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A coffee in Ljubljana meeting the Artist Jakov Brdar.

I have been in Ljubljana many times and I have been always fascinated by some small sculptures spread all around the city. Fish looking like piranha on the Butchers’ Bridge, dozens of small faces coming out of a narrow street in the old town, birds, a wolf and many other creatures watch this amazing middle European city. From the sculptures’ style, I understand that the hands behind them are of the same artist.

So in the end I have an appointment with him, Jakov Brdar, one of the most popular contemporary Artist on the Slovenian panorama. After a short walk along the river Ljubljanica downtown I reach the meeting point. As punctual as a Swiss clock arrives Mr Jakov Brdar, that with its grey beard, keeps saying “mamma mia”. I understand that waking up the morning after his birthday party had been a tough task so we order a coffee that is needed by both of us. In the meantime arrives Boris, a nice actor friend of him that will help to translate from Italian to Slovenian.

Jakov’s life has been spent mainly in Slovenia, in spite of the fact that he was born in Bosnia, he is Croatian and he lived in Paris and Berlin. His pieces of art are all over Slovenia, from the main squares to the Modern Art Galleries. Abroad you can bump into one of his art pieces in Croatia, in Italy, in Germany and so on. Mr. Brdar’s curriculum is full of great achievements and has nothing to envy to anyone’s.

Around Ljubljana you can appreciate the eclectic gaze of his faces, you will see Adam and Eve, Satyr and a disquieting Prometheus. Just to quote some of his creatures. He made also the statue that is placed in front of the Train station, dedicated to General Rudolf Maister who saved half of the Slovenian territory from Austria.

Once finished the coffee we head to his Atelier where dozens and dozens of small faces appear, grotesque fish, forms of strange creatures and huge statues with human shape. At the centre of his studies and works there is the human body that he recreates as he feels it with his hands. He explains me how he works and he shows me some examples. In a twinkling he has in his hands the face of a monkey, that transforms in bird that becomes a human back bone. The impressive speed in which he shapes the material leave me astonished.

A wall of his Atelier is dedicated to his passion for photography. A completely artistic kind of photography. His camera is an old mobile phone with in front a paper hose.

He always smiles and when we came back to the city centre I notice that his gaze is constantly attracted by surrounding details that would be left unnoticed by the many. He tells me that he is inspired by the artists and sculptors of the past and while he says so his eyes are shining of enthusiasm.

Mr Jakov Brdar passed also from Milan where, during Expo2015, he showed some of his artistic performances and he exhibits a Christ made of bronze in the Church of the Holy Mary at San Satyr.

We say goodbye hoping to meet each other in Milan, otherwise it will be for another coffee in Ljubljana downtown.

If you pass from Ljubljana don’t miss to look for his sculptures, surly you won’t miss to be surprised.

© Franconiphotos – All rights reserved.

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