Thanks to this trip to Zagreb, 11 students in the Cultural Mediation and Production cycle were able to discover Croatia, a country with a rich cultural heritage that joined the European Union last January. An educational trip that sheds a different light on their courses…

As part of a course on European cultural policies, Claude Veron, professor at IESA arts&culture, organized a study trip to Zagreb from February 28 to March 1, open to 2nd- and 3rd-year students of the Bachelor in Cultural Productions and Mediation.

Today Europe plays a leading role in developing and funding cultural projects. Being up to date on the European cultural budget and on major European public policy directives is essential to work in the cultural sector. That is why cultural trips to major European cities are rooted in the school’s teaching approach.

This trip to Zagreb allowed the students to understand in situ the cultural policy of the Croatian State and the city of Zagreb, and in particular Croatia’s recurring question since 1989: the relationship between institutions, the scene and projects arising from civil society.

Talks by cultural sector specialists gave them the opportunity to broaden their knowledge of Croatian artistic heritage and to discover the landscape:

  • of Croatian theater at the media library of the Institut Français in Zagreb
  • of visual arts and museums at the Klovicevi dvori Gallery
  • of music at the KIC (Cultural Center)
  • of dance at the Croatian ITI Center

To bring these talks to life, the students were able to:

  • attend performances (Verdi’s opera Aida at the Croatian National Theatre, Hrvatsko Naradno Kazaliste) as well as a screening of short films at KIC
  • visit museums (MSU, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb), galleries (Klovicevi dvori Gallery) but also the French Embassy and the Croatian Ministry of Culture
  • discover independent projects such as the Museum of Broken Relationships, an independent museum whose exhibition has traveled around the world, or Pogon - Centre for Independent Culture and Youth in Zagreb

Their professor’s professional network allowed them to have enriching encounters with professionals from various artistic and cultural fields:

  • Andrea Zlatar, Minister of Culture
  • Marina Viculin, art historian and director of the Klovicevi dvori Gallery
  • Ina Pouant, cultural attaché at the French Embassy
  • Agata Juniku, young journalist
  • Katja Simunic, editor-in-chief of the dance magazine Kretanja
  • Emina Visnic, director of the independent project POGON
  • Tihomir Milovac, director of the MUS

United by a shared desire for cultural discovery, the students, despite the cold, return delighted with this trip. As part of the educational approach, they will be asked to write a report for the students who could not go.

Other educational trips are offered by IESA to Culture Careers students throughout the year to visit major European capitals (Berlin, London, Lisbon) or major institutions such as on March 8, a day devoted to visiting the Louvre Lens to study the museum’s positioning and meet its director, Xavier Dectot.