XV Memorial of Ivo Kerdić – Triennial of Croatian Medal-Making and Small Sculpture
The Memorial of Ivo Kerdić – the triennial of Croatian medal-making and small sculpture – is being held this year at the Museum of Fine Arts in Osijek for the fifteenth time, marking 45 years of tradition of this exhibition event. For more than four decades, this triennial exhibition has brought together numerous artists from across Croatia who work within the sculptural subgenres of medal-making and small-scale sculpture. Over this period, some customs have changed and new ones have been added; the postulates, authors, and exhibition curators have evolved, and a generational shift has taken place among the participating artists. What has remained essential—the vital core of the exhibition—is the medium of the medal and small sculpture, which continues to live in the artistic vision of those who shape within it. Perhaps today under different assumptions, where the medal has moved beyond its flatness and become tactile, gaining personal implications, while small sculpture has developed through new, non-traditional principles and unconventional materials. The exhibition not only presents the most recent works of Croatian artists but also opens a dialogue between past and present, between classical sculptural techniques and new, experimental approaches.
This year, the Museum of Fine Arts in Osijek has once again brought together experts in the field of sculptural miniatures to select works by artists and showcase current achievements. The president of the Art Council, Damir Mataušić, prof. emer. art., academic sculptor, together with members Dr. Daniel Zec, Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences in Osijek; Tatijana Gareljić, Museum Advisor at the Croatian Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb; Anja Kindl, Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Osijek; and Mateja Moser, Curator at the Museum of Fine Arts in Osijek, evaluated the submitted works. The exhibition will present works by fourteen artists in the medal-making selection and twenty-eight artists in the small sculpture selection, offering a rich and artistically significant insight into the current creative production of Croatian artists.