Silk and Embroidery Open House in Gruda

On 9 August 2024, AR Atelier in Gruda hosted an open house. For one day, it became a meeting place for lovers of Konavle’s intangible heritage, and especially Konavle’s embroidery and silk production. From 9:00 a.m. until late at night there were alternating programs in which children and adults, tourists and local people participated.

This was the first time that such an event was organized in Gruda, the goal of which was to preserve the protected intangible heritage of Konavle.

Intangible heritage, unlike monumental heritage which we protect from decay or destruction, requires the knowledge and skills of living people. Konavle embroidery and silk production were part of daily life of all Konavle girls until the first half of the 20th century. Both arts were in danger of disappearing during the period when Konavle national dress (nošnje) was abandoned in favor of civil clothing. This process became more common after the Second World War. The national dress was slowly abandoned, and with it the household production of silk. Konavle embroidery was simplified for the needs of making souvenirs and household items.

After the Homeland War it became clear that everything should be done to preserve these two skills for future generations. In 2015, the Ministry of Culture put the art of making Konavle embroidery on the list of “Intangible Cultural Assets of the Republic of Croatia”, and in 2022, based on Konavle traditional silk production, it protected the “Traditional Art of Sericulture and Silkmaking of the East Coast and the Adriatic Hinterland” in the same register. Thus, two important segments of Konavle heritage are included in the National Register.

However, protection on paper is not enough. It is necessary to constantly popularize the art in order to generate new interest and to ensure its preservation. This open house was organized by AR Atelier, which is the proud holder of protections from the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia.

The program started at 9:00 a.m. with a workshop on Konavle weaving. Konavle embroiderers (who have been gathering for years on Thursdays at AR Atelier), were available to all those who attended. So, a dozen or so local women and girls and tourists found themselves in the embroidery circle, where they received cloths, needles and samples, with which they tried their hand aided by skilled embroiderers from Konavle. The four hours of this workshop seemingly passed in an hour. The preoccupation with embroidery in pleasant company brought us to 1:00 p.m., when an English presentation of silk production began.

The presentation of silk production is always an attractive program. Along with getting acquainted with the basics of sericulture (the breeding of silkworms), the audience can learn of many common experiences of the Konavle tradition, such as superstitions, protocols, and peculiarities that distinguish the cultivation of silkworms in Konavle from the rest of the world. Attention is also paid to Konavle sericulture, which includes silk extraction, thread processing, how it’s used in Konavle houses, dyeing, threading (creating silk thread from many separate strands) and everything else. This is a rich heritage story that attracts an increasing number of participants who can try their hand at threading.

At 2:30 p.m., a group of children gathered on the terrace of AR Atelier for an educational workshop called Silk - Silk - Silk. This program started with a conversation in which everyone participated. Those whose knowledge about silk was richer happily shared with the younger ones. All in all, it is encouraging that today the children of Konavle know well of silkworms and their use, thanks to all the programs that have been held in ​​Konavle all these years. Kindergartens, schools, a museum and numerous individuals grow silkworms every spring in Konavle, so it sometimes seems as if there is no fear of losing this skill. At the end of the conversation, the children took away their copy of a solved task in which they arranged all the stages of silk development as a souvenir.

After learning, they had fun on the terrace making jewelry from silk, drawing and painting, and making Christmas tree ornaments from silk thread.

At 4:00 p.m., a lecture About Silk - When the Butterflies Emerge was held. The topic is motivated by the trend of animal protection in the world of silk production, where the usual process of extracting the thread involves killing the worms when the cocoons are immersed in hot water. It is not well known that silk can be produced after the butterflies have left the chrysalis, which is the method used here. It was also shown how thread is extracted in Konavle and how it is used.

A little before 5:00 p.m. people started arriving at (the old people would say) Sijelo for a program called Conversations Under the Mulberry Tree — Embroidery and Silk — Then and Now. It seemed for a moment that there would not be enough room for everyone who wanted to listen to the oldest of our Konavle women talk about their experiences with silk.

The goal of this program was to gather the stories (on video tape) of the oldest participants who got to know silk and embroidery in their childhood.

As girls they prepared their clothes, embroidered their breastplates and sleeves, and produced silk thread. Today, they are the anchors that hold us to our rich tradition, so that every conversation with them further illuminates the incredible traditional world of Konavle. Which brings wisdom and joy to us all.

The beauty of these gatherings lies in the happiness of the older women who in today's world may lack companionship and conversation, as well as the happiness and fulfillment of all those who recognize their stories as a living heritage.

The meeting ended with a presentation of recent works of Konavle embroiderers, which were framed and exhibited on the gallery walls. These are large compositions of Konavle embroidery in which motifs of the original breastplates have been redesigned. They were made over the last few years, and the authors are embroiderers who have been meeting for years in AR Atelier. In the creative use of patterns, new visual elements were created, which were also the inspiration for the title, From Connections to Kaleidoscopes.

At 7:00 p.m. another presentation of silk production was held, entitled Točimo točak (Let’s Spin the Wheel) this time in the Croatian language. It was intended for the local people, and more attention was paid to the terminology in the dialect, and the customs that accompany the cultivation and processing of silk.

At the end of the presentation, a large number of interested people passed through the house, and around 8:00 p.m. the space was occupied by children from KUD Stjepan Radić, a dance group from Pridvorje, dressed in Konavle national dress.

The atelier was new and interesting for them. And so they visited the exhibits, threaded silk, showed their parents butterflies and thread, in fact, brought great joy and crowned the event in the most beautiful way possible.

This group performed at 8:30 p.m. and thus started the entertainment program of the open house — Konavoska Đeca balaju (Konavle Children Dancing). The performance took place on the street in front of AR Atelier, which was closed for this occasion. After them Gruda was entertained long into the night by the Dubrovnik band PMS.

This is how, for the first time, in honor of silk and Konavle embroidery, the community gathered in an educational and entertainment program in Gruda. The embroiderers came out of the silence of their private spaces where they create their works, and allowed us to enjoy the beauty of contemporary Konavle embroidered expression. The youngest had fun learning about Konavle’s cultural assets, and in all the events of that day, curiosity and joy borne of heritage were exchanged.