The opening of the Croatian Pavilion took place on 8 May at Palazzo Zorzi, home to the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, as part of the 61st International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia (https://www.labiennale.org/it) – widely regarded as one of the oldest, most important and most prestigious contemporary art events in the world. The pavilion showcases Compelled by Fright and Beauty, a project by the prominent artist Dubravka Lošić, and the opening drew a large and varied audience of artists, curators, critics and art enthusiasts. The evening’s speakers included the commissioner of the Croatian presentation, Branko Franceschi, the artist Dubravka Lošić, and Magdalena Landry, Director of the UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe https://www.unesco.org/en/fieldoffice/venice, who welcomed those in attendance. The pavilion was officially opened by the Minister of Culture and Media, Nina Obuljen Koržinek PhD, who expressed her gratitude to the artist, the commissioner and the team at the National Museum of Modern Art, as well as to all those who contributed to presenting Dubravka Lošić’s distinctive body of work, and to UNESCO for the trust placed in them and for their hospitality at Palazzo Zorzi. She emphasised that for a number of years there had been hopes and discussions that such a significant project would one day be presented at this exceptional venue.
“Taking part in the Venice Biennale is of extraordinary significance for every nation, it is a gathering that artists, curators and art enthusiasts feel both drawn and obligated to attend. The weight of that participation is not to be underestimated: decisions must be made about the selection of project, engaging with the Biennale’s overarching theme, and the considerable artistic and logistical work involved in putting together a national pavilion. This year’s edition unfolds against a particularly challenging global backdrop, one that seems ever more at odds with the very values and ideas that drive art and culture. Art has long been able to speak to political themes, yet there is a meaningful difference between that and the politicisation of art itself. And it is the latter that we have witnessed at this year’s Biennale. I sincerely hope that in the coming months, art will prove victorious here in Venice, as it has done time and again over the decades. I have every faith that the Biennale will endure as a space for dialogue, exchange and honest engagement with trauma and other difficult questions, but above all as a place for learning, viewing and experiencing art.” – the Minister remarked in her address.

Translated by Robertina Tomić
Photo Veronica Arevalo

The Croatian Pavilion, located at Palazzo Zorzi – UNESCO Regional Bureau for Science and Culture in Europe, Salizada Zorzi 4930, Venice, will be open from 9 May to 22 November 2026.
May – September | 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
October – November | 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM
Closed on Mondays, except on 11 May, 1 June, 7 September, and 16 November 2026.

Compelled by Fright and Beauty, a site-specific installation by Dubravka Lošić at Palazzo Zorzi, presents updated cycles developed throughout the artist’s four-decade career, now conceptually and spatially adapted to the exhibition site. Lošić conceives, exhibits, and produces her cycles as systems open to development, formal expansion, and experimentation. Her exhibition methodology is grounded in the interaction between the formal and conceptual properties of individual cycles and the semantic and spatial connotations of the exhibition space, resulting in installations that evolve from one context to another. The setup at Palazzo Zorzi begins in the courtyard as a dynamic interaction of the cycles Libertas Bells (2014 - 2026), Rosary (2026) and Tondo (2020 – 2025), juxtaposing sculptural forms in corroded iron and bronze with object-paintings made of coloured wood and textile. In Codussi Hall
on the palazzo’s piano nobile, the cycles Alba Albula (2019), Rains Paris (2018), Imago Anima (2012 – 2013), Rosary (1987 – 2026) and Sharks (1986 – 2026), complement Venetian splendour with the raw expressiveness of gesture, paint, fabric, and form, articulating an altogether unique creative vision. The installation thus becomes an orchestration of the artist’s oeuvre, carefully adapted to the spatial and conceptual specifics of the exhibition site, with a pronounced sense of theatrical aestheticization characteristic of both Venice and the artist’s native Dubrovnik. - Excerpt from the press release.
Please find the press release and press images here: https://losic.nmmu.hr/
Find out more: https://losic.nmmu.hr/
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