During the artistic residency at Garaža Kamba in August and September 2024, artist Rebecca Merlić explored the urban and social landscape of historical Zagreb cafés, examining their appearance through fragmented archival material, memories of individuals who frequented these spaces, as well as the current physical state of Zagreb cafés. The resulting multimedia work, *Kavana Corso*, merges the café experience (*Kavana*) with the idea of a path or journey (*Corso*). It suggests an exploration of tastes, conversations, and experiences that unfold within the café as movements, environments, and discoveries through art, coffee, and human connections.
Considering various perspectives of the term *Kavana*, the artist engaged in conversations with musician Drago Diklić, Austrian architect Hermann Czech, and Zlatko (Kamba) Kamber, after whom Kamba is named. They shared their professional and personal experiences of life, creation, and change in Zagreb cafés and their role in the everyday fabric of the city. Discussions covered which cafés were frequented by wild versus refined individuals (the answers don’t always agree), what was worn and eaten, the music that played, and the differences between cafés, clubs, and pubs in the past. These topics meet the reality that the concept of the Zagreb café as it exists in the public imagination no longer exists and hasn’t for many years.
This raises the question: how much does this now imagined landscape exist only in the annals of rose-tinted nostalgia, and how applicable are its features to today's social context? Perhaps, by layering elements of the past with the potential of the present, we can contribute to transforming accelerated patterns that leave little room for long afternoons that turn into music-filled nights.
Marija Kamber
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Sound editing: Manuel Riegler
Programmer: Vivien Schreiber
Interview recording: Bruno Čavara
Narration read by: Ante Šabić
Programming partner: RIT Croatia
Sound editing: Manuel Riegler
Programmer: Vivien Schreiber
Interview recording: Bruno Čavara
Narration read by: Ante Šabić
Programming partner: RIT Croatia
