Medvedgrad is a medieval town that has been standing watch over Zagreb since the 13th century. Find out how we, with the help of our numerous partners and associates, rescued it from oblivion and transformed it into the Medvedgrad Visitor Center after centuries of turbulence. This unique home of experiences is a great source of knowledge about the mountain which is one of the building blocks for the story of Zagreb and its citizens.
What stories do the beeches tell and how does the forest breathe? Where does the Earth communicate with us, and what does the creek hum? Who is friends with the raven and where do the bats live? Where does the Black Queen abide? How is the mountain perceived by the commoners, and how is it perceived by the nobles? What does coprnica say—who were you in the medieval times? These are just some of the questions that we asked ourselves back in 2015 on our first research visit to Medvedgrad, which at that point was a ruined medieval fortress.
Together with the client, we discovered and found the answers while shaping them into stories. Then, together with our associates, we turned those stories into various visual and linguistic content and media that will connect the local cultural and natural heritage with all visitors in a meaningful and fun way.
And so the day came—22 October 2021. The modern Medvedgrad Visitor Center was officially opened in the renovated fortress, welcoming its visitors with three permanent multimedia museum exhibitions. All three exhibitions, although using different media and choreography of experiences, were designed with the same goal: to contribute to a deeper respect for the coexistence of nature and man and to inspire everyone to live this connection as meaningfully as possible in their own lives.
Medvedgrad as the Heart of the Ancient Forest
The South Tower of the Center houses the exhibition “In the Ancient Forest Kingdom”, informing the visitors about the peculiarities of the mountain’s natural heritage and the medieval history of the fortress.
A jump into the mystical beauty of Medvednica’s forests at the very entrance is made possible by the masterful mural by Tomislav Tomić. Filling almost the entire wall surface of the tower, it harkens back to one of the significant characteristics of medieval art—horror vacui, or, fear of unfilled space.
Here, the visitors can learn about the habitats and animal species that live in the forests of Medvednica, and they are “brought to life” before the visitors through animations, sounds, light effects or movement.
Descending into the tower’s basement, among the roots of the trees, visitors are greeted by stories from the mountain’s geological past, told with the help of an interactive movable model of Medvednica. Through various exhibits that invite the visitors to sharpen their observations and use the gifts of different senses to discover the wonders of Medvednica, the visitors are reminded that the mountain should not be taken for granted. An exhibit on the famous nocturnal fliers—bats—tells a story of one such miracle. A 3D display of a bat accompanied by text and illustrations allows the visitors to discover more and get to know the species, but also to visualize how they themselves would look as the blind fliers by looking at their reflection in a concave mirror.
On the upper platform of the tower, visitors are greeted by amazing stories about a special Medvedgrad bird—the Black Raven, the Black Queen’s loyal companion. This raven is special because it has mastered the human art of speech, greeting everyone loudly, croaking its warnings and medieval secrets. Here, the visitors can also meet a Medvedgrad witch, coprnica, who can read their palms to reveal their destinies and medieval avatars.
Climbing to the very top of the South Tower reveals a special treat for our visitors—a panoramic view of Medvednica, Zagreb and the surrounding area. With two observation points and the help of an infoscope, one can enjoy the panoramic view, find out the distances to the most famous attractions of Zagreb and learn about the wider context of coexistence between the mountain and the city.
The History and Secrets of the Mystical Mountain
The second interactive exhibition, “Enchanted History”, is located in the Big Palace. It offers visitors a different experience by immersing them in the history of Medvedgrad, Medvednica and Zagreb through select stories about the events and people who are the most responsible for the cultural identity of this area. The central place is occupied by an impressive model of Medvedgrad, where, with the help of attractive 3D mapping projections, visitors can learn more about the numerous stages in Medvedgrad’s development up to today. The walls show a timeline dominated by brilliant illustrations, engaging interpretive texts and messages, as well as carefully selected objects that will allow visitors to directly experience certain heritage phenomena. The opposite wall features a mural with a cross-section of Medvednica that can be covered by a screen, thus offering visitors the opportunity to learn about various attractive locations and attractions that will inspire them to make another visit to Zagrebačka Gora.
The Small Palace houses a permanent exhibition called “Secrets of the Ancient Mountain”. In this exhibition, historical facts are shown as part of the great collective imagination of the mountain that is revealed to the visitor through the mystical and immersive experience of shadow theatre.
With the help of storytellers, visitors are acquainted with the shadowy stories about coprnice—the famous Medvedgrad witches, fairies and the Black Queen with impressive video animations, sound installations and a smoke screen.
In the second room of the Small Palace, visitors have the opportunity to closely examine a recreation of a medieval pantry. Here they can find out what the people of Medvedgrad used to eat, as well as learn about the different utensils used for storing and preparing food and drinks during those times. They can even find some medieval recipes with a multimedia app. With these recipes, they will be able to recreate the medieval culinary heritage of Medvedgrad in their own dining rooms.
Exhibitions as a Result of Teamwork
Of course, none of this extensive work would be possible without long, thoughtful and dedicated teamwork. The co-authors of the permanent exhibitions of Medvedgrad are prominent companies of the Croatian creative industries. We, as the company Muze d.o.o., are responsible for the interpretation of heritage and the museological concept, Clinica Studio d.o.o. came up with the art design for the field of product design, Šesnić & Turković d.o.o. was in charge of graphic design, Revolution design d.o.o. developed the IT and multimedia design, Kultura d.o.o. conceived the lighting design, while the product and interior designer was Filip Gordon Frank.
Furthermore, a number of esteemed Croatian artists—photographers, illustrators, writers, sculptors and modelers—worked on the development of the exhibition content, with us curating and managing, and thus contributed to the added artistic value of this extraordinary project with their unique solutions.
We are proud that another one of our projects has come to life so strongly and successfully! There is nothing left but to invite you all to walk the forest paths of Medvednica that will take you to the renovated Medvedgrad. And once you are here, let the exhibitions inspire you and enrich your experience of the mountain and its stories.
Client
Public institution Medvednica Nature Park
South Tower
Co-authors of the permanent exhibition
Dragana Lucija Ratković Aydemir, Muze d.o.o.
Vedran Kasap, Clinica studio d.o.o.
Marko Šesnić, Šesnić&Turković d.o.o.
Goran Turković, Šesnić&Turković d.o.o.
Vladimir Končar, Revolucija dizajna d.o.o.
Igor Pauška, Kultura d.o.o.
Professional associates on the permanent exhibition
Muze d.o.o.: Ivana Jagić Boljat, Mirna Draženović, Iva Klarić Vujović, Melita Trbušić, Mateja Kuka, Meri Vesanović
Clinica studio d.o.o.: Ozana Ursić, Nataša Njegovanović
Visual design and text
Muze d.o.o.
Graphic design
Šesnić&Turković d.o.o.
Product design
Clinica studio d.o.o.
Multimedia design
Novena d.o.o.
Lighting design
Kultura d.o.o.
Facility furnishing
Internova d.o.o.
Audio Video Consulting d.o.o.
PIJOLE-G d.o.o.
Big and Small Palace
Co-authors of the permanent exhibition
Dragana Lucija Ratković Aydemir, Muze d.o.o.
Filip Gordon Frank
Professional associates on the permanent exhibition
Muze d.o.o.: Ivana Jagić Boljat, Mirna Draženović, Iva Klarić Vujović, Melita Trbušić, Mateja Kuka, Meri Vesanović
Visual design and text
Muze d.o.o.
Graphic design
Šesnić&Turković d.o.o.
Product and lighting design
Filip Gordon Frank
Multimedia design
Delta Reality
Facility furnishing
Internova d.o.o.
Audio Video Consulting d.o.o.
PIJOLE-G d.o.o.
Photographs of the exhibitions
Damir Žižić
Associates on content development:
Staša Popadić, Alan Čaplar, Goran Šafarek, Boris Krstinić, Neven Matočec, Ana Lapaš, Goran Razić (photographs), Tomislav Tomić, Dominik Vuković, Dragan Kordić, Neven Cetinjanin (illustrations), Zoran Mudronja (animation), Pavel Butolen, Petar Kavelj, Antun Sekulić, Antonija Veljačić, Damir Šuša, Petra Vizec, Ivica Turčić, Igor Kozlina (models and samples), Mirka Modrinić, Dominko Blažević, Joško Antić, Vida Ungar (interpretational texts), Zlatko Puntijar (recipe texts), Branka Šegvić, Zana Šaškin, Martin Mayhew (translation), Tamara Novak, Lidija Vešligaj, Martin Mayhew, Zana Šaškin, Lana Brčić (revision), Udruga BIOM / BIOM Association (scientific verification – biology), Dr. Sc. Borislav Grgin, Dr. Sc. Hrvoje Petrić (scientific verification – history), Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, National and University Library in Zagreb, Croatian State Archives, Zagreb City Museum, Ministry of Culture and Media, Croatian Ski Association (use of archival material)
