Open House of Silk and Embroidery 2025
- nikolaradonich
- Aug 17
- 4 min read
Updated: Aug 23
Last week at the “Open House of Silk and Embroidery - Gruda 2025”, the people of Konavle and their guests enjoyed programs that focused on preserving the cultural heritage of Konavle. The event was from 7 to 10 August, and was organized by Friends of Konavle and AR Atelier with the help of sponsors: The Tourist Board of Konavle and Dubrovnik-Neretva County.
This year's multi-day program consisted of workshops, lectures, musical evenings and interactive content dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Konavle heritage, especially traditional silk production and the preservation of the art of Konavle embroidery. These two crafts are listed as intangible cultural assets of the Republic of Croatia, so the preservation of such programs is important.
On Thursday, 7 August, the program opened with an introductory speech by Antonia Rusković Radonić about Konavle heritage. This was followed by Silk Evening, a presentation on the properties of silk, with a focus on its importance in Konavle. The evening ended with Let's Spin the Wheel workshop, where visitors had the opportunity to see and try out the traditional methods of silk production. We learned from Macedonian visitors that they also use the term silk točiti (pouring) for silk extraction.
The program on Friday, 8 August, began with the Konavle embroidery workshop Two Up Two Down All Morning, intended for all ages, where skilled embroiderers shared their knowledge and techniques of making Konavle embroidery. While beginners tried their hand at this technique, more experienced embroiderers exchanged their solutions to embroidery problems.
The afternoon continued with the presentation Silk in the Konavle Region in English for foreign visitors, and for others who wanted to hear the story of how traditional silk production has survived to this day. Also attending were Konavle emigrants living outside Croatia who wanted to learn about part of their ancestors' heritage.
TikTok posts by @ar.silkarica on the topic of silk were projected on a large screen, where we watched the film Konavle Silk produced by the Museums and Galleries of Konavle. The day continued with a children's workshop which introduced the world of caterpillars and moths in a fun way. The workshop ended with a memory game using cards depicting various stages of silkworm development.
The evening program featured professional musicians: opera singer Aida Vidović Krilanović and her husband oboist Milo Krilanović who is originally from Konavle. They have dedicated to lives to music and the promotion of Konavle heritage. With a few arias, a few musicals and famous film music, the evening was beautiful.
On Saturday, 9 August, the embroidery workshop Two Up Two Down continued throughout the morning, and the afternoon was dedicated to ethics in silk production through a workshop Silk Spun.
The lecture What are Ošve? was a good introduction to the musical part of the program. Antonio and Filip Bratoš composed melodies inspired by Konavle embroidery by using the embroidery numbers for structuring their music. Antonia Rusković Radonić presented the useful and customary values of the ošve, after which their compositions were listened to. This was the first time that someone had set Konavle embroidery to music, and everyone who was present felt the potential of this material. We heard how it sounds mournful, how festive, and how it is for every day.
The day ended with a concert by the band Kamenolom, so Gruda could hear the latest musical works by Antonio Bratoš and the band Kamenolom live for the first time.
On Sunday, 10 August, the program opened with a round table, Conversations under the Mulberry Tree: Embroidery and Silk – Then and Now, at which Konavle storytellers shared memories from their lives about embroidery, silk, and Konavle goods. Visitors listened and asked questions, which they answered in detail.
Then a children's workshop Pasanje was held, dedicated to putting on of traditional costumes and the skill of tying belts, with a competition for the fastest participant. The children were shown how to tie belts to a traditional costume on their own. After numerous attempts, everyone happily girded themselves.
This was followed by the Quiz of Konavle Clothes, which brought together parents and children in a fun and educational challenge about the Konavle folk costume. Among the twenty or so couples who entered, the winner was a mother and daughter from Gruda, narrowly beating a father and son pair from Karasovići. After that, the children of the Stjepan Radić Folklore Ensemble performed the Konavle dance Potkolo on the terace.
The evening ended with a musical lecture by Rikard Kužnin, A Song Will Dispel Our Fatigue. During the lecture about bagpipes, Stjepan Marinović played the Konavle pipes, and Rikard Kužnin played the Istrian pipes. The Stjepan Radić Folklore Ensemble sang Snježnica by Nike Peškareva and Konavle by Pero Bokarica. Ilija Letunić spiced up the evening by singing a very old harvest song.
This diverse program brought together domestic and foreign visitors of all ages, lovers of tradition, tourists and artists, confirming that Konavle heritage is not just part of the past, but can also be a living heritage that is transmitted, researched and reinterpreted in a contemporary context. The days were marked by socializing, exchange of knowledge, interactive participation and a joint celebration of the cultural identity of Konavle.
