A new Fishermen’s Museum building opened in Vrboska

On July 10, 2025, starting at 8:30 p.m., the Fishermen’s Museum was ceremoniously opened at its new location in Vrboska. Welcoming speeches were given by the director of the Jelsa Municipality Museum, Marija Plenković; the head of FLAG Škoji, Adela Duboković; and the mayor of the Municipality of Jelsa, Marija Marjan, who also opened the new Fishermen’s Museum. The opening ceremony was hosted by Božana Damjanić Majdak. This was a major and festive event in Vrboska, a place that preserves our fishing heritage, memories of life by and with the sea, and the identity of generations who lived alongside it. The program began with the Croatian national anthem performed by the female klapa group Frecija.

The Fishermen’s Museum in Vrboska has a rich and proud past.

It was founded in 1972, and at the time of its founding, it was the first specialized fishermen’s museum on the Adriatic coast. It functioned as an organizationally independent unit of the Center for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of the Island of Hvar.

The initiative for its founding came from Dr. Niko Duboković-Nadalini, who in 1971 approached Vrboska native Antun Ružević with the idea of forming a fishermen’s museum. Mr. Ružević enthusiastically accepted the proposal and took responsibility for collecting museum items and securing a space in which the collection would be stored and presented to the public. Thus, a Committee for the Formation of the Fishermen’s Museum was established, and it arranged for the museum to be housed on the ground floor of the Dežulović family house – the space in which the museum operated for nearly 50 years. After that, part of the Fishermen’s Museum’s collection was exhibited in the family home of Mirjana Damjanić on Vrboska’s main square, in order to bridge the time between leaving the old premises and moving into the new ones.

During this period, many enthusiasts and experts worked in the museum, leaving an indelible mark with their work and helping to maintain the continuity of the Fishermen’s Museum: the bard of Dalmatian photography Andro Damjanić, Antun Kotoraš, Zoran Krstinić, Zdravko Fistonić, Marijo Franičević, Ana Marija Fistonić, and Ivana Šerić. All of them, with their knowledge, passion, and dedication to heritage, contributed to preserving the identity of our region.

“‘Building a museum’ is not a final act but a long-term process in which having one’s own space is one of the necessary preconditions for carrying out museum activities, and we have finally reached it. However, it is not buildings that make a museum, but the culture we inherit and the museum objects that convey that culture to us. Moving into a new space is an opportunity and an obligation for our Museum to design a new permanent exhibition that will, in an appropriate and contemporary way, bear witness to the rich and layered culture of the traditional fishing community of Vrboska, as well as Dalmatia.

On this occasion, we remembered the founding years of the Fishermen’s Museum and the people whose enthusiasm and dedication most directly contributed to the construction and continuity of the Fishermen’s Museum in Vrboska, and we owe them immense gratitude. Throughout the 53 long years of the museum’s operation, many people from Vrboska, from Hvar, and friends of our island have contributed to the collection of a rich museum collection by donating fishing-related items, and through their testimonies contributed to its interpretation and the transmission of knowledge to future generations. We thank them from the bottom of our hearts.

Through the previous programmatic work of the Fishermen’s Museum, it has already been shown that there is a museum community in Vrboska aware that museums are not just a tourist attraction, but that museums are places of encounter for the local community, places where our identities are shaped, and places where our relationship with rich cultural heritage is built – both today and in the future.

The construction of the museum building for the new permanent exhibition was a great undertaking for all of us, at times burdensome, but ultimately beautiful and purposeful in the long term. We thank the Directorate for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries for co-financing the project, and also all those who contributed to its realization, first and foremost the employees of the Municipality of Jelsa and Mr. Nikša Peronja, during whose term as mayor this project was carried out, the staff of FLAG Škoji led by Adela Duboković, and Mayor Marija Marjan for her openness to further cooperation in the completion of the interior design and the realization of the new permanent exhibition, as well as all those present at the opening who, through their help and engagement or positive energy, contributed to the festiveness of this great event for us.

As part of the opening, Frane Lukšić, a young folklore performer from the Jelsa Cultural and Artistic Society (KUD Jelsa), performed a recital of the poem Migavica by author Vinko Pakušić, and delighted those present. The evening passed in a celebratory atmosphere with an excellent musical performance by klapa Frecija and a symbolic Sail Dance by the Lantina association in the bay of Vrboska. A fitting fish-themed reception was masterfully prepared by the team from the restaurant Trica Gardelin, and we toasted with wines from Hvar. Together we stepped into the new space of the Fishermen’s Museum and, with all our senses, listened to the sound of the sea in the stories of our ancestors and remembered everything that connects us to the fishing tradition.