18 Sept 2021

Graditeljice Maestrala / The Shipbuilders of the Mistral


The Shipbuilders of the Mistral is a collaborative project conceptualized and written by Dijana Protić, further developed into VR installation by Marta Stražičić, visuals, and Manja Ristić, sound. 

initial presentation GMK Zagreb
video teaser >>> here <<<

Author: Dijana Protić 
Curator: Lea Vene 
Art director, modeler and VR technician: Marta Stražičić 
Sound & composition: Manja Ristić 
Narration voice: Marija Borovičkić 
Design: Andrija Mudnić 
Sound mastering: La Plant Studio, Belgrade

Project supported by: The City of Zagreb, Ministry of Culture Republic of Croatia,
Dubrovačko-neretvanska County

Production: GMK Zagreb, gray) (area, Format C & Sintoment




For the past three years, the emphasis of interdisciplinary research around the industrial heritage of the island of Korčula has been placed on the important case study - the Greben shipyard in Vela Luka. Dijana Protić's artistic research began in 2017 with a focus on women's perspectives and work experience in Greben, and the backbone of the research was set by the stories of women former Greben workers. Although the initial idea was to turn the research into a film, the medium of the VR installation soon proved to be an important new element for deepening the theme and possible interpretation of the shipyard's "silenced" female history. 

A female voice in local dialect guides us through the exploration of the abstracted space of Greben. Her memory intertwines personal and professional stories of former female workers in Greben, with a special emphasis on work in the so-called plastics, a key area in which women were mostly employed. The project raises awareness of the extremely health-vulnerable and unprotected position that women were in. At the same time, we learn about the micro experiences of emancipation and financial independence that women gained while working in Greben. In addition, it alludes to the relevance of the women's collective, both in joint women's work and the interpersonal support that such a community creates. (Lea Vene