Ines Matijević Cakić, Zlatan Vehabović and Nikola Vrljić in conversation with Antonela Solenički
Join artists Ines Matijević Cakić, Zlatan Vehabović and Nikola Vrljić in conversation with curator Antonela Solenički on Thursday, March 12, at 7 PM, as they explore their work and themes from the current exhibition “Unravel”.
Trotoar Talks is a series of discussions with artists, curators, and their guests related to exhibitions from the Trotoar program. Recordings of previous talks are available for listening on our SoundCloud channel.
ABOUT THE PANELISTS
Ines Matijević Cakić (1982, Osijek, Croatia) is a visual artist working in the fields of drawing, graphic art, and installation art. In her work, she focuses on questions of space, habitation, and subjective narratives, using her personal history as an analytical and transformative framework. She thematises the home, body, time, and motherhood as fragile and ambivalent spaces of experience, and emphasises slowness and empathy.
She studied graphic art at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb (in Prof. Ante Kuduz’s class), graduating in 2005. In 2016, she completed a PhD in painting (supervised by Prof. Ante Rašić and Prof. Lena Šimić). Since 2011, she has been working at the Academy of Arts and Culture in Osijek.
She has exhibited at numerous exhibitions, including her solo exhibitions House Without Ground (French Pavilion, Zagreb, 2025; Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Rijeka, 2022) and Matrixial Narratives (Museum of Fine Arts, Osijek; PM Gallery, Zagreb, 2014). She has also participated at exhibitions at the 54th Zagreb Salon of Visual Arts (Croatian Association of Artists, Zagreb, 2019); Collection for the Future – Acquisitions 2009-2019 (Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 2019); the HT Award (Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 2017); Exporting Zagreb (National Museum, Gdańsk, Poland, 2016); and the 28th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts (Tivoli Gallery, Ljubljana, 2009).
She is the recipient of numerous awards, including prizes from the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. She also won a prize at the 54th Zagreb Salon of Visual Arts (2019), and the third-place HT Award (2017). Her works are kept in the collections of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka, the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb, the Museum of Fine Arts in Osijek, and the Department of Prints and Drawings at the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts, as well as in private collections.
In his work, Zlatan Vehabović (1982, Banja Luka, Bosnia and Hercegovina) explores the relationship between visual heritage and contemporary artistic expression. From figurative painting and narrative structures, he has gradually turned towards painted collages, in which he connects historical and contemporary motifs. His work is characterised by the transformation of motifs, an interest in visual memory, and the multilayered nature of perception.
He has exhibited at numerous institutions and galleries, including the Museum of Contemporary Art and the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb, the Civico Museo Revoltella in Trieste, the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art in Rijeka, the National Museum in Gdańsk, the Hudson Valley Center for Contemporary Art (now Hudson Valley MOCA) in New York, and the Essl Museum in Vienna. His solo exhibitions include The School of Raging Thought (Marc Straus Gallery, New York, 2024); An Atlas of the Lesser World (National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, 2023); Dark White Earth (Art Pavilion, Zagreb, 2018); Foundations in Mud (Museum of Contemporary Art, Zagreb, 2015); Cursed Crew (Lauba – The House for People and Art, Zagreb; Marc Straus Gallery, New York, 2014); and Sweeping Confetti From the Floor of the Concrete Hole (Lauba, Zagreb, 2011).
He studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in the class of Zlatko Keser, graduating in 2006. In 2007, he began his postgraduate doctoral studies in painting at the Academy of Fine Arts, where since 2016 he has been an assistant professor in the Department of Painting. He is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes. His works are kept in both public and private collections, in Croatia and abroad, including the European Central Bank’s art collection (Frankfurt); the Essl Museum (Klosterneuburg, Austria); the Albertina Museum (Vienna); the European Parliament’s art collection (Brussels); and Lauba and Erste Bank’s collections. He lives and works in Zagreb.
Nikola Vrljić (1980, Zagreb) studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, graduating in 2007. His artistic practice primarily focuses on figuration. Through the mediums of sculpture and drawing, he explores the complexities of the human condition and its place in society, often infusing his work with humour and (self)irony. He employs classical techniques and works with various materials, frequently making the deliberate choice to reveal not only the original material but also the procedure of its primary manipulation, thereby enhancing the raw believability of his works.
He has exhibited his work at solo exhibitions at various galleries and museums, including a retrospective at the 15th Ivo Kerdić Memorial at the Museum of Fine Arts, Osijek (2025) and solo exhibitions at the Božidar Jakac Gallery, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, Kostanjevica na Krki, Slovenia (2024); Trotoar in Zagreb (2023); the Meštrović Gallery in Split (2022); the Meštrović Pavilion in Zagreb (2021); Poola Gallery in Pula (2021); the Josip Račić Gallery, the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb (2018), the Museum of the Town of Kaštela (2017), the HAZU Glyptotheque in Zagreb (2014), and the basement halls of Diocletian’s Palace in Split (2014). His group exhibitions include Panorama40+ at Bažato Gallery in Ljubljana (2023), the 12th Triennial of Croatian Sculpture in Zagreb (2018-2022), and the HT Award exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb (2015).
In 2021, he received the Croatian Association of Fine Artists’ Best Exhibition of the Year Award for The Siege of Oz at the Meštrović Pavilion in Zagreb. His works are part of the permanent collections at the National Museum of Modern Art in Zagreb and the Vukovar City Museum, and are also held in private collections. Vrljić currently teaches at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, Croatia.
Antonela Solenički is a curator working in the field of contemporary art and culture. She is Co-Director of Gallery Miroslav Kraljević (GMK) in Zagreb, where she develops and leads the gallery programme. She holds an MA in Visual Arts and Curatorial Studies from Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti in Milan, and a BA in Art History and Spanish Language and Literature from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb.
Her work focuses on contemporary art and critical approaches to cultural production, with a particular emphasis on working with emerging artists and supporting the development of new artistic practices. She is actively engaged in curatorial work within the independent art scene, developing exhibition and research-based projects. She publishes essays, reviews, and interviews on the cultural platforms VoxFeminae, Kulturpunkt, and Portal Novosti. She is a member of the Curatorial Section of HULU Split.