Artupuncture - Zagreb Art Therapy

The Artupuncture project has been conceived as a platform for culture and art, joined by various participants with their programs at the invitation of the Zagreb Tourist Board.

Zagreb is a living, breathing thing. Its streets are swarming with people's energy, its parks and squares echo the footsteps of its inhabitants and visitors like a heartbeat. They are the ones who are meant to benefit from Artupuncture – a collaboration of partners and friends of culture and creation, which aims to awaken the city's vital energy through joint artistic activities in specific parts of the city. The Artupuncture project treats every individual as a unique artistic and social phenomenon, serving the beauty and value that comes from the signatures of the authors behind the work. These works, strategically arranged in the numerous locations around us, will write another story of Zagreb.

The project has been conceived as a platform for culture and art, joined by various participants with their programs at the invitation of the Zagreb Tourist Board.

The ultimate goal of Artupuncture is to develop a recognizable event in the autumn period, which over time would become a unique event and a new motive to visit Zagreb, whereas the month of September would be dedicated to culture and art.

The first edition of Artupuncture brings a rich and varied program.

36 Mountains Studio – a new exhibition space in the center of Zagreb.

Founded in the midst of the 2021 pandemic, and conceived as an upgrade to the 36 Mountains Festival, 36 Mountains Studio is a place to promote contemporary art. With this in mind, a project was conceived with the intention of gathering eight prominent artists of the younger generation from the cultural scene of Zagreb and providing space for creating a fresh and authentic narrative about Zagreb. The works will be presented at a sales exhibition at 36 Mountains Studio from 16 September 2021.

ALU Perspective

This year, the Academy of Fine Arts (ALU) of the University of Zagreb celebrates its 114^th anniversary. Every year, the Academy holds a traditional Final Exhibition of students in its premises, with the aim of presenting their achievements in the past academic year to the public.

The ALU PERSPECTIVE– NEW GENERATION project presents an exhibition of student art works in the park of the Academy of Fine Arts and an exhibition of graduate works on the ground floor of the building. The exhibition will be held from 16 to 19 September 2021. At the entrance to Maksimir Park, students will paint 20 murals as an announcement of the exhibition and project.

Art Zagreb International Art Fair

Art Zagreb is an international art fair organized once a year. The central event of the Croatian art market is a meeting place for artists, gallerists and collectors. 3,000 m2 of exhibition space offers a unique overview of the best works of art on the Croatian market. In addition to the fair, the festival hosts a series of exhibitions, lectures, panels and film screenings featuring the topic of art market. This year, for the first time, cooperation was established with the Croatian Art Historians Association, which is preparing exhibitions of contemporary Croatian art and professional round-table discussions on new developments on the world and Croatian art scene as part of Art Zagreb 2021.

BOIR on Dolac

The BOIR studio 9 Decades/9 Arcades project represents the transformation of the main Zagreb market in the last nine decades, shown within nine arcades. The installation allows the viewer to experience the passage of time and see the changes that have taken place over the years on the lively Dolac – one of the main sources of city life.

Gallery Rally

The interactive cultural event Gallery Rally networks numerous galleries in Zagreb and actively involves visitors in their tour. In the first gallery, visitors will receive a map and continue to collect tags in each subsequent gallery. Those who manage to visit all the galleries will win a symbolic diploma at the final location. Galleries and studios offer special programs during extended working hours from 5 pm to 10 pm, which include the opening of new exhibitions, guided tours of exhibitions and workshops. Visitors have the opportunity to see more exhibitions in a few evenings than any other day of the year.

Lauba's Art and the City

Through its artists, Zagreb lives and breathes creatively – always has and always will. They are the pride of the city, but also a source of inspiration in which the unique but somewhat hidden and unexplored beauty of the metropolis is manifested; a beauty with a signature that has undeniable value. Lauba is participating in the Artupuncture project with “Art and the City – The Art Has Spoken”. During the project, the works of art of all the most important Croatian artists will appear in the numerous locations envisaged for outdoor advertising. The project aims to acquaint the general public with our most significant artistic creations, but what is equally important is to drastically reduce the visual noise caused by commercial advertising in the city.

Q'ART Ilica Gallery Project and Social Processes

The Ilica Gallery project is moving art out of institutions and bringing it closer to the citizens. For the first time, the works of the most important Croatian artists will be exhibited on facades, on the streets, in shop windows and be part of the culture as a socially active substance of the city. At the same time, 50 years of activism of artists in Croatia is celebrated. In the last 50 years, exhibitions and campaigns have taken place in Ilica and its access streets, as well as on Ban Josip Jelačić Square, the former Republic Square. Apart from the Zagreb School of Animated Film, it is the most recognizable art movement that has shaped the world history of contemporary art. Through this specific project, this continuity is realized as an autochthonous cultural fabric of Zagreb, and, in addition to the attractiveness and importance of a specific exhibition and campaign, this will place great emphasis on the contribution of Croatian artists to world art. The Social Processes exhibition as an integral part of the Ilica: Q'ART Project raises this phenomenon of Zagreb to a higher level and once again places Zagreb at the center of world-relevant art projects as a new value for Zagreb, Croatia and the world.

Prostoria 10 in Meštrović pavilion

On the occasion of the 10^th anniversary of the operation of Prostoria, the “Prostoria 10” exhibition will open in Meštrović pavilion in Zagreb. The exhibition will show the diversity of the dynamic development of Prostoria as a design brand of furniture with a strong production culture and design culture. “Prostoria 10” will be open to the public from 25 September to 8 October 2021. As part of the exhibition program, a new temporary spatial installation by Numen/ForUse is being prepared for Prostoria, which can be visited on the lawn in front of the Meštrović pavilion during the exhibition. It is a collective functional facility, an example of a modern hybrid of social sculpture and ephemeral architecture.

Artupuncture, with the support of the Zagreb Tourist Board, provides all these projects with a unique platform with the aim of popularizing the art scene and revitalizing the city, guided by the umbrella idea of the project – Zagreb Art Therapy.

You can read more about the Artupuncture project on the website www.artupunktura.hr