Pet Culture Research, Presentation, Interpretation, and Collecting Practice at the Ethnographic Museum, Zagreb, Croatia
In Europe, almost one in two households includes a pet. This ICOM Talk demonstrates how one pet exhibition in Croatia's Zagreb opened up a wide spectrum of opportunities for research and audience development, such as oral history in the city and co-creation with a large community. How do you deal with the lack of exhibition material? And how do you combat academic biases and professional stereotypes attached to pet culture?
A Talk by Gordana Viljetic, senior curator at Zagreb Ethnographic Museum, with contributions by Zvjezdana Antos and Suzana Marjanic.
Revisit the Talk
In her Tak, Gordana refers to the video that was released on the occasion of the exhibition of Bane Milenkoviç. Find this video here.
Speakers
Dr Zvjezdana Antos (Introduction)
Dr Zvjezdana Antos has been the Director of the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb since 2023, where she has worked as a museum advisor for 25 years. She studied Ethnology and History and holds a Ph.D. in Cultural Heritage and Museum Studies from the University of Zagreb - Faculty of Philosophy. Antos also works on research dealing with using of new technologies in museums, contemporary collecting, urban and visual anthropology, contemporary culture, creative industries, participatory collecting, European carnival customs, music, and identities. She is the author of the books “European Museums and Globalization” (2012), “The Image Collection” (2017), and “The Furniture Collection” (2022), co-author of “Museums and Innovations” (2017), author of numerous exhibitions, articles, publications, ethnographic films and EU projects as project manager.
Gordana Viljetic (Talk)
Gordana Viljetic is senior curator and Head of the Textile Tools Collection and the Linen Collection at the Ethnographic Museum in Zagreb, where she has been a team member since 2013. She is an Ethnology and Pedagogy graduate from the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb. Viljetic is author/co-author/curator of several exhibitions (e.g. 'Of Animals and Humans', 2017-18), interdisciplinary projects, professional papers, and short documentaries/ethnographic films. Her professional interests are oriented toward Cultural Animal Studies, Lifestyle Anthropology, Deaf Culture, Museum Pedagogy, and Audience Development.
Ph.D. Suzana Marjanic (closing words)
Dr Suzana Marjanic works at the Institute of Ethnology and Folklore Research in Zagreb, where she pursues her interests in the theories of myth and ritual, cultural and critical animal studies, and performance studies. She has authored seven books: among them, her work "Chronotop of Croatian Performance: from Traveleri to Today" (2014) earned her the Annual Award of the Croatian Section of AICA and the State Prize for Science. Additionally, her book "Cetera Animantia: From Ethnozoology to Zooethics" (2022) secured her the Annual Award "Milovan Gavazzi." She is the co-editor of 13 anthologies/collections of papers: for instance, she edited the collection of works "Ecofeminism on the Edge: Theory and Practice" (Emerald, 2024) with Goran Durdevic.