This Saturday, September 23rd, at 7:30 PM, we are opening the exhibition “Modrave on Old Maps” by author Kristijan Juran. The exhibition is the result of research from the scientific project “Modrave – Cultural Landscape in Historical Perspective,” organized by the University of Zadar since 2021. The project is dedicated to researching the dynamics of agricultural use and cultural shaping of Modrave from the 15th to the 19th century. To implement the project, topographic maps and cadastral maps of the Modrava area from the 18th and 19th centuries were digitized, stored in the State Archives in Zadar and the State Archives in Split. The exhibition opening will be preceded by a lecture presenting the project, which will take place at the Presentation Center in Betina…

In the upcoming days of the Betina shipyard, on August 14th, we will open our exhibition “Shipbuilders’ Wives”. This exhibition emphasizes the role of women in shipbuilding during the second half of the 20th century – a period of the greatest social changes in Betina on the island of Murter. The exhibition highlights the involvement of women in shipbuilding, and their stories form the foundation of the entire exhibition concept. Women have always played a secondary role in shipbuilding. Their names were never recorded. Nevertheless, a woman’s touch could always be felt at the shipyard. The stories of the women from Betina’s 20th-century shipbuilding community reveal the other side of shipbuilding – the one hidden behind launched ships, bent timbers, and hammered nails. These stories…

On Sunday, July 2nd, we opened the exhibition “Maritime Heritage of Preko” in Preko on the island of Ugljan. The exhibition was created in collaboration with the Tourist Board of Preko, the Municipality of Preko, and the Public Open University “Dom na žalu”. The exhibition provides insight into the historical, geographical, and social circumstances that made Preko a starting point for numerous generations of labourers who would daily depart for their overseas estates. The Preko estate was extensive, and proportionally, so was the fleet in the Preko harbour. Gajetas, leuti, and kaići were indispensable means of transportation. The Preko residents would use boats daily to reach their fields. They would only use them for fishing incidentally, with the catch being used for their own sustenance….

On Sunday, June 25th, at 8:00 PM, we will open our exhibition “Modrave – In the Footsteps of Labourers”. The exhibition is ethnographic and tells the story of the everyday life of former labourers on their closest overseas property – Modrave, the largest olive grove in the broader area of the island of Murter. The Modrave area is dominated by a network of dry stone walls, piles of cleared stones, and small stone houses called “bunje” which were of immense importance to the local population during harsh weather conditions while working in the fields. The people who shaped the karst landscape for centuries and gradually transformed it into a useful agricultural area gave the greatest significance to this rocky terrain. The exhibition is divided into…

The story about a little shipbuilder was written by Sandra Barešin, and illustrated by Duška Radečić Petrić. It’s a story about a little boy named Paško, who dreams of becoming a shipbuilder and building his own boat more than anything else in the world. We organized the promotion of the picture book at the Presentation Center Betina, in collaboration with the kindergartens from Betina and Murter, who visited us at the party in honor of our Paško! There were sweets and cheerful music, and all the children knew the answers to the questions – it seems they have already become friends with Paško! The picture book adorns our museum souvenir shop, and you can get it to delight your little ones too!