4. Search for the Croatian Royal Crown

 

VISION:

A Croatia rooted in its traditional, non-communist history.

 

MISSION:

To provoke Croatians into envisioning a larger, more united Europe.

 

GOALS:

To find the original crown or to mint an ersatz one by 2016.

 

TASKS:

Search for the crown.  Film the search.

Explain its history by publishing a book.

Find or Mint the crown.

Display it at Grič 2, one of Croatia’s most prestigious addresses.

 

Croatia is undergoing an identity crisis, and has been since 1991.  Emile Durkheim claims that it takes sixty years after the formation of a country for its spirit to solidify.  Croatia’s spirit has not solidified, and this is evident when speaking with citizens at the market or in the university.  Everywhere Croatia is dissatisfied with the present regime, and we suggest that one contributing reason is a lack of public remembrance.

Individual citizens feel very strongly about their past; they are proud to be Croatians, and for all of them, that identity goes much further back than 1991.  Their sense of identity predates Yugoslavia, predates Communism, and for most of them starts sometime between the 7th and 12th centuries.  The Croatian Royal Crown is, for many, the emblem of the stout and able tradition to which every Croatian is an heir.  To have the crown displayed again, even a copy of it, would make them proud.  It would go some way to helping them reclaim their vigorous and ancient identity.

It is almost shocking that no State institution has already done this, to speak honestly.  It is such an obvious and fitting project that it is surprising that it has taken a serious Croatian institution 22 years to frame it.  However, it is so beneficial to all citizens that all political parties and all institutions, it is safe to say, will be happy to have the crown finally displayed.  There is no opposition, only support.

Project Directors: Dr. Vladimir Sokol—Dr. Dražen Horvat

Dr. Vladimir Sokol is a professional archeologist and curator of the Zelena Archeological Museum.  Dr. Dražen Horvat is currently at work on a book about the crown.