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Chamber music and pictures to commemorate Croatia
SEVENTY-FIVE years on the
Zagreb Quartet is still giving
pleasure to its audiences. With nec
essary changes in personnel, the
group is one of Europe's finest, and
its recent Canberra stay was a bo
nus for lovers of small chamber
groups.
Last week the quartet were guests
of honour and recitalists at a con
cert, at the Hyatt Hotel, to honour
the statehood day of the Republic
of Croatia. They played Shostako
vich's Against the War, an atmo
spheric piece that can bring the lis
tener to tears. One can hear air-raid
sirens, staccato gunfire, and lost la
ments to loved ones in the five
movements.
Afterwards the ambassador, Nev
en Jurica, and his wife, Dunja, wel
comed guests to a reception at
which they met the artists. Around
the room were George and Jane
Dragnich; Laurelle Westerhuis; Jen
ny and Vincent Ingram, newly ar
rived from the Cook Islands to
open the new High Commission;
Rahman Alohaly; Brian Harradine;
Michael Moore, Cornelius Bast;
Bernard and Anne Collaery; and
Elinor Grassby.
On Wednesday most of the Can
berra Croatian community turned
out to see the magnificent collection
of posters and photographs of their
homeland in The Link at the Can
berra Theatre. They packed into the
full foyer, already crowded with
people attending the first night of
the Paco Pena flamenco recital. Sen
ator Margaret Reid and Ted Grace,
who is president of the Australian
Croatian Parliamentary Friendship
group, were among those who
looked with awe and sadness at the
photographs of a Croatia no longer
accessible to us.
Ambassador-Jurica also welcomed
Dr Colin Pearson, director of cul
tural studies at Canberra University
and Australian representative with
the International Centre for Preserv
ation and Restoration of Cultural
Property. Ambassador Jurica, a
writer and critic, said that the
mountains, lakes and waterfalls were
serene and lovely, but now are out
of reach for Croatians and tourists
alike, because they were occupied by
the Serbian Army. The old walled
city of Dubrovnik has been dam
aged too by shellfire.
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At the exhibition: above, Kay
Cavanagh and Alistair Hamilton;
above left, Maria Exposito and
Steven Vukelic.
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