It is difficult to summarize the first ten years of the existence of the association "Cultural Front", but we can say that today our association is one of the most active and productive Opatija associations, with a number of volunteers, professional associates and many projects behind it. The most famous project of the association is certainly the SF&Fantasy Festival Liburnicon, which gathers over 1000 science fiction fans from all over Croatia every year, and is considered by many as one of the most promising youth festivals in the region. There are also the projects ‘Archery day na Učki’, ‘Barufekon’, the year-round project ‘Little School of Fantasy’, the small school of astronomy ‘Perzeidi’, various lectures, presentations, excursions and numerous smaller cultural, educational and entertainment events. Today, the association has 48 members, and over 60 young people from all over Croatia volunteer on projects every year.
As it usually happens, at first there was a dream... A group of young people gathered in the Opatija settlement of Tošina had a dream of turning the Tošina atomic shelter (devastated after the Homeland War) into a space for going out, for concerts, and various artistic and cultural events. Most of us have dreamed of bands like Leta 3, Cacadoo Look, Mayflower, or the legendary Fried Hairs returning to this space. These dreamers were young people who grew up in a working-class settlement, raised in rock culture, and "baptized" in Opatija's clubs such as Little Quorum or Hobbiton. This idea, about the club, about cultural and entertainment events that will bring us young people together and spread the message of young people, represents the driving force of the Cultural Front.
And somewhere in the synergy between punk, chronic boredom, philosophy and the desire for change, an association was formed. In the summer of 2001, the first president of the association, Marko Vrkljan Mrle, came up with the idea that it would be wise to establish an association because in this way we can look for some funds and space for ourselves. At the founding assembly held on January 12, 2002, about 30 young people from the wider area of Opatija gather, and this represents the official beginning of the association's work, and the official name is - the association for the development of youth culture "Cultural Front". It sounded rebellious enough to be all right. That's what it sounds like today. All the beginnings are difficult, but our beginning was a living torment. And it took years. We had no means, no space, no idea how or what to do. We couldn't even write letters. We wanted all sorts of things, but we didn't have any leadership or experience. It all started with the release of the fanzin ‘El Chupacabra’ (as many as 20 copies), and then the first project, albeit unsuccessful, was to organise the ‘Days of Tošina 2003’. The idea was to offer exhibitions, concerts, lectures and sports competitions to the audience in three days. But very soon we got caught up in the bureaucracy, and saw that it was not as simple as it seemed. (It will take almost six years to wait until the first ‘Tošina Days’.) That was when we first asked to be allowed to use the atomic shelter. When we came to the city we looked like cuddly children who came for chocolate, but instead of chocolate we got a tongue soup. So we quickly felt the cold edge of the bureaucratic apparatus. Because of some of our attitudes, especially the president of the association, in our beginnings we even had the stigma of anarchists, semi-revolutionaries. This did not bother us, but it was interesting to watch the faces of politicians coming to visit the MO, and the rooms full of posters and books representing anti-globalization movements, anti-IMF, anti-capitalism, vegetarianism, and all other activist things. We were real "enemies within".
For the purpose of meetings, associations are everywhere, and only in 2005 they received temporary use of the space of the Tošina Local Committee, which is still used today. In the meantime, the association is collecting literature for a future "alternative library", which will include works that are not in libraries, mostly anarchist, philosophical or sociological themes. Round tables, discussions were also organized, there were exhibitions and football tournaments, but the activity of the association was mostly about spending time together.
In 2005 it was very important for the company. Namely, that year the association got an official website, buying a projector and a computer, making projects with other associations, writing projects for tenders, and we are especially active on the initiative after which the social scene of Opatija was no longer the same as before. It is our initiative to bring together all the young activists of the city of Opatija, to start a creative breakthrough and to form the Youth Club of the city of Opatija, where creative workshops, exhibitions, cultural and entertainment events would be organized, a space where people would play and sing, exercise, socialize and spend their free time creatively. We wanted a place that was not like Opatija (which became a dormitory) numb, but youthfully alive and active. We wanted change. And they almost came.
This is the time when nightlife leaves Opatija and moves to Rijeka. Although this nightmare of closed Opatija seemed like a temporary economic phenomenon to us at the time, time has shown that it is a harsh reality that continues to this day. This was the time when Opatija did not have a single event for young people in the city, and almost all clubs in the city closed. Many generations of young abbeys have lost nothing. This is the time when palm trees were burning in the park, when camellias, benches and fences were devastated every weekend. And the pastors were amazed and scandalized at the young people who stumbled in Opatija's parks, left to themselves. There was a huge gap of generations, and the complete imbecility of city policies that never took care of young people.
When no one will - we will! In February 2005, we bring together the young people of Opatija with the initiative “Opatija Youth Club”, and we help Damir Tomić Jabuki organize the 2nd Barufe where we collect over 500 signatures of support for a youth club. On our initiative, we are creating a workshop Opatija Youth Club, which brings together all youth associations, activists, artists and all teams working with young people in the city. The workshop is led by Igor Bajok (GONG, Moji Ičići), who is the only one of us with experience in the civil sector and youth work. It was the first time that young people came together from different interest groups around a single goal. The workshop lasted until the end of the year, was held at Tošina in our premises, and in addition to us participated the associations Crta, Ventil, Žmergo and the Youth Action. All this resulted in an appeal to the city of Opatija to give space for a youth club, the association Committee was born as the umbrella youth association of the city of Opatija, and the first joint project - Op.Art Quisisana Festival, and as part of the Op.Arta program that worked Cultural Front - there was Abbacon (Abbazia con), as the first Opatija "sf conference", and help with Baruf.
From everything we stood for, we didn't get too much, but at least the associations got rooms in Villa Antonio, and the ability for bands to practice in the basement.
However, the biggest gain for the city, but also for associations, are - projects. This is when the biggest projects of the young city of Opatija (probably) in history were created and awakened. In this creative porridge, the winners are the Festival Barufe, Op.Art, and Liburnicon. Baroques in synergy of forces become one of the largest festivals of alternative music, with over 8,000 visitors, foreign guests and a high-quality program. Liburnicon has become a real summer hit, a manifestation with stars and guests from all over the world. Op.Art gathers hundreds of artistic souls in the picturesque Volosko, where it has established itself as a real creative force of positive energy. They are all connected by the fact that their organization consists of young people, abbeys, and they represent a real local indigenous product. They just need to be nurtured and branded each in their own way.
With Abbacon, or Liburnicon, we got a basic project around which the association revolves all 365 days of the year. It's a project we've been looking for since we were founded.
With Liburnicon, we didn't think about being big, nor did we care. Over time, this changed because we tended to make the whole Liburnicon story meaningful only if it was popularized. So, we had to do what motivated us, and that is to do something for a wider circle of people, new fans of fantasy or board games, to watch SF movies with others or talk about music, mythology, etc. We can freely say that we started doing SF&Fantasy Festival or convention out of sheer ignorance because we had no idea how much such a thing is present in Croatia, or even in the world. We worked for ourselves first, and then when we realized we were doing great, we started organizing Liburnicon for others.
From the beginning of the project there was Roko Kero, who was with the current president of the association, Marijan Pavletić, the initiator of Abbacon, while David Šuker, Ivan Cerovac and I (Tomislav Lesinger, secretary) were associates. Today, the association is represented by Maja Mirković as vice president, and Marijan Gvozdić, Igor Puhar, and Maša Dunatov as members of the board of directors of the association.
Since 2007, we have changed our name, reorganized, created a team, and made the first real moves that unquestionably lead us to become a great event. At the time, these steps seemed gigantic to us, but time showed that they were small, while experience taught us to become "big". The organization of Liburnicon started and stayed on Tošina purely because most of the founders are from Tošina and because we first fought for space here.
As Liburnicon grew, it gained in quality, audience size, and from the initial 50 visitors today came to around 1200. But with Liburnicon there was a need for rejuvenation of the organization and for volunteers. This is how the strategy was developed to "educate" all generations of abbeys through Liburnicon. With the society "Our Children" Opatija at Liburnicon, we have set aside a part of the program for the youngest (6-12 years) under the name "children's wizarding school", with primary and secondary school we are working on the project "Little School of Fantasy", which consists of a series of workshops, lectures and excursions, while for everyone else there is always Liburnicon, but also Archery day and Barufekon. In this way, we connect all generations, and we can boast that we are proud that we already have visitors who have completed our children's wizarding school.
This is how we come to the present day, when new members, new volunteers join the association, and there is a new creative breakthrough that resulted in a very high-quality and visited Liburnicon in 2011. We were visited by the top of the world's fantasy literature with millions of books sold – Guy Gavriel Kay, and over the years the most distinguished scientists and lecturers, academician Vladimir Paar, dr.sc. Davor Pavuna, astronomer Korado Korlević, economist and political scientist dr.sc. Slavko Kulić, archaeologist Ranko Starac, dr.sc. Amir Muzur, geneticist dr.sc. Đurđica Ugarković, philosopher dr.sc. Elvio Baccarini, etc.
We are also particularly proud of our friendship with our popular HRT host Krešimir Mišak, who gladly responds every year and enjoys the charms of Liburnicon with us. Almost every year, Krešo invites guests from Liburnicon to his show, which is very impressive to us, and as a manifestation we are also mentioned in Krešo's books.
What can you say about the future and your desires? First of all, we want things in Opatija to change for the better. To find more will and finance for young people and their projects, and to help the local economy. Over time, each organization is spent, and an additional stimulus is needed to maintain it at the same level. We certainly want everyone, especially local authorities, to recognize us as an autochthonous brand of young people that should be protected and nurtured as well as vegetation in Opatija's parks.
Thank you to everyone who helped us when we had the hardest time. They will be able to recognize themselves.
Tomislav Lesinger
