The exhibition ”Beyond Medvednica: Vesna Parun” opened in Kajkaviana and the lecture ”Ten Years of Vesna Parun in Zagorje” was held

On the occasion of the fifteenth anniversary of Vesna Parun's death, on Thursday, September 25, 2025, at 7 p.m., the opening of the Peasants' Revolts' Museum's guest exhibition titled Beyond Medvednica: Vesna Parun was held at the premises of the Kajkaviana association.

The exhibition revealed a lesser-known, but extremely important dimension of Vesna's life – her connection with the Zagorje region. Special emphasis was placed on the last decade of her life, which she spent creating in Stubičke Toplice. The crucial moment for her connection with Zagorje occurred in 1979, when she met the poet Božidar Brezinščak Bagola, who was present at the opening. In the same year, she met Magdica, whose life story inspired the creation of the poetic-visual map Magdica, in collaboration with Zlata Vucelic and Zdenka Pozaic, and whose wandering lifestyle particularly resonated with Vesna's view of the world.

The exhibition was officially opened by the authors, Žarka Vujić, PhD, and Vlatka Filipčić Maligec, prof., head of the Peasants' Revolts Museum. Filipčić Maligec explained that the initial impulse for the creation of the exhibition came from the Prigorje Museum in Sesvete, where Vesna Parun lived in the 1940s, which five years ago prepared the exhibition The Ballads of Vesna Parun, which referred to that period of her life. Vujić highlighted the ideas that guided the authors during the creation of the exhibition, which emphasizes Vesna's stay in her third homeland - Zagorje.

A special feature of the opening was the lecture by Vlasta Horvatić Gmaz, prof., a long-time friend of Vesna Parun, entitled Ten Years of Vesna Parun's Zagorje and Her Kajkavian Language Experiment. Professor Horvatić Gmaz brought a personal and highly emotional perspective on the period the poet spent in Zagorje, with a special emphasis on her experiment with the Kajkavian language. The evening was further enriched by the emotional memories of those who knew Vesna personally, interwoven with stories and anecdotes from Stubičke Toplice – where, despite life's challenges, Vesna retained her famous cheerfulness, wit and special penchant for intimate, humorous dedications.

The exhibition can be viewed until the end of October this year with prior notice.

The lecture and exhibition are held as part of the program Culture on Prescription – a program in the building of pharmacist Feller, co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the Krapina-Zagorje County and the City of Donja Stubica.