Proveditor's Palace - the Home of the National Treasure of Croatian Modern Art

With this signing, the process has officially begun, by which the Two Palaces, as well as Zadar, will host the Croatian national treasure of modern art from the holdings of this Museum.

In its newly renovated premises, the beautiful Palace will host this collection, which will be set up in March by the curatorial team of the National Museum of Modern Art, led by the Director, Mr Branko Franceschi. The Cooperation Agreement was signed by the City of Zadar, the Ministry of Culture and Media and the National Museum of Modern Art.

“It was at this time as well that we opened the doors of the renovated Rector's Palace to Zadar citizens and visitors and thus announced, in Croatian terms, an incomparable investment cycle in upgrading and developing the cultural identity of the city of Zadar and its region. On the foundation of our monumental heritage, we have created and are still creating contemporary and permanent value, thus beginning a new era of presentation of Zadar and Croatian culture and art. In addition to the two palaces, today we have restored ramparts as part of the World Heritage Site, and soon the St Nicholas’ Complex and a new Youth Centre. The Ministry of Culture and Media, and as of today the National Museum of Modern Art, our collaborators who have recognized the potential of Zadar and the Two Palaces, are all contributing to this. In joint cooperation, we will soon present the Croatian national treasure of modern art from the holdings of the National Museum of Modern Art in these premises”, said the Mayor on that occasion.

For all partakers in this process, this is a pioneering endeavour that should bring mutual benefits, both to Zadar and the Museum itself. Zadar citizens, as well as many guests, will be given the opportunity to gain insight into what is characterized as national treasure of modern art and the very pinnacle of Croatian creativity in the field of fine arts.

“On the one hand we have what was completed and built in Zadar, the Proveditor's and Rector's Palaces, on which I sincerely, knowing what an extensive work it was, I congratulate all those involved on such magnificent results, and on the other hand we have a large national collection of the National Museum of Modern Art of more than 12,000 works of art that do not have adequate housing. The building of our headquarters will most likely undergo renovation, so the question arises what to do with it. Also, the world standard is that museums display ten percent of their collection, and that other artifacts are preserved in the museum storage, forever invisible or hidden from the public eye. Today, with this situation, which had presented a certain problem to the Museum, as well as to the City of Zadar, a spontaneous solution arose for us to turn it into a quality project on several levels. Namely, the collection of the Museum is such that we can have a representative exhibition of Croatian modern and contemporary art, that is, everything that marked the artistic work from the 19th century to the present day, both in Zadar and in Zagreb. In this way, we are presenting, which is essentially imperative, a different interpretation of the treatment of cultural heritage that museums preserve, often setting up their collection very territorially and with a big problem of how to put it into circulation outside their home base. We, the museum workers, tend to think that the collection belongs to us, but it is public and this is one way the public can get to know it”, announced the Director Franceschi.

Speaking about the exhibition itself, he said that it would be easiest to make a chronological review of the collection, but he hopes that the architecture and the spectacular spaces of the Proveditor’s Palace will inspire them to give a different quality, and perhaps even a new approach to displaying the very pinnacle of Croatian creativity in the field of art.

“When we add it all up, I am happy, and on the other hand grateful, that the City of Zadar and the Ministry of Culture welcomed the proposal with open arms, which is a solution to many problems, but also an indication of how they could and should in the future, in my opinion, manage cultural heritage for the benefit of the entire community”, concluded Franceschi.

We believe that the opening of the Proveditor’s Palace, as well as this collection, is eagerly awaited, and so does the Minister of Culture, Ms Nina Obuljen Koržinek. As she also mentioned, this is a truly pioneering Agreement for the Ministry which confirms the idea they signed in the new law on museums as well, that we should observe the display of cultural heritage preserved by museums in a broader context, primarily from the position of the public.

“I hope that this Agreement will inspire other institutions to take this path. This project will be entirely for the benefit of the citizens, and we will get a top exhibition with representative works of modern art. For the Ministry of Culture and Media, this is just another in a series of successfully implemented projects with the City of Zadar, and we are, of course, continuing our cooperation”, said the Minister.