A nostalgic representation of the most widespread taboo

The Glyptotheque of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts is the venue for the currently most provocative, yet entirely ordinary exhibition themed around the most widespread culturological taboo today – smoking. If you are interested in the phenomenon of smoking in Croatia, told through fascinating exhibits, make sure to hurry as the exhibition ends on 11th November.

The story of one of the most common contemporary taboos and its history in Croatia is the main theme of one of the currently most provocative multimedia exhibitions in Zagreb. The exhibition “Culture of Smoking – From Taboo to Taboo” is open at the Glyptotheque of the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts until 11th November.

Through more than 200 exhibits – posters, photographs and films, the exhibition shows the entire “tobacco path” in Croatia, from the moment when tobacco consumption was liberalized in the mid-19th century by emperor Franz Joseph I, across the growth of the tobacco industry and the surge of the phenomenon of smoking as an expression of freedom of sorts, to contemporary bans, including smoking related taboos.

In thematic and chronological terms, the exhibition presents the growth of tobacco popularity in this area through various exhibits – from cigarette advertising posters, old cigarette packs and brands, to the real phenomenon of smoky Croatian bars frequented by numerous famous people. And not only Croats, such as late politicians and poets, but big international names such as Orson Welles, a passionate smoker and darling of onetime Zagreb.

Over the past centuries, the tobacco and cigarette cult has undoubtedly infiltrated itself into the everyday life of Croats and, with the growth of the tobacco industry and the increase in cigarette sales, some very popular marketing messages have been conceived. One of them, still fondly remembered, is “with a cigarette you are not alone”, which was a slogan for York, a brand of cigarettes still produced today. The slogan is featured on an original poster “Plakat York” from the early 1980s, a time when tobacco and the media still went hand in hand.

Of course, that is but a small part of the exhibition whose theme reminds us of just how widespread and popular tobacco is in the modern world, whilst also being a major taboo at the same time.