Rijeka and Brighton – my home towns

Rijeka and Brighton – a brief comparison prompted by the opening day of Rijeka’s European Capital of Culture year in February 2020.

It was almost 20 years ago to the day that I first came to Croatia, more specifically to Cres, Opatija and Rijeka. I was here to write a travel piece for a Brighton based magazine for which I was the production assistant – when the editor called out across our office “who wants to go to Croatia for a week?” I stuck my hand into the air eagerly although not being 100% sure about where I’d be going. On that trip, I experienced a tiny piece of Croatian life and the Rijeka Carnival and was greatly impressed. In 2003, I left Brighton and Hove (the city’s full title) and moved to Rijeka.

Rijeka and Brighton

In the following years, I visited many parts of the country but I always thought that the city was different and even the Croats I met on those trips told me that Rijeka stood out as being alternative. From music to art to literature this city has proved this to me with the opening of the Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture (ECoC) this February and it made me realise that Brighton and Rijeka have several things in common so I put together a list:

  • They are both cities by the sea – south of their capitals – obvious I know. Brighton is the closest big city to London and a huge tourist destination. Rijeka is Croatia’s third-largest city, not, unfortunately, a big tourist destination, however, in the past it was a very important industrial and transport hub and with ECoC and all that this investment, opportunity and status will bring, it now has much more potential.
  • Theatres – both cities have theatres which came into popular use in the late-19th century. In Brighton the Theatre Royal and in Rijeka the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc. In each city, there is also an unused venue. Rijeka’s Opera hall was recently opened for the opening day of ECoC when several rock bands played well into the night and it has recently hosted a dance event, which will surely boost its rejuvenation. Whilst in Brighton the Hippodrome’s future is still in the balance. Both these venues have seen better days during their century-long lives.
Rijeka’s Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc and Brighton’s Theatre Royal
Rijeka’s Opera hall and Brighton’s Hippodrome
  • Both cities have old original cinema theatres. The Duke of Yorks picture house in Brighton is an art-house cinema. It was one of the first in the world and was opened in 1910. It has experienced many lows and highs over the years but has survived and today it is still the oldest working movie theatre in the UK. Rijeka has Art-kino, which under a different name was founded about 1928 and then went through many variations and premises over the decades. The movies were incredibly popular in Rijeka, with films being shown from all parts of Europe, America and the Soviet Union. In fact, at one point in time Rijeka county had more cinemas screens than any other town in Croatia (45) and in the first six months of 1950 more than 750,000 cinema tickets were sold in the city. A law was even in force at the time which meant that the sale of tickets by touts outside before a popular film was screened became a criminal offence – those found guilty were fined, imprisoned or even expelled from the county! During Rijeka 2020 ECoC there will several locations arranged for open-air film screenings around the city and even on the roofs of tower blocks. Brighton also has open-air cinema shows during the summer. Both cities also have multiplex cinema complexes, however, these two small independent art-house cinemas have survived where other theatres have disappeared or been repurposed, and they still draw in the crowds.
Rijeka’s Art-kino and Brighton’s Duke of Yorks picture house
  • Graffiti and murals. Both cities are adorned with murals and let’s say artistic graffiti. With tasteful and professional illustrations buildings, parks and other public spaces can be really brought to life, enhance the image and even become talking points and landmarks of towns and cities in place of drab, grey, depressing, crumbling structures. During Rijeka 2020 ECoC there will be an international festival of murals and street art will appear around the city painted by local and foreign artists.
Brighton’s Prince Albert pub mural and Rijeka’s IVEX building mural
  • Rijeka was and still is a centre of new music. In the 60s the first rock bands in the former Yugoslavia emerged here, in the 70s and 80s punk and new wave groups such as Paraf flourished. Later in the 90s and early 2000s, the club and dance scene was led by the Fun Academy and Quorum Colours. Brighton has always been an innovative place for new music. In the late 80s and 90s, it was a key place for the emerging dance and rave scene, which I really enjoyed. In the mid-90s I played bass in a rock band. My friends and I did it for the joy of music – we didn’t expect to be famous – we weren’t – but like so many others we did it for the fun of playing. 3-4 times a week we went to gigs, in pubs and clubs. This is similar to the feeling I have in Rijeka now – there is a varied musical scene, from flamenco to bluegrass and I have got to know several musicians by helping them with their English language as well as reminiscing about the heady 90s rave scene and concerts by bands that people here would have enjoyed seeing. Of course, all the musicians I’ve met here are much more proficient and professional than I was back then. One particular star from Brighton, Fatboy Slim has played in Croatia several times and Nick Cave, who is immensely popular in Croatia lived there for many years (bumped into him twice in Brighton’s shops).
  • Brighton is one of the key centres for the publication of The Big Issue magazine which was established in 1991 to help homeless people get back on their feet and make a small living from writing and selling the magazine. The Big Issue was one inspiration for Rijeka’s own magazine called Ulične svjetiljke which is now sold throughout Croatia.
The Big Issue was the inspiration for Rijeka’s Ulične Svjetiljke
  • Universities – both cities have renowned universities and big student populations. Several campuses and faculties are spread around each city. The students’ energy and enthusiasm are a constant drive in both communities. And of course, with large numbers of students come festivals and events to cater for them. Rijeka has the multi-day Student Day Festival – the largest in the region, which has just celebrated its 10th anniversary. It features cultural, educational, sports, humanitarian, entertainment and scientific events for up to 40,000 students from Rijeka, all over Croatia as well as nearby countries. The highlight being the weekend of free concerts in the very centre of the city featuring famous local names – something that made me reminisce of student gigs back in the early 90s in Brighton.
  • In Brighton the culture of recycling is firmly established. It is the only city in the UK which has a Green Party Member of Parliament. In the city, every household has separate bins for each kind of waste that is then collected by the council and dealt with. The City of Rijeka is trying – with separate containers for waste plastic, paper and glass for each neighbourhood, and it regularly distributes leaflets about how to cut down on unnecessary waste and raise awareness of recycling. Recently the city received more money from the government for the expansion of its recycling facilities. There is also one excellent initiative in the city called Riperaj, which is Croatia’s first repair café. It was opened in late 2019 and offers its citizens a free repair service (excluding any necessary spare parts) for their household electrical items and furniture and anything that would otherwise be thrown into the rubbish and end up in a landfill. It also offers a programme of workshops for everyone who wants to learn more about recycling and repairing household equipment. Repair cafés are a rapidly worldwide growing concept. Brighton also has its own Repair Café which was opened in 2012. During ECoC there are several green initiatives, such as Zeleni Val, beginning in Rijeka including the conversion of previously unused roofs of tower blocks into gardens and the greening of deserted areas owned by the city. Something that the local communities are invited to get involved with.
Rijeka’s Riperaj repair cafe opened in 2019 – the first in Croatia.
  • There are many other ways which Rijeka could also benefit from sustainable and renewable energy. Off the coast of Brighton, there is a massive wind farm with more than 100 windmills. Imagine the electricity which could be generated when the fierce “bura” wind blows!! Solar power too when considering the number of sunshine hours which the Adriatic Sea enjoys – in fact, a solar power plant on the nearby island of Cres is due to be constructed. Recently the Port of Rijeka was given a waste collection device – the Seabin – the first in Croatian waters. This simple, inexpensive bin for collecting surface waste is a global initiative that aims to clean up the water around harbours and ports.
  • Brighton has a very big gay community. The Brighton Pride Festival is the largest and proudest LGBT event in the UK with an average of 450,000 attendees every year. Although Rijeka does not come close to this kind of event, it is important to note that in 2013 the people of Rijeka voted against the proposed Article 61 of the Croatian Constitution which was upheld nationally as proclaiming that “Marriage is a living union between a woman and a man” – effectively meaning same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. Croatia’s first lesbian organisation – LORI – was established in 2000 in Rijeka and it supports the rights of the LGBT community in society. During ECoC there will be the annual Smoqua festival of LGBT culture which will feature performances, a concert, an exhibition, artist and activist interventions in public spaces, workshops, panel discussions and other activities in order to introduce visitors to the importance of queer and feminist history and it will be attended by participants from around the world. Just recently, in 2019 a new website, aimed at gay travellers and tourists was launched by a woman from Rijeka – gaytravelcroatia.net. Since living in Rijeka I have met many friendly, open-minded people of all generations from school children and pensioners, artists, writers, musicians and professors with whom I share the same passions, opinions and positive outlooks as those I know back in Brighton. Although the two cities do not share similar histories, I think that Rijeka’s past has only added to its diversity and tolerance for others as well as the desire for change and improvement.
  • Both Rijeka and Brighton like to feel as though they are different and independent. People visit Brighton for a weekend away, for the arts, nightlife and shopping. The community feeling is very close. In the 2016 Brexit referendum 68% of Brighton’s residents voted to remain in the EU. For me, Rijeka too has a similar feeling – immediately after the ECoC opening ceremony on the blackboard of a popular bar in Rijeka – Caffe la Guardia – whose daily pearls of wisdom over the years have been highly amusing and succinct, stirred up some reactions – read into this what you will.…..

Of course, this is just a quick list of things that immediately came to my mind after enjoying the opening ceremony of Rijeka’s year of holding the title of European City of Culture – many people I spoke to in the days following that day agreed that Rijeka should have a similar, although more modest, event every year. The year-long programme and the lasting effects after 2020 could be the initiator for a new annual Rijeka festival – RiStartFest (?) which would bring extra energy and interest to the city just like Brighton’s world-famous Festival

Late February saw the annual Rijeka Carnival Parade through the city centre. An extra special event this year to celebrate the European Capital of Culture, and something that I experienced 20 years ago on my first visit to Croatia. Every year I am always impressed by the effort, ingenuity and joy that its people can create and in doing so make it unique – just like my previous home of Brighton.

So Rijeka, in the words of your own annual carnival slogan may you always “be what you want to be.”

I was on Croatian National Television’s HTV1 chatting about Rijeka and Brighton with ‘Romano Bolković – 1 na 1’

Novi List interview

This is a reproduction of my interview for Rijeka’s Novi List daily newspaper with Marinko Glavan published on 15.03.2020.

Životna želja! Prevesti Kamovljevu Isušenu kaljužu na engleski

Martin Mayhew, pisac, prevoditelj i novinar, Britanac je koji već 17 godina živi u Rijeci. U međuvremenu je stekao hrvatsko državljanstvo, a uz svakodnevne poslove prevođenja s hrvatskog na engleski te proofreadinga, posla u kojemu »dotjerava« već prevedene tekstove, bilo da je riječ o poslovnoj komunikaciji ili tekstovima pjesama domaćih bendova koji pjevaju na engleskom, kako bi bili posve u duhu engleskog jezika, započeo je s prevođenjem djela Janka Polić Kamova na engleski jezik. Već je preveo zbirku Kamovljevih pjesama Psovka, a velika mu je želja na engleski prevesti Isušenu kaljužu, vjerojatno najznačajnije djelo riječkog pisca, kako bi, ističe, ovaj čudesni roman predstavio čitateljskoj publici s engleskog govornog područja.

Da Hrvati sele u Veliku Britaniju nije ni najmanje neuobičajeno, no suprotnih primjera, poput njegovog, vrlo je malo, u stvari u čitavoj Hrvatskoj trajno živi svega šačica Britanaca pa na pitanje kako je uopće došlo do toga da se iz Brightona preseli u Rijeku, odgovara da je ispočetka sve bila čista slučajnost. U Rijeku i na Kvarner prvi je put stigao prije točno dvadeset godina, radeći kao novinar turističku reportažu s Kvarnera.

“Došao sam u zemlju o kojoj nisam znao puno. Radio sam za jedan časopis, a naš urednik imao je ponude turističkih zajednica iz gotovo cijelog svijeta da dođemo i pišemo reportaže o različitim destinacijama. Tog dana, kada se odlučivalo tko će u Hrvatsku, nitko od kolega novinara nije bio slobodan pa je urednik šetao po redakciji, pitajući „Tko želi ići u Hrvatsku?“. Kako u tom trenutku nisam imao puno nekog drugog posla, rekao sam „OK, ja ću to napraviti“. lako nisam imao pojma gdje idem niti što mogu očekivati. Kad sam rekao svojim prijateljima i poznanicima da idem u Hrvatsku, bilo je svakakvih reakcija, poput one da uzmem sa sobom pancirku, jer je tamo bio rat“, kaže Mayhew.

Niša na tržištu

Po dolasku, proveo je tjedan dana putujući po Primorju i otocima, s grupom od još pet turista i kako naglašava – fantastično se proveo.

„Na Cresu smo bili u Eko centru Beli, gdje zbrinjavaju ozlijeđene bjeloglave supove. Upoznao sam a zaljubio sam se ovu zemlju, i ovaj kraj. U iduće dvije godine promijenio sam posao, vratio sam se u tisak, kao menadžer za proizvodnju u velikoj tiskarskoj tvrtki, ali sam i još nekoliko puta posjetio Hrvatsku. Posao menadžera bio je vrlo stresan i jednom sam trenutku odlučio sve promijeniti, doslovce promijeniti svoj život. Odlučio sam preseliti se iz Brightona u Rijeku. Počeo sam učiti hrvatski i nakon godinu-dvije sam krenuo s prevođenjem i proofreadingom, tada uglavnom za lokalne ljude i tvrtke, ništa pretjerano znanstveno ili na razini prevođenja književnosti“, kaže Britanac.

Kroz godine provedene u Rijeku uspio je stvoriti vlastitu nišu na tržištu, u kojoj se bavi isključivo prijevodima s hrvatskog na engleski, ne i obrnuto, jer iako je, prema onome što smo čuli tijekom razgovora, hrvatski jezik savladao vrlo dobro, kao izvorni govornik engleskog jezika i pisac, smatra kako puno više može postići prevodeći hrvatske tekstove na engleski.

„Najviše se, zapravo, bavim takozvanim proofreadingom, provjerom ispravljanjem tekstova na engleskom koji su pisali Hrvati, kako bi taj tekst bio posve, ne samo gramatički i pravopisno ispravan, nego i u duhu engleskog jezika. Kroz sve ove godine zapravo sam sam stvarao svoj današnji posao. Bio sam uporan, učio sam hrvatski koji je za nas Engleze vrlo zahtjevan jezik. Sintaksa. gramatika, padeži, rodovi, sve je vrlo drugačije. Hrvatski, po svom sudu, ne .govorim baš najbolje, ali ga odlično razumijem, a to je najvažnije kada je riječ o prijevodima s hrvatskog na engleski“, kaže Mayhew.

Zaljubljen u Kamova

Posao mu je vrlo specifičan, posebno kada je riječ o proofreadingu. Radi se o, da tako kažemo, finom tuningu prijevoda s hrvatskog na engleski, u čemu je već stekao popriličnu reputaciju i broj klijenata.

„Dakle, ne govorimo o klasičnom prevođenju, nego o finim nijansama prevođenja. Ljudi mi pošalju tekst na engleskom i ono što ih zanima je zvuči li to zaista dobro. Zvuči li zaista onako kako bi to napisao ili rekao izvorni govornik. Na tom području surađujem I s nekim bendovima koji pjevaju na engleskom, poput Sarah & The Romans čije tekstove provjeravam. Stvorio sam mrežu poznanika i suradnika koji me dalje preporučuju drugim ljudima i tako to funkcionira“, kaže Mayhew.

Što se tiče prevođenja, „zaljubio“ se u Kamova. Do sad je preveo zbirku pjesama Psovka, a prijevod je objavio u vlastitom izdanju, specifičnom po tome što je uvez i grafički dizajn identičan izvornom, prvom izdanju Kamovljeve zbirke pjesama.

‘Psovka’ original edition and ‘The Curse’ in English – available on Amazon as ebook and paperback here

Kad sam prvi put čitao Kamova, za mene je to bilo otkriće. Bio sam oduševljen. Krenuo sam u prevođenje njegove poezije, trudeći sa da to bude zaista najbolji mogući prijevod. Čitajući njegova djela i prevodeći ih, odlučio sam napraviti i cijeli rječnik prijevoda njegovih izraza na engleski, što mi je pomoglo u daljnjem prevođenju, a na taj sam način i bolje upoznao hrvatski jezik, jer je on u svom pisanju koristio izraze i arhaična glagolska vremena kakva se u suvremenom hrvatskom više ne koriste. Želja mi je da napravim kvalitetan prijevod Isušene kaljuže na engleski i tražim izdavača koji bi bio spreman u tome sudjelovati. Riječ je o vrhunskom književnom djelu koje zaslužuje biti prevedeno na engleski kako bi došlo do šireg kruga čitatelja u svijetu. 1tažio sam potporu hrvatskog Ministarstva kulture, kao i britanske ambasade, ali potpora je uvjetovana nalaženjem izdavača Vjerujem da ću uspjeti naći izdavača zainteresiranog za ovaj projekt“, kaže Mayhew.

Modern and original editions of ‘Isušena kaljuža’
My collection of Kamov’s ‘Farces and Novellas’ is also available on Amazon. More details here.

Otvorene luke

Kao novinar proputovao je većinu europskih zemalja, ali kaže kako mu nigdje nije bilo tako lijepo, niti je igdje bilo tako mirno kao u Hrvatskoj, posebno u Rijeci i okolici, iako nije riječ o turističkom gradu. Rijeku je, ističe, izabrao zato jer je cijeli život živio kraj mora, iako je Brighton po pitanju turizma, kao jedno od najpopularnijih odredišta u Engleskoj, posve suprotan Rijeci.

„Brighton je vrlo orijentiran na turizam i vrlo popularan u Britaniji. Proputovao sam i dobar dio Hrvatske, ali sam odlučio da mi dom bude u Rijeci. Volim atmosferu ovog grada, volim, da tako kažem, onaj idealistički dio socijalizma koji se zadržao u ovom gradu. Rijeka i Hrvatska su, osim toga, vrlo sigurni. Možete se šetati sami, bilo kojim dijelom grada, u bilo koje doba noći, bez straha da će vam se dogoditi nešto loše. U nekim dijelovima Londona ili Brightona to nije moguće, ako šetate sami u neko doba noći, postajete meta pljačkaša I sam sam bio opljačkan na ulici u svom rodnom gradu, Brightonu. Osim toga, ljudi u Velikoj Britaniji su prestrašeni od terorističkih napada, a ovdje toga nema“, kaže Mayhew.

Rijeku je odabrao, što je i naglasio u svom nedavno objavljenom tekstu, zbog sličnosti s Brightonom. U oba slučaja riječ je o lučkim gradovima, otvorenima za ljude koji dolaze iz svih krajeva svijeta kroz dugi period povijesti.

„U Rijeci sam upoznao mnogo ljudi, ali nikad se nisam susreo s predrasudama Ovo je, kao i Brighton, vrlo otvoren grad. Doduše, nisam živio nigdje drugdje u Hrvatskoj parni je teško reći je li Rijeka drugačija od ostatka zemlje, ali uspoređujem je s onim što najbolje poznajem, a to je Brighton, koji je također vrlo otvoren, u kojemu se ljudi iz bilo kojeg dijela zemlje ili svijeta osjećaju dobrodošlo. Mislim da je mentalitet Rijeke drugačiji nego ostatka Hrvatske, jer je riječ o luci i industrijskom gradu u koji su oduvijek dolazili brodovi, pomorci, radnici, poslovni ljudi iz raznih krajeva, različitih nacionalnosti, što je stvorilo drugačiji mentalitet. Brighton je turističko središte i također imamo ljude koji dolaze izraznih krajeva. U Brightonu, kao i u Rijeci, prevladava mišljenje kako je grad drugačiji Od ostatka zemlje. Primjerice, iz Brightona je jedini zastupnik zelenih u parlamentu, dok je u ostatku zemlje izbor samo između laburista i konzervativaca. Mislim i da ovdje u Rijeci ima puno prilika, ako želite nešto učiniti, možete. Bit će prepreka, prvenstveno administrativnih, na koje se zbilja teško naviknuti, ali prilika ima Inače, birokracija u Hrvatskoj je zaista problem. Upoznao sam mnoge strance koji su ovdje došli s namjerom da ulažu, ali kad su vidjeli s kolikom birokracijom i papirologijom su suočeni, na kraju su odustali od svojih namjera Na kraju radije kupe kuću ili apartman, nego pokreću biznis, što je velika šteta“, kaže riječki Britanac.

Riječki EPK

Rijeka je, ističe, drugačija od ostalih hrvatskih krajeva uz obalu i po tome što nije turističko odredište, barem ne u segmentu masovnog turizma. Isprva ga je čudilo što u gradu, tijekom vrhunca turističke sezone, u srpnju i kolovozu, ne samo da nema turista u velikom broju, nego ni Riječana.

„Pitao sam zašto ljudi odlaze ljeti. što to Rijeka nema, a svi ostali gradovi uz obalu imaju. Ali s vremenom sam zaključio da je možda i bolje tako. Je li to dobro za Rijeku, ili loše, jer dolazi manje novca od turizma, ne znam. Nadam se da će projekt Europske prijestolnice kulture ipak dovesti više ljudi, iako je teško bilo što prognozirati, s obzirom na epidemiju koronavirusa“, kaže Mayhew.

Kao prevoditelj i sam je uključen u projekt Rijeka EPK 2020. Do sad je preveo cjelokupan katalog svih događanja tijekom riječkog prijestolovanja europskom kulturom, u dva navrata, što je rezultiralo pozamašnim izdanjem na engleskom jeziku u kojemu su predstavljena sva događanja planirana tijekom ove godine.

Prvo izdanje

„To je bio prilično velik posao. Prvo izdanje na engleskom bilo je otprilike upola kraće od drugog, a sada pripremam treće, koje će biti još opsežnije, kaže nam, pokazujući nam podeblju knjigu, katalog zbivanja Rijeka EPK.“

Drugo izdanje

„Zahvaljujući tom prijevodu dobro sam upoznat s programom događanja i zapravo sam zahvalan što sam imao priliku u tome sudjelovati. To mi je i prilika da pokažem što radim, ali i da engleskim medijima približim Rijeka EPK projekt. Do sad nisu pokazali neki golemi interes, ali ipak ga ima. Imam i dalje kontakte u Engleskoj, u medijima, ali oni su uglavnom zainteresirani za Dalmaciju ili Istru, kao najpopularnije turističke destinacije. Ne znam zašto ova regija nije toliko prepoznata, iako je geografski savršeno smještena, a ima i puno toga što vrijedi vidjeti i posjetiti. Možda biste vi meni to trebali objasniti“, kaže Mayhew.

Dvostruko državljanstvo

Uz Britansko, odlučio je uzeti i hrvatsko državljanstvo, što je, smatra, bio ispravan potez, nakon Brexita, jer ostaje građanin Europske unije. Snažno se protivi izlasku Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva iz Europske unije, što smatra potpuno pogrešnom politikom.

“Nisam siguran da su Britanci, glasajući o Brexitu, sasvim razumjeli za što glasaju. Nevjerojatno je da su za Brexit glasali birači laburista. Mislim da će Brexit naštetiti svima. Neki dijelovi Velike Britanije izgubit će mnogo, posebno zbog izostanka sufinanciranja projekata iz EU, poput Walesa, u kojemu je velik dio javnih projekata bio sufinanciran europskim sredstvima. Škotska će, vrlo vjerojatno, izglasati neovisnost od Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva, ne vidim kako se to može spriječiti. Ali tu su i druge stvari, poput razmjene studenata, razmjene znanja, kulture, mislim da će svi na kraju biti na gubitku. Na primjer, čak i glazbenici iz Europe trebati će radnu vizu za nastup u Engleskoj. Glazba je važan dio mog života, a posebno me vesele nastupi britanskih izvođača u Hrvatskoj na koje redovito odlazim, no s vizama, tko zna hoće li i koliko tih nastupa ubuduće biti, hoće li im biti preskupo i prekomplicirano da nastupaju u Hrvatskoj. štete će nastati i po pitanju slobode kretanja, studentske razmjene, znanosti, industrije, svega“, kaže Englez.

O životu i radu u Hrvatskoj i Rijeci kaže kako je drugačiji nego u Brightonu.

„Život u Engleskoj puno je skuplji. Za stan koji ovdje plaćam tristo eura mjesečno u Brightonu bih plaćao barem tisuću. Izlasci, restorani i kafići ovdje su puno jeftiniji. Lako treba uzeti u obzir i da su plaće u Engleskoj znatno veće. U Hrvatskoj su plaće nedovoljne, a to utječe na čitavu kulturu življenja. Ovdje mladi ljudi ostaju živjeti s roditeljima znatno duže nego u Engleskoj, na primjer, jer nemaju dovoljno sredstava da žive sami. To stvara drugačiju sliku društva U Engleskoj, čim završiš školovanje, odlaziš od kuće i očekuje se da skrbiš sam za sebe. To u Hrvatskoj ne vidim i nisam na to navikao, jer sam i sam napustio roditeljski dom kad mi je bilo osamnaest“, kaže Mayhew.

Unatoč razlikama, kaže kako nema namjeru napuštati Hrvatsku. „Kada prestanem raditi i odem i mirovinu, mislim da ću ostati ovdje. Barem za sad, nemam namjeru seliti negdje drugdje. Ovdje sam si stvorio život, našao prijatelje, želim ostati u Rijeci“, zaključuje Mayhew.

Thanks to Marinko Glavan and Marko Gracin @ Novi List.
Ivana Brlić-Mažuranić i Janko Polić Kamov pod kontrolom – ja i Sabina Gvozdić. Ogulin – Rijeka 🙂

Romano Bolković – 1 na 1: HTV1 interview

I was recently interviewed by Romano Bolković for his ‘1 na 1’ talk show programme for Croatian National Television HTV1. It was broadcast on 02.03.2020.

At the same I wrote an article for the Total Croatia News portal about the similarity between the city of Rijeka and the city of Brighton in England where I come from after the opening day of the Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture year-long celebration. You can read it here.

Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture

Ongoing English translation for the programme of events during Rijeka’s year as European Capital of Culture

Two editions have been published so far. I am now working on the translation of the third and final edition due in March 2020.

1st edition of Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture programme brochure
2nd edition of Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture programme brochure

Rijeka – Port of Diversity monography

A new monography Rijeka Luka različitosti / Fiume Porto della diversità / Rijeka Port of Diversity that highlights the diversity of the city of Rijeka – European Capital of Culture 2020. A trilingual edition with Croatian text by Edi Jurković, my English translation and Italian translation by Ivo Vidotto, edited by Dragan Ogurlić, it has 232 pages with over 300 excellent photographs covering life, work, people, culture, sport, entertainment, science, innovation, health, history and much more in the city.

With its stunning photography by the city’s leading photographers and easy to read texts covering all aspects of Rijeka this is a superb edition to the European Capital of Culture 2020 celebration and I am proud to have been the English translator.

ISBN 978-953-8180-11-8
Available from Val Publishing here

pic c/o Val Publishing

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Sarah & The Romans interview

WE PRESENT SARAH & THE ROMANS –
a merry group from Rijeka who are winning over the world!

  • 10th October 2017 – Novi List, Rijeka, Croatia. Interview with Ivana Kocijan.

Coming soon from the German publishing house AGR TV Records in Hamburg will be ‘First Date’ the debut album by the Croatian group Sarah & The Romans. To find out how this cooperation came about, what it means to them, what they sing about in their songs, we spoke to band members: Sara Blažić, Goran Troha and Igor Willheim.

Igor: Six months ago we began to send emails and singles to Europe and America, looking for a publisher for our album. Publishing houses from Canada, America, Sweden and Germany were interested. German companies were the most interested in this regard, and over a few months we reached an agreement with one of them, signed a deal and began the production of the album.
Goran: We were not trying to look for a publisher in Croatia because all the material is aimed at the foreign market, the songs are in English, and the music is such that it is more popular abroad than here.

When will the album be published and what can we find on it? Who are your songwriters?
Goran: We have 11 songs on the album. Of those 10 are original compositions, whilst one is a version of an instrumental on the theme of the movie ‘Kekec’ (‘Good Will is The Best’) which we have arranged ourselves. As for the writers, I can say there are many, especially of the lyrics. As the lyrics are in English, we strive that they are written by native speakers. And in this we also have a translator who is following us, Martin Mayhew, an Englishman with a Rijeka address. Who as a translator and musician, has fitted very well into our story. The music and arrangements are written by members of the band.
Igor: The album should be released on 27th October, and in the deal there is also a second album, which we are already working on, all the demo material has been recorded. We are still not sure of the title.

‘First Date’ now available on iTunes and Google Play

What themes do you sing about?
Sara: The themes are love. The name of the album is ‘First Date’, as in romance, but also as in the first encounter of our band with the audience… It can be interpreted in various ways, but always positively and with good intention. The lyrics are always of love, optimistic, which is also the message of the bluegrass music that we play: everything is happy, positive, and even when something bad happens, you forget it, carry on and everything is OK.

Your first single ‘Smoke in The Wind’ from last year was chosen as Bluegrass Song of the Month by the American Akademia Music Awards. What does this acknowledgment mean for you?

Goran: Yes, we sent the song upon the recommendation of one radio DJ from Houston who fell for our music. The song was chosen as song of the month in June in its category. This really did open the door to the music world for us, and with that we gained many contacts. So for example we joined up with a dance troupe from Tennessee who we accompanied for five days in Zagreb, they danced, and we played.
Igor: It was the International Folklore Festival, an excellent experience. The music brought us together and a great collaboration was created and so we will continue to accompany the dance troupe from Tennessee further at European dance festivals. At that time we also got to know a group from Indonesia, amongst whom was Agung who plays the talempong. This is a (audibly) similar instrument to the xylophone and makes a magical tone which so delighted and surprised us that we asked Agung to record something with us, which we then put together in one song. This is the charm of our music, we mix what we like into it. In the same song we also incorporated a flute.
Sara: With that example Igor has described why we think we are original, what our vision is and how we are trying to create a unique sound.

Remind us of when and how the band was formed; who are its members and were you active as such a large group from the beginning?
Goran: The band Sarah & The Romans came into existence in 2014, and currently there are ten members. We have also collaborated with musicians from Ljubljana (Slovenia), some permanent members are from Zagreb. We work in a kind of Rijeka-Zagreb-Ljubljana triangle. We are trying to make our music interesting, original and surprising. One instrument appears in an entire song, a second in two musical sections and then no more. This gives vibrancy, dynamics, and colour to the sound. And for that to function and be interesting, you need to have a little orchestra.

Where do you play the most, where can we listen to you?
Igor: We will have the promotion of the album in Rijeka after it comes out. We perform mainly at festivals.

Where did you record the album?
Goran: The songs were recorded in the Mr Lucky and Just Sound studios in Rijeka and in Metro in Ljubljana. Both the mix and mastering of the songs were finished by Mladen Srića (Rijeka, Croatia), Janez Križaj (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and Eduardo Reynoso Jr. (L.A., California).

You play a unique combination of various genres. What are they?
Goran: We are unique in every case because we don’t repeat or copy traditional bluegrass. What is that in effect? It is our polka and waltzes, our European music, central European folk which is permanently in our ears. Bluegrass is acoustic, there are no electric guitars, no drums, it is full of wooden, warm instruments. The whole concept is very optimistic, positive… Such as we are in spirit, so is our music.

Are you recognised in Croatia?
Sara: Yes, we are recognised, but in small circles. However, again we don’t play traditional bluegrass. It is not for older audiences, we are making music for the younger people. Radio stations are playing our music, we are played a lot abroad, for instance on British stations, and many more in America… One of our songs was in the Top 10 in Missouri.

Was singer Sara Blažić in the band from the beginning?
Igor: Yes, we met during karaoke shows, she made a great impression on us because she had a very interesting voice. Also with her in the band are the singers Nikolina Akmadža and Matea Dujmović who also plays flute on one song.

You are collaborating with the 92-year-old singer Bruno Petrali. Can you tell us something more about that?
Goran: Yes, at the same time with the band we are working on the project Sarah & The Romans feat. Bruno Petrali.
Igor: Petrali is a legend. He is 92 years old, he knows everything about music, everything about sport. We have recorded a duet with him, a version of the song ‘Una sola volta ci si ama’, with his original translation. It was joy to work with Petrali and so we recorded two more songs, a version of ‘Bambina’ by Neno Belan which he translated into Italian and a version of the song ‘Sve moje jeseni su tužne’ (’All My Autumns Are Sad’) by Žarko Petrović, which Petrali sang originally way back in 1957.

Goran: We are also working on a special album with Iva Santini, a young singer-songwriter from Rijeka, who is also the writer of one of the songs on our first album. The album with Iva will be something very innovative, different. Her genre is folk-ethno, and she usually plays the Celtic harp and ukulele.

Members of the band:
Singers: Sara Blažić, Nikolina Akmadža, Matea Dujmović
Violin: Antun Stašić, Nikola Čeran, Mislav Salopek
Mandolin: Roman Tomašković
Banjo: Goran Troha
Dobro, guitar: Boris Luka Luković
Guitar: Zoran Bebe Petrović
Double bass: Domagoj Zubo Zubović
Harmonica: Ivica Dujić
Drums: Suzan Vidović
Booking manager: Igor Willheim

Guests on the album ‘First Date’:
Anja Hrastovšek and Jasna Žitnik, Ivana Marić, Artemija Stanić, RiverBlue (Vedran and Ivana Mlakar), Mirna Škrgatić, Mladen Srića, Nataša Manestar, Damjan Vasiljević, Sempre Allegro Choir Rijeka, Dino Džopa Šemsudin, Vanja Dizdarević, Damjan Grbac, Tilen Stepišnik, Dušan Pjer Ladavac, Uroš Šuljić, Žiga Šercer, Nikola Jovanović, Krešimir Kunda, Klaudio Kolar, Petar Tepšić, Rajko Ergić and Ivan Pjerić Dorčić.

(Translated by Martin Mayhew from the original Croatian article here)

Follow Sarah & The Romans on:
Facebook
Youtube

Buy the album ‘First Date’ on iTunes here.
and Google Play here.

England to India by automobile, via Fiume in 1924

FROM ENGLAND TO INDIA BY AUTOMOBILE
An 8,527-mile Trip Through Ten Countries, from London to Quetta, Requires Five and a Half Months
BY MAJOR F.A.C. FORBES-LEITH

extract: THE FIUME “LIONS” OF ITALY’S POET SOLDIER

Our next stop was at Fiume (Rijeka), the scene of the coup of Gabriele d’Annunzio, Italy’s poet patriot. It is also a fine port, but a mean city in comparison with Trieste. A narrow river separates it from Susak, the Yugoslavian frontier town.

An impressive sight in the city was the great number of apparently idle young men with shock heads of hair fluffed out like a lion’s mane. We thought this must be the latest thing in Fiume masculine styles until an English-speaking friend explained that this is the hall mark of d’Annunzio’s “lions,” who, with him, captured the city.

We were warned not to upset any of them, as they have the reputation of being excessively irascible and a law unto themselves.

After a night in Fiume, we crossed the frontier bridge to Yugoslavia. The incredible change made by those few yards is impossible to imagine – a jump from stagnation and slackness to hurry and bustle.

The only place into which the general energy had not penetrated was the customhouse. We had a letter of introduction to the chief revenue officer, who told us that, as a great favour, they would rush us through the formalities. The “rush” required six hours to deal with our small outfit!

The officials seemed to like our company. As soon as the papers were passed to a fresh clerk, he would come and have a friendly chat with us on European politics, our trip, and, in fact, anything but the business concerned. They were so cheery and genial that we could not take offense; so we smoked endless cigarettes and waited.

Overland from England to India in late 1924 by Major Forbes-Leith. Here seen in Baghdad on 20th August 1924.

EVERY VILLAGE CAFE IN YUGOSLAVIA HAS ITS ORCHESTRA

We were now in a new kingdom, a charming country of delightful, music-loving people. Every little village café has its orchestra of young men playing the guitar and mandolin, and accompanied by a trio or quartette of girl singers. The former stand and play; the latter sit in a row in front and sing national songs from dusk to midnight.

The Croats and Serbs are fine fellows of good physique, very hard workers, great patriots, and among the finest soldiers in the world. Serbia, before the World War, was spoken of as a little Balkan state; now she must be reckoned as a power in Europe.

English police uniforms used in Zagreb in the 1920s.

At Agram (Zagreb), the capital of Croatia, formerly part of the old Austrian Empire, we had a shock that made us rub our eyes. In front of us at the first crossroad, was the embodiment of an English policeman, with helmet, uniform, and baton complete. We heard afterward that the whole police force of the city was modeled and trained on British lines, even uniforms being supplied by outfitters in England.

In atmosphere, architecture, and general plan, Agram is a miniature Vienna. It has a fine opera house, and the architecture is for the most part typically Austrian.

Living is very cheap here for the man who carries either the pound sterling or the dollar.

*******

The trip was made in 1924 and published by The National Geographic Magazine August 1925.

There was even a cameraman on the trip and there exists footage – called ‘Lure of the East’ of some of the trip available here on the British Pathe archives website. And on Vimeo – watch at 1:00 and you’ll see a Zagreb copper: https://vimeo.com/45439980

Thanks to Saša Dmitrović for the source material.

Interesting historical facts about Rijeka – European Capital of Culture 2020

Some historical facts about the city of Rijeka – the European Capital of Culture in 2020
Did you know…?

– in Rijeka in 1909 the first Croatian feature film was made.

– the first television aerials in Croatia were placed on the roofs of houses in Rijeka.

– the first kidney transplant in the ex-Yugoslavia was performed in Rijeka, in 1971.

– in the Arctic there is a piece of land named after Rijeka (Cape Fiume).

Robert Ludvigovich Bartini born in Rijeka was an accomplished aircraft designer.

– in Rijeka the trajectory of a gunshot was photographed for the first time in history.

– the postmark ‘V’ Fiume from 1755, is the oldest surviving postmark in the Republic of Croatia.

– a life jacket from the Titanic is located in the local museum. It was collected by the RMS Carpathia (the ship that saved the Titanic’s survivors) on route from New York-Rijeka.

– in Rijeka in 1786 the first midwifery school in Croatia was founded.

– the ‘Husar’ disco club in Rijeka was the first in this part of Europe.

– that ‘Quorum Colours’/’Fun Academy’ was the first and largest Croatian underground club.

– the first Croatian rock band, ‘Uragani’ came from Rijeka.

– the first punk group in Croatia ‘Paraf’ came from Rijeka.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwmwMd96jlE

– Croatian Hip-Hop began in Rijeka.

– in Rijeka the first speedway race was held in Italy and that the founder of Italian speedway was in fact from Rijeka.

– the first psychiatric hospital in Yugoslavia was built in Rijeka.

– the oldest lift in Croatia is in Rijeka.

– the first vehicle marked “Made in Croatia” was built in Rijeka.

– that under Rijeka there is a cave which has been declared a natural geomorphologic monument.

– that Rijeka had its very own Schindler who helped hundreds of Jews.

– in 1852 in Rijeka the first gas production plant began operation in South East Europe.

– Rijeka’s rope factory is the oldest industrial plant in the city’s history.

– the first sanatorium in Croatia was opened in the district of Pećine.

– the first radio transmission in the ex-Yugoslavia was made in Rijeka, back in 1920. It was a speech by D’Annunzio.

– the first Croatian steamship was built in Rijeka and with it a regular passenger route between Senj and Rijeka was established which is considered to be the start of passenger travel on the Croatian Adriatic.

– the Croatian national anthem was written in Rijeka by Antun Mihanović.

– that French writer Henri Beyle Stendhal spent some time in Rijeka.

– that member of the American Senate and Mayor of New York Fiorello Henry La Guardia stayed in Rijeka as the US consul and played in the Rijeka football club Atletico Fiumano.

– that Rijeka’s Pero Radaković scored the only goal in the quarter-final match against Germany, during the Football World Cup in Chile in 1962, ensuring Yugoslavia’s 4th place, which was to be its best ever result.

– Nikola Tesla had a sister who lived in Rijeka and that D’Annunzio’s legionnaires destroyed all her personal letters and other effects which should have been preserved for history.

Georg Ludwig Ritter von Trapp, the most decorated submarine captain of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy, attended the Naval Academy in Rijeka. At the shipyard in Kantrida, where the submarines were launched, he met and fell in love with Agathe, the granddaughter of Robert Whitehead (inventor of the torpedo in Rijeka), and they married on 10th January 1911 in Rijeka. In the 1960s one of the best musical films of all time ‘The Sound of Music’ was filmed about the von Trapp family.

– in 1937 Gino and Oscar Jankovits from Rijeka designed, constructed and tested the first car in Croatia. It was the Alfa Romeo Aerospider. It was the first vehicle in the world with fitted door handles and lights in the chassis, the first with the steering wheel in the centre, the first with the engine placed centrally at the rear, the first with a horizontally placed radiator and it could reach a speed of 230 km/h.

– in Rijeka on 9th June 1969 the first library bus in Yugoslavia began working. It visited the city’s surroundings which had no access to library facilities providing all the inhabitants with library services.

– in 1984 the first cash machine, ATM, in Yugoslavia was installed in Rijeka by Riječka Banka.

In 2020 Rijeka is the first Croatian city to hold the title of European Capital of Culture – the year-long programmes of events begins on 1st February – more info here:https://rijeka2020.eu/en/

Antun Barac – ‘Fiume’ in English

01_korzo

‘Fiume’

(passing impressions, July 1919)
by Antun Barac – translated for the first time by Martin Mayhew

Three beautiful, sunny, autumnal days. I don’t know what happened. In a single morning all the ties snapped, that were holding the voice in the throat, that loosened the links, that were chaining the feet, the heavy and rigid mask fell, that was hiding the face. A quiet whisper, which spoke curses and revealed a howl, scattered itself like a wild, holy cry of joy, whilst a hand, a pathetic hand, taught to give a servile and official greeting, extended for the first time in a bold gesture of belief and confidence in itself.

We went onto the streets, in processions, assemblies, groups and we sang and cheered. And everything was so sunny, bright and light. And everything was clear and cheerful and happy in the beautiful, clear autumnal day.

In the barracks there were soldiers, and they were cheering. In the hospitals there were wounded, and they were singing. The soldiers came out onto the streets and were firing their guns. After four blurry years it was the first time that the firing meant joy, after four sombre summers it was the first time that a bullet didn’t mean death, but life. And it was as though that shot, which was now rising into the air, was a symbol, as it rises and as it falls.

On the chests flowers and tricolours. In the windows flowers and tricolours. On the streetlamps, on the telephone poles, on the makeshift stands flowers and tricolours.

In a red, white, blue, green colour, in the grey colours of joy, ecstasy, hope and belief, on each flag, that flutters, of elation, love, sympathy and adoration, which the flag as a symbol means. In the red glow of love and brotherhood towards everything and everyone, in the whiteness of the cleanliness and sublimeness of ecstasy, hope in the new world, that was being created.

We went out onto the streets and sang. We welcomed the foreign troops and sang. We threw flowers and sang. We welcomed ships from foreign countries and sang. “Call out, just call out… Viva la France! Allons enfants de la Patrie!…” And the children of the homeland arrived, and laughed, and danced, and cheered.

Here people just walk around and cheer and sing” – they say, wrote home one French sailor. “Viva la Yugoslavie!” His compatriots cheered – and in their scepticism and in their laughter for the sake of laughing and joy for the sake of joy we felt the first stab of disappointment and misunderstanding.

In an isolated corner an old hunched over woman was sobbing. “Woman, why are you crying?” – asked a voice – I don’t know whose, and I don’t know where from. “In every joy there is a note of pain, in every laugh a seed of sorrow”, as though replying to somebody’s voice – who knows whose, who knows where from?

Three beautiful, clear, sunny, autumnal days. Three days of song and clamour and ecstasy. And then – armoured cars, machine guns and horses on the cobblestones and pikes, stretching up high, rigidly, arrogantly. In the port heavy ships with cannons aimed at the city, on the street assault troops with helmets, rifles, knapsacks and ammunition belts.

Three beautiful, clear, sunny, days passed. And nothing to show for them. Only a difficult, long winter with clouds. Just a cold summer with raindrops, that with the ‘bura’ and rain even the tears froze. Just a gloomy spring without light or sun.

Maybe a time will come, when all the ecstasy and elation will seem ridiculous to us. Maybe a period will come, when every sense will be reduced to a mathematical or chemical formula. I only know, that even then, when I was in the height of national fervour, I felt no desire for revenge or hatred or malice – the days of the greatest joy were days of forgiveness for everything, to all who had oppressed us, days of national liberty, a time when love for everyone was the most lively, the most conscious. And in those days of intoxicated delight and love, that had boiled over, the clenched fists, clashes and attacks were the end of everything.

I don’t know what happened. In just one day with a wild roar they began to tear down the tricolours of red and white and blue, and in the windows, on the streetlamps, the houses, the buildings, the churches suddenly others appeared – red and white and green, with a star and a coat of arms. Everywhere the coat of arms and everywhere the star, and everywhere fanatic hatred in the faces and fury and poison in the looks. “Italia o morte! Fuori il straniero!” Whilst the straniero thoughtfully stops and thinks: “Who in fact is the stranger?

In these sombre days of waiting and incertitude, desperation and zeal, it is so difficult to be alive and carry all the heavy burden of the present; however it is hardest to be human. So many times I have felt the pain and burden of life, but the worst thing was when I felt the aching shame, I didn’t feel fear for myself, but for those who persecuted us, the shame of man, that chaotic, disproportionate mixture of beast and god. The beast, wild, brutal, vicious, kicking and rearing up, and the god, sublime, the ashen sceptic levelling with it, taming or incensing it. And in the battle of animal with god like the battle of a bull with a toreador – the white, red, blue, green colours, that they have signifying a symbol, they stimulate it, intoxicate it, they extol it, bring it to an ecstasy of madness and rage. Fiume, the yellowish-grey, deceitful animal, from the eyes of which peer the envy and intoxication of excessive enthusiasm, throws itself, snapping, howling and moaning into exhaustion, until it falls bewildered, unconscious to the ground.

Therein the roar is so quiet! Therein the crowd is so uneasy and lonely. In this racket our steps reverberate so eerily. Oh, the whole of this city, whose number of inhabitants doubled in a few months, as it turned into a huge, grey, isolated monastery, where the shadows succumb to the wolf, hollow songs reverberate and the voices of muffled prayers drone. And thus it is miraculously quiet and in the murmur, so terribly calm in the constant throng.

Why call this city Rieka, when it is – Fiume. Reka, Rika, Rieka – that sounds so sweet, placid and childlike like the nostalgic “ca” and “ča” of the people of Drenova, Plase, Trsat, reminiscent of the sunny gleam of the stone walls and enclosures scattered with rocks and brambles, amongst which, in spring, blossom such beautiful and fragrant violas, a modest and shy flower. It is a city with a filthy physiognomy and with an inner self bland and murky, like the murky Fiumare canal, the dead water that cries for it. The Fiuman is a separate race, not belonging to any one nation. It is a mixture of everything that has come to this merchant city to trade – of everything, of many things. The Fiuman is both an Italian and a Yugoslav – an Italian, born of Yugoslavs and brought up as a Yugoslav, who cheers at the top of his voice: “O Italia o morte!, the Yugoslav is a quiet and timid beast, hiding because of his interests of his national origin with a neutral, inexpressible, merchant’s sneer. Whilst the Riečanin, Recan, Ričanin – they are the masses – they are the nameless mass, who don’t ask, quantité négligeable, they are the inhabitants of the workers’ houses, basements and attics, the servants and labourers, small artisans and assistants, the masses, who have only one head, and who would, maybe, with just a single blow fall. And that is the characteristic, external image of the city – Fiume, Fiuman. And in this fatal exchange is the source of all the illusions, all the efforts and all the miserable disappointments.

Years and years of timid and quivering yearnings for the city of Kvarner and in that name I will stop with everything, that was the dearest and utmost in life – but then the bloody realisation, that it was all just a yearning for childhood, for the sea, for the days that had gone forever. Yet there is no city, there is no childhood and there is no sea. There is only Fiume and Gomila and Fiumara – a murky, stagnant mire, like a feeble residue of exacerbated human passions, without the strength that it vanishes, without the strength that it stirs up, rises, moves.

Corso. An evening stroll. In the looks a glow and depth, in the gestures a yearning and yielding to love. Yet the whole city seems to shiver from one single deep gaze, which rises from the bottom of the soul and seeps into the bottom of the soul, and the whole city seems to twinkle from love, that is only the soul, only the soul. Whilst down, in the depths, inside – ah, there is no soul and there is nothing, the base and desolation and emptiness. And the whole of this city and all these people who rousingly speak and shout and wave – the whole of this city has no soul, and everything, that moves it, is the basic animal life. And its voice is not the sublimeness of ecstasy nor the size of reproach – everything is just a roar, clamour and mania. And the moment will come and everything will boil over and everything will disappear, what froths up and what rises up – on the empty bottom will remain just Fiume, a city without a soul and without physiognomy and a notion without features.

Over five bloody years ten times in the memory of the sparseness and irritation of the nerves the city howled and ten times they changed the inscriptions and ten times in a fanatical irritation the masses passed over their old idols. Today on the ruins of everything, a fiery rage triumphs in the proud satisfaction, that with the greatest lie it refuted thousands of its little lies and that in the deafening cry it suppressed everything, that protests, that rebels. Because that cry is not a lie, because this fire of enthusiasm isn’t hypocrisy. It is Fiume and everything is Fiume. And to whomsoever this Città di San Vito belongs; whosoever flag will flutter next to the double-headed eagle with the yellow-blue symbol – will win, I’m afraid of Fiume, and with a shout of honest enthusiasm the malicious cry of a lazy and cunning animal will intervene. And that is my fear and it will be a drop of bitterness in that moment, which we will surely never live to see.

What can enthral a man in this city, in which culture and supremacy are denoted by the black marks on the walls and the holes in broken inscribed tiles? In our weakness for it there is a weakness towards one’s own past, which is contained in these pavements, street corners and quays, a weakness towards the whistle of departing steamships and the whiteness of unfurled sails, that awoke our childlike imagination and tied it to this place, that doesn’t love us. In our trepidation towards its destiny there is only the fear for those miserable, unknown, oppressed thousands, who just silently accept the blows and ridicule and the stamp of inferiority. We understand that the sinful must repent the sins and perform penance those, who have deserved it. However what did the little pale children commit that they must suppress their voices in their throats, the only one with which they are able to express the feeling of happiness in the joy and drive of wickedness in the game?

Our feeling of attachment with this city isn’t a feeling of love, but a feeling of pain, and fear, and hopelessness in the sense of a wounded animal and disgust and revulsion. Because it is just Fiume – and Fiume is not an organism, not a concept, not a soul, but something colourless and tepid and tensile, that with its odour tears at the nostrils and throat, and intoxicates and commits evil. And here nothing enthrals and here nothing is attractive. The love of this city – ah, it is an illusion, it isn’t love, but an escape from it, an escape to the blueness of the sea, the sigh of Trsat, the greenery of Opatija and Volosko and the serene vistas towards Kostrena, Omišalj, Cres and Ika. Everything that nature has warm and soothing and soft, is gathered around this city, to shield it, to protect it, to conceal it. And the reason why its poison didn’t act. In the moment when the heavy shackles fall from the chests and from the legs and from the hands and from the tongues, from all sides pale children will rush and shower it with flowers of love, forgiveness and it will forget all the insults, all the blows and all the threats.

From Školjić to Kantrida – one and the same street and one and the same image: houses without expression, without style, stores, shop windows, markets. In the place where there is only trade, all the houses are built on clear commercial principles: with the least expenses – the highest rents. Houses without physiognomy, without souls. In the city, where everything is measured purely in monetary measures, the friars had also taken advantage of the few metres of free space around the church and built umpteen little rooms for shops. Trade is not permitted in the temple, however it is better in front of and around the temple. The city of fifty thousand inhabitants did not give up one single man, whose name would be recorded in the history of culture and art, and wishing to somehow christen their streets, the fathers of the city were having to reach back for names from the mother countries: of Hungary and Italy. In a city of fifty thousand souls there is not one monument, and the only highpoints on the streets are advertising posts and lavatories – as unintentional symbols of it, as if it is the only purpose in this place. I love and appreciate trade as a means, but as soon as it becomes the meaning of life, it becomes both the negation and profanation of all higher values. And that which people would have to make them happy, to lead them ever upwards, throws them ever lower. And Fiume is deep, so deep.

Amongst its great evidence for being Italian the supremacy of Italian culture is prominent in Rijeka, the culture of the Italian is greater than that of the Yugoslav. Whilst the first glance at this city shows that it has, in general, no culture, not only of its own, but no culture of any kind, and that, which in the moment could deceive the eyes, is just glued on, that is easily washed-off by the rain or over night, when the city’s new generation is over-patriotically disposed.

The fun fairs, public houses, buffet bars, cafés, cinemas. All dirty, all abandoned, all in disarray. The dirt of the port as though it passes into the city itself, into every corner, every alleyway. This relatively large city is not capable of supporting a permanent theatre, whilst the companies, which are hosted here for a month, twice a year, can only be supported by the subscriptions of Yugoslav misers. In the place, where all the sights are just negative assets, such are the values and the two most important characteristics: Rijeka’s Gomila and Rijeka’s street gangs. The heart, the centre of the city, consisting of ancient ruins, disgusting mansions with narrow and winding streets, where the sun never reaches and where streams of undignified liquids flow freely; dangerous, dark corners, smelly inns, and women, and beggars, and drunks. While Rijeka’s street gangs they are a mighty gutter army, an abandoned mob that attacks the schiavi, that fights selflessly and fervidly for the lofty goals of the city’s fathers and less selflessly, for the needs of life. And that is – Fiume.

In the days of liberty, in the days of the universal love of forgiveness, a grey monster howled, that calls itself Fiume, with a howl of hatred and revenge. In the days, when kisses and expressions of brotherhood should have rained down, it prepared itself for secretive bites, punches and stabs. And why wasn’t the punch stronger, that is just the deceitful cunningness and feeling of weakness alongside all the abundance of gesticulation.

Fiume November 1918Is this city ours? Ours are those thousands and thousands of silent beings, who resignedly just wait, eternally waiting, thousands unarmed and unlawful, who upon the punch and the bite correspond with a speechless look, who upon an energetic nod from their masters sign up dutifully and without opposition, not asking: “Where to?” – It doesn’t matter, what they’re called. In the ascertainment of their anguish there was the justification of a love for them, from their speechless mouths comes a call for resistance, for rebellion, for liberation. And that is why, as their national consciousness is not strong, as the term of Yugoslavism has not developed in them yet, their pain is even stronger: it is the consciousness, that despises them, that brands them without reason, without cause, that they oppress the concept of man in them. Yet theirs is the main feeling, the feeling of shame, that they belong to a common creed unlawful, powerless, weak – and with the sense of the joy of life is mixed some dreary feeling of their own inferiority, a state of neglect before the mighty.

Whatever happened, whatever the fate of this city, I will not complain and I will not pity those, to whom the street corners, the banks, the ships and the warehouses belong. Alongside all of their Yugoslav tricolours, were also the Fiumani, and in their pre-war silence and chivalrousness were hidden the subterfuge and calculating attitude of the merchant, who goes just for the money. I won’t grieve for them nor for the legion of those, who over three lovely autumnal days cheered, sang and carried banners. I will only grieve for the pale little people, as their half-spoken “ča” chokes in the instinctive fear before the sharp glance of contempt and superiority…

Long, difficult months of waiting. Events, attacks, parades. Soldiers, soldiers, soldiers. Italians, French, Americans, English, Indo-Chinese. Ships, automobiles, aeroplanes. Carabinieri, bersaglieri, granatieri. Infantry, sailors, lancers, gunners. Crowded and mixed and multi-coloured. Smugglers, detainees, fugitives. And the inns and basements reverberate and glass shatters and girls scream, and blood, wine and champagne flow. Fiume goes crazy and howls and rages.

Yet that’s what it wanted and so sullenly and so sombrely. Like the shadows we loiter only around the corners and we disappear in the corners. Whilst the sun stings and the truth stings. However, the shame against man stings the most of all, for man, as he oppresses his own brother. Of all these people of various colours and uniforms the most likeable are the Annamese (Vietnamese from the French peacekeeping forces), yellow, silent, mysterious, calm creatures with a sick nostalgia for the East and a blunt lack of understanding for all of this colourful, noisiness and craziness. Why are they here and for what use is the secret, eternal pain for the motherland? The same feeling in them, that they protect us, and in us, that they protect. A feeling of pain, shame, submissiveness, disgrace.

Mornings and afternoons and evenings pass. And nights fall, long nights without sleep, when below the windows the hooves of horses clatter as they pass by, heavy cannons boom, the steps of soldiers reverberate. And the city stays silent and the river stays silent, and the sea, in a troubled uncertainty. Just above the houses glimmer the large, light letters: Viva Fiume italiana! And the shining sign and the shining star, so that the brothers can see on the other bank. And they in despair and hopeless expectancy hide their heads amongst the pillows, so they see nothing, so they hear nothing, so they feel nothing. And everything is dead, rigid, uneasy. And everything is sleepless yet in a dream, without a break, without rest, without peace, without joy.

It just sleeps like a fatigued beast, dreaming maliciously and in that sleep of new bites and stabs, the grey formless masses, Fiume sleeps, a city without soul and without physiognomy.

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Sva prava pridržana / All rights reserved.

antun baracAntun Barac (1894 Kamenjak near Crikvenica – Zagreb 1955) was an important literary historian and writer, who was an advocate for the publication of Janko Polić Kamov’s works. In 1917 he established the influential publishing institute ‘Jug’ in Zagreb with other writers. Amongst the books they planned to published was Kamov’s only novel Isušena Kaljuža written from 1906-1909, but this never happened.

Barac spent the unsettled period after the First World War from 1918-1924 in Sušak (the eastern part of today’s Rijeka) working as a professor at the secondary school. During this period he wrote this short, stark, even poetic essay Fiume, in which he describes the unpleasant events and experiences in the city of Rijeka at the time of the arrival of foreign peace-keeping troops whilst the city’s fate was being decided in post-war negotiations, and just upon the eve of the arrival of D’Annunzio and his soldiers. It is interesting to note that Barac was most likely reading the still as yet unpublished manuscript of Kamov’s Isušena Kaljuža during this period and that it may have influenced his writing of Fiume. This text was first published in the journal Njiva in 1919.

Barac was also the originator of the idea to publish a collection of the complete works of Janko Polić Kamov, which finally saw the light of day from 1956-1958, amongst which the novel Isušena Kaljuža was printed for the first time almost 50 years after Kamov wrote it.

Thanks to Igor Žic