“The Public Open University Zagreb had issued a public call for the third time in 2024 for a temporary artistic intervention within the University premises, which were formerly known as the Workers’ University. This site is now a protected cultural asset of the Republic of Croatia, registered in the registry of immovable cultural assets (Z-0676 / Official Gazette no. 63/03).

Following the review of submitted applications, the expert jury had selected the proposal by artist Duška Boban for realization. Her body of work consistently focuses on modernist architectural and urban heritage. Utilizing the expanded field of photography as her primary medium of artistic expression, Boban interprets sensory experiences within the environment through the lens of the space’s primary functions: learning, socializing, and connecting with others.

During her regular work sessions at the University building, she participated in the daily dynamics of the space and its surroundings, while simultaneously researching the photographic archives stored within the building. Boban shaped her intervention as a homage to the building’s history. The ambiance—a synthesis of learning, self-actualization, and visions of the future—serves as a foundational element of her work.

By intertwining the past and the present, Duška Boban creates a site-specific intervention where architecture becomes a narrative, and the potential for a new future is reflected through the lessons of the past.” Jelena Pašić

My artistic research focuses on the iconic building of the Public Open University in Zagreb, designed by architects Radovan Nikšić and Ninoslav Kučan, with interior and furniture designs by Bernardo Bernardi. The proposal was built based on an idealized perception stemming from “textbook” knowledge and its status as a cultural monument. Unlike some other buildings that interest me artistically, this one is not abandoned. However, I was surprised that maintaining its original function has not prevented it from falling into a state of decay. The environment, envisioned to promote learning, self-actualization, community building, and future aspirations, has had to adapt almost spontaneously to the “new age” due to a lack of proper heritage conservation.

Over time spent in “Moša” (the building’s colloquial name), I unexpectedly found mirth in the signs of decay, which I see as indicators of presence and persistence. I searched for these signs using my trusted optical instrument — my camera. With the help of photo albums from my esteemed predecessors, I decode the language of the building and discover a time capsule within. Once more, I aimed to illuminate what has been discarded, hidden, or forgotten.

For my intervention, I selected the western entrance porch, accessible to every passerby. This area serves as a recognizable bridge between the interior and exterior and has been historically captured in photographs during both ceremonial and everyday encounters. I transformed the light fixtures into 29 lightboxes, each featuring fragments of the interior and documents that are embedded in the physical and conceptual foundations of the University, making them open and visible to all. By illuminating the architecture and its historical significance, I hope to revive the desire to restore a building that symbolizes a state’s social responsibility.

artist’s statement in the exhibition leaflet

A selection of photographic applications on the lighting fixtures of the Public Open University Zagreb’s porch, featuring the closing sentence of Većeslav Holjevac’s speech embedded in the building’s foundations in 1957.