 1931, staging a total of 116 productions in Slovenia and other parts of the former Yugoslavia and 14 productions in Prague, Budapest, Moscow, Basel and Vienna.
Before the unveiling ceremony, Minister Jaklitsch met representatives of the Slovenian Home in Zagreb. She told the STA they had talked about the home's renovation after the destructive earthquake in March last year.
Ethnic Slovenians in Zagreb are trying to get the ownership of the premises housing their home. The minister promised the government will remind their Croatian counterparts in bilateral talks of the option of the premises being bought or donated under the Croatian government's operative plan for minorities until 2024.
The minister also talked about the need to involve young people in the work of the Slovenian Home in Zagreb, proposing they be engaged on the Slovenian minority's newspaper and in the home's leadership.