We are pleased to invite you to the exhibition of the finalists’ works and the of the Radoslav Putar Award Winner for 2025.
The opening of this year’s exhibition of the finalists, the announcement of the winners and the awarding ceremony of the Radoslav Putar Award will be on Monday, June 10th at 8:00 PM in the Galić Salon in Split. The exhibition will remain open until June 29th, 2024.
ABOUT THE AWARD
The Radoslav Putar Award has been awarded since 2002 as part of the international network YVAA – Young Visual Artists Awards, which consists of organizers of similar awards in 12 European countries. The award was founded in 2002 by the Institute for Contemporary Art. Since 2020, the award has been presented in Split at Salon Galić to promising young artists who have been recognized at the beginning of their careers as the upcoming generation of artists who question and push the boundaries of visual creativity.
The Radoslav Putar Award consists of:
– a two-month stay at Residency Unlimited in New York; http://residencyunlimited.org/ , at a time agreed with RU; during 2025.
– solo exhibitions at the Institute for Contemporary Art in Zagreb, during 2025.
– multi-original productions in collaboration with Gallery S from Koprivnica,
– places on the jury of the Radoslav Putar Award 2025.
Previous winners of the Radoslav Putar Award are:
Tanja Dabo 2002; Nika Radić 2003; Igor Eškinja 2004; Antun Božičević 2005; Tina Gverović 2006; Vedran Perkov 2007; Marko Tadić 2008, Goran Škofić 2009, Davor Sanvincenti 2010, Marko Marković 2011, Miran Blažek 2012; Dina Rončević 2013; Igor Ruf 2014, Niko Mihaljević, 2015; Dino Zrnec 2016, Matej Knežević, 2017, Ana Kuzmanić, 2018, Predrag Pavić, 2019, Damir Sobota, 2020; Lana Stojićević, 2021; Glorija Lizde 2022; Mihael Klanjčić, 2023.
Radoslav Putar (Varaždin 20.7.1921 – Zagreb 18.7.1994), a renowned art historian and art critic, significantly steered the Croatian cultural scene towards a contemporary visual language with his work. His work is also important from a social perspective because he promoted the ideas of democracy and advocated dialogue, tolerance, freedom of expression and openness towards other cultures. Today, it is difficult to imagine to what extent his work was heroic, and we can confidently state that his contribution to theory and practice is a key segment of contemporary Croatian art and culture. The initiative of the Institute for Contemporary Art Zagreb to name the award the Radoslav Putar Award reflects the desire to promote clear positions, active participation and high professional standards, as tools for the affirmation of democratic processes, interdependent with the development of culture, cultural institutions and art in Croatia.
ABOUT THIS YEAR’S FINALISTS
More than 500 artists and curators have participated in the Radoslav Putar Award competitions so far, and 94 artists and 100 jury members in the final.
The finalists for the 2024 Radoslav Putar Award are Nikica Jurković, Nina Kamenjarin, Nikolina Kuzmić and Vice Tomasović.
NIKICA JURKOVIĆ
He graduated in Visual Communication Design from the Design Studio at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Zagreb (2012) and then from the Department of Graphics, Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb (2018), with the highest honor of Summa Cum Laude.
As part of the Erasmus+ program, he completed the Undergraduate Study of Bellas Artes at the Complutense University in Madrid (2017). He has exhibited in several solo and numerous group exhibitions. He has participated in numerous art workshops and the Haffenkombinat residency in Leipzig, Germany (2019 and 2024). He has received several awards and commendations. He is a member of the HZSU and HDLU. He lives and works in Zagreb. His artistic practice is based on the process of creation and / or the variability of works over time. Using various objects and materials from his own everyday life, he creates works of abstract content with minimal interventions.
NINA KAMENJARIN
She graduated in 2016 with the topic “Symbiosis of Sculpture and Performance” at the Academy of Arts in Split. Through the Erasmus program, she studied “Product and Communication Design” in Germany. In addition to sculpture, she works with performance, video and other media practices. She has exhibited in Croatia and abroad. She has won several awards and recognitions, including the Essl Art Award 2015 in Austria and one of three equal awards at the Sculpture Triennial in Zagreb 2018. She is an active member of HULU and HZSU with numerous solo and group exhibitions. She currently works and is active in Split. Through her work on stage, she tries to analyze the role of the individual on the environment and vice versa, how we function when we try to move away from the environment of our surroundings. This is where the need for first-person expression through works, thoughts and observations arose. She deals with aspects of her personal identity as an artist, sculptor, performer and in her works she examines the limits of expression through different media. Starting from personal experience, he moves towards a broader social and psychological context and, in a humorous or emphatically ironic manner, points to perceptions of some universal and current problems.
NIKOLINA KUZMIC
She studied at the Split Academy of Arts, undergraduate studies, graduating in 2016 in the class of Prof. Dean Jokanović Toumin. She graduated from the Split Academy of Arts, graduate studies; graduating in 2019 in the class of Prof. Nina Ivančić. She attended the Art, Science and Health Master of ArtsOnline Pilot Course, 2022. Her artistic work is characterized by seemingly unrelated themes that draw inspiration and interests from the field of natural sciences and deal with issues of the relationship between art and science, the relationship of man with death and illness, the relationship of society to issues of memory (collective and personal) and archiving, issues of the body and corporeality, as well as time that drags and erases everything. An important element and thread that connects her creativity is the living physical body.
VICE TOMASOVIC
Born in 1986 in Split. After completing high school in Omiš, he enrolled at the Academy of Arts, University of Split, majoring in fine arts, where he graduated in 2009. He is the founder and director of the Almissa Open Air Festival of Contemporary Art in Omiš. He is a former president of the Croatian Association of Fine Artists in Split and head of exhibition activities at Salon Galić. He currently works as the head of the Botanical Collection in Klis. He has participated in a large number of solo and group exhibitions, art festivals and events as an organizer, curator, exhibitor and performer. As an author, he is interested in ethical issues. Regardless of the medium of expression, he recognizes this as a sub-theme that permeates all his works. In the visual code of the paintings, installations and performances that he creates, he unites claustrophilia. The relationship between nothingness and fullness interests him as a basic structural postulate.
EXPERT JURY
This year’s expert jury will be composed of :
Mihael Klanjčić, Artist, winner of the Radoslav Putar Award 2023.
Iva Prosoli, Museum Advisor, Museum of Arts and Crafts
Mirna Rul, Curator, Head of the AŽ Gallery
Tena Starčević, Curator, Open Call for Curators Under 40
János Szoboszlai, Associate Professor, Hungarian University of Fine Arts, Budapest
PARTNERS AND SPONSORS
Trust for Mutual Understanding, New York; Residency Unlimited, New York, Gallery S, Koprivnica, Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, City of Split, Kultura Nova Foundation, Split Tourist Board, Split-Dalmatia County, Europlakat
Media partner: Vizkultura https://vizkultura.hr/
SALON GALIĆ, Marmontova 3, Split
working hours: Monday – Saturday 10:00-13:00 and 16:00-20:00,
closed on Sundays and holidays