EXHIBITION OPENING Mara Bratoš: Lopud Portraits
Mara Bratoš' Lopud portraits were created over the course of 25 years, documenting the Mediterranean coming-of-age of a young girl from the island of Lopud. The project explores female strength and the authenticity of growing up on the island of Lopud.
Three series of works by Mara Bratoš - from 1998, 2003 and 2023 - depict the transformation of society and the region itself, through the personal story of a girl and her own transformation within that society. It is a story that has a particular resonance in the Mediterranean region, where leaving home in search of a better life has resulted in numerous abandoned villages and islands on the coast. Therefore, the connection that is established here at the level of photographing and recording the subject, a young girl at the time and a mature, adult woman today, is important. Women have traditionally been seen as passive observers of major historical events, victims who bear the burden of care, but the subject captured here represents a transformation, someone who has seen and experienced what is happening to her family first hand. The subject here symbolizes a woman in a Mediterranean region who suffers the sacrifice of her family and turns from a passive observer into an active participant in society, fighting for community values.
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Photo (c) Mara Bratoš
