Eco-museum of Lace and Lacemaking, Lepoglava

The continuity and sustainability of the tradition of lace and lacemaking in Lepoglava of the last hundred or so years, as well as the relationship of the local population with this complex phenomenon, has enabled the development of Lepoglava and its surroundings as a recognisable and unique cultural and tourist destination. In achieving this goal the Eco-museum of Lace and Lacemaking in Lepoglava has been conceived as a complex institution and a cultural-tourist attraction which for the first time networks and evaluates the whole of Croatian, as well as European lacemaking, whereby the national and European dimension of the project is evolving. The making of the ‘Eco-museum of Lace and Lacemaking, Lepoglava’ project documentation was prompted by the Town of Lepoglava and the ethnologist Prof. Tihana Petrović Leš, the professional leader of the International Lace Festival in Lepoglava.

The Eco-museum of Lace and Lacemaking in Lepoglava in an interesting and accessible way celebrates and evaluates all the rich cultural heritage of the Lepoglava area, protecting, and in a modern way interpreting, the traditional way of life. The visual identity of the eco-museum refers to the sum of all aspects that form its own consistent and recognisable experience of lace in Lepoglava, and extends by all means of communication inside and outside the eco-museum. The fundamental component of the visual identity is based on the end of a thread which welcomes visitors and indicates that: a thread is sometimes visible, sometimes invisible, in some instances it becomes the main participant, in other times it is a signal or decoration, however it always guides visitors unambiguously through the external and internal components of the eco-museum.

The Eco-museum of Lace and Lacemaking in Lepoglava reaches out to a wide range of visitors, but most of all to all the fans and those interested in this aspect of culture and art. Apart from the permanent exhibition that reveals the world of lace and lacemaking to visitors, for the eco-museum are also planned a documentation centre, a workshop for the restoration of lace and textiles, an education centre, a fashion studio and a creative corner, a gallery for temporary exhibitions, a children’s lace museum, a multifunctional hall, souvenir shop and a patisserie. The outer part of the eco-museum would include a children’s lace park, a lace garden and a lace route envisaged as a walk through the landscape for visitors interested in a trip through nature alongside the story of lace. Under the auspices of the eco-museum is the International Lace Festival which has been traditionally held since 1997 as the project of the Lepoglava Tourist Board.

At a public tender in 2015, the Town of Lepoglava chose the preliminary architectural-urban design for the future building of the visitor’s centre within which the Eco-museum of Lace and Lacemaking of Lepoglava would be located.