Slaven Tolj | Artists in Residence | Kamov Residency

Photo: Grad Rijeka

• Biography
• The Project
• Organized by

• Slaven Tolj

  Slaven Tolj (1964, Dubrovnik) is a Croatian visual artist whose work is marked by strong socio-political engagement. Through performance, installation, and interventions in public space, he explores identity, collective memory, and the consequences of war and transitional processes. His minimalist gestures create space for critical reflection on culture and community. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Sarajevo in 1987. As the founder and long-time director of the Art Workshop Lazareti, he shaped the independent art scene in Dubrovnik and across Croatia, while his practice includes numerous international exhibitions and projects. He also served as director of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka and as artistic director of the “Rijeka 2020 – European Capital of Culture” programme.

• House of the Setting Sun

  16.-26.05.2026.

  Slaven Tolj was invited to present a solo exhibition at Gallery Srce in Rijeka, which operates within the VBZ bookstore, but the development of the project led him in a different direction. The exhibition House of the Setting Sun was thus expanded to include Ivona Vlašić, Ivana Pegan, Nives Sertić, Pasko Burđelez, Stjepo Kaleb, and Vanja Pagar, artists gathered around the Dubrovnik-based Gallery Flora.

  As Helena Puhara writes in the accompanying exhibition text:
  “Located along the promenade in Lapad Bay, within a space that in recent years has been rapidly losing the contours of its once Mediterranean landscape under the pressure of touristification and large-scale construction projects, Gallery Flora has gradually developed into a place of collective work, gathering, and artistic recognition. It is precisely from this experience of a disappearing space that the atmosphere of this exhibition emerges, marked by melancholy, transience, and the uncertainty of contemporary life.”

  The exhibition opens on 22 June at 7 PM.

• Usta na usta

  Usta na usta is an authorial and production platform focused on the development of contemporary cultural programmes, festivals, and collaborations within the creative industries. It has been led by its founder, Ivan Šarar, since 2023.

  During this period, Šarar has worked as a producer, moderator, and consultant on projects connecting culture, music, literature, media, and public space.

  He is also the founder and artistic director of the Slowmotion festival in Opatija, an international festival that brings together artists, authors, and audiences around themes of contemporary culture and society. In collaboration with the publishing house VBZ, he participates in the development and production of the Vrisak festival, as well as programme modules such as Usta na usta, Studentski Vrisak, and Brusilica for high school students, all of which connect literature, education, and emerging authors.

  At the same time, he is developing SRCE, a new creative centre within the VBZ bookstore in Rijeka, conceived as a space for conversations, music, lectures, and interdisciplinary encounters.

  Alongside his own projects, he also works as a strategic and programme advisor on Croatian and international cultural initiatives. His work is based on creating open and communicative cultural formats that connect the professional scene, local communities, and wider audiences.