Lauba, Zagreb’s newest and unquestionably coolest art gallery, is housed in the former riding arena of the Austro-Hungarian cavalry barracks, built just over 100 years ago. Later the building was used as a textile factory, until transformed into the light-flooded, brick-clad art space you see today (it’s a listed building, so the original windows and other details have been maintained), opened in 2011. Many of the works on show are drawn from the Filip Trade Collection, which contains over 500 pieces by modern and contemporary Croatian artists dating from the 1950s to the present – from well-known sculptors such as Ivan Kozaric (whose statue of the poet Antun Gustav Matos is a familiar sight in Zagreb’s Gornji grad), to a newer, younger generation of artists. The gallery’s location in Crnomerec, though well off the sightseeing route for most visitors to Zagreb, is nevertheless easy to get to (it’s near the western end of tram routes 2, 6 & 11), and its late opening hours (until 11pm), cafe and bistro make it as much a meeting and socializing venue as a gallery. For more information visit lauba.hr.
‘Franz Kafka’, Marija Ujevic Galetovic (1976). One of Croatia’s foremost sculptors (her statue of Croatian writer and poet August Senoa stands on the corner of Stara Vlaska in Zagreb) , Marija Ujevic Galetovic more recently produced a series of paintings, including ‘Disappearance with a Billy Goat’ (2004), in the background.
‘Altar’, Kristian Kozul (2005-06).
‘For Cocteau’, Nika Radic (2005).
Works by Marija Ujevic Galetovic and other artists at the east end of the gallery.
The gallery space from the mezzanine floor.
Tomorrow I’m off to Dugave, in the suburbs of Novi Zagreb, to look at some street art – watch this space.
Photos © Rudolf Abraham. No unauthorized use.