The celebration of the 1100th anniversary of the Croatian Kingdom and the coronation of King Tomislav on Duvanjsko Polje is approaching its peak, with the central celebration taking place in Tomislavgrad. On that occasion, the Tomislavgrad Association for the Preservation and Promotion of Traditional Culture in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) “Stecak” has designed a multi-layered four-year project within which the exhibition “Duvno Field – Royal Throne: A Contemporary Interpretation of the Legend of the Coronation of King Tomislav” was opened, followed by the premiere performance of the musical-stage oratorio “The Coronation of King Tomislav”.
The story of the coronation of the first Croatian king and his era was brought to life through content intertwining narration, music, video and visual materials, legends, myths, and history. A lot of knowledge, love, and work have been woven into this multi-layered four-year project by “Stecak” and its vice-president Zvonko Martic, an ethnologist and Carmelite.
“He is also the author of this exhibition. He gathered a team of top experts who worked on the king’s attire, crown, throne… There are many interesting things. Jasmin Fazlagic did the artistic photographs – and that is one beautiful whole,” said Danijela Papic, director of the Cultural-Information Center Tomislavgrad.
The author of the historical costumes is Prof. Dr. of Arts Jasmina Pacek from Osijek: “It was a great historical research into what King Tomislav could have looked like. As we know, we have no evidence, so we looked at what is known from Croatian, Old Croatian symbols, and we based the visual identity on Croatian interlace patterns. By studying church ciboria and altar screens, we arrived at 10th-century ornamentation, and that is what is shown on the cloak and the entire attire.”
“We can see what King Tomislav wore, what King Tomislav’s crown looked like, the throne, scepter, and everything that made up our King Tomislav,” stated Tomislavgrad mayor Ivan Buntic (HNP).
The president of the “Stecak” Association, Zrinka Lukac, emphasized that they strive to continue in that direction: “It is the promotion and preservation of our cultural heritage – and that is not only stone and land but pride and identity.”
In the year 925, King Tomislav was crowned on Duvanjsko Polje, and exactly 1.100 years later, in the Tomislavgrad basilica, for which the foundation stone was laid during the celebration of the 1.000th anniversary, the premiere performance of the musical-stage oratorio was held with more than 90 performers, including an orchestra, choir, soloists, and narrators from Zagreb and Mostar, under the patronage of the President of the Croatian Parliament and the President of the Croatian National Assembly of BiH.
