MUSEUM NIGHT 2026
Pop-up Exhibition: Oriental Musical Instruments II
Stipan Kujundžić, Academic Sculptor & Author
In collaboration with the National Museum Zadar
The exhibition "STIPAN KUJUNDŽIĆ – ORIENTAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS II" encompasses the results of years of research into the folk musical heritage and bowed string instruments of the Far and Middle East, as well as similar instruments within the region. Within this vast field and its numerous associated musical instruments, the author has selected fifteen specific pieces.
Stipan Kujundžić fashioned these fifteen selected Oriental instruments according to original models, yet through his own artistic interpretation of their form. He focused on studying and mastering the construction techniques of the chosen instruments and, above all, on a sculptural approach to their design.
After meticulous study and the translation of traditional schemes, he applies a total reduction of the usual traditional carvings and other ornaments. Instead, he utilizes a variety of wood species on each instrument. Through this process, he obtains diverse structural and coloristic properties, achieving a new, highly intriguing geometry within the whole. This is based on the idea of highlighting individual structural elements of the instrument by using different types of wood. Executed in an exceptionally subtle manner, this ultimately results in very elegant objects with sculptural characteristics. Undoubtedly, these are inspired sculptural interventions, while the fundamental function of the instruments—their playability—has been fully preserved.
The author himself, academic sculptor Stipan Kujundžić, states: "Music is just as important in my life as sculpture. I have always been surrounded by music and instruments. I have played several instruments since childhood. The Imotski gusle is an obsession of mine, so I mastered the construction technique of that instrument long ago. At first, these were replicas of original instruments, but later, at the suggestion of Professor Beusan, I moved toward redesigning them with the goal of merging sculptural and musical skills. Although this pursuit was peripheral to my core professional sculptural focus, it has always sparked great joy and curiosity within me."
The projects "ORIENTAL MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS I and II" have resulted in instruments of truly unexpected shapes. They are original sculptural works by academic sculptor Stipan Kujundžić.
Innovative solutions are particularly visible in the connection between the resonance box and the neck, as well as in the shaping of the body itself. The mounting of the goatskin membrane onto the resonance box was carried out by modeling an interesting rhythm of small peripheral protrusions (attachment points). These complement the perception of the resonance box's contour with a certain degree of attractive vibrance. Furthermore, the author realizes a whole series of striking design interventions in the details of the instrument: the tuning pegs, the bridge for supporting the strings, the soundholes (on the membrane), and the "krst" (cross-shaped holes at the bottom of the resonance box that enhance sound resonance). In the design of the bows, sculptural interventions were applied that mostly strive for very fine, slender solutions, close to the original form.
In the choice of construction materials and the deliberation of coloristic solutions, we also encounter unexpected shifts. In these works, Stipan Kujundžić continues to use the exciting power of his own metaphysical sculptural language, which repeatedly points to the complexity of sculptural form. We are impressed by his clear and aesthetically rounded ideas, which transform into impressive design solutions of high artistic potential.
Stipan Kujundžić (b. 1982, Imotski) attended the School of Applied Arts in Split and, as a graduating student, won first prize at the national competition for high school artists. He continued his education in 2001 at the Arts Academy of the University of Split, majoring in Sculpture (Professors: Aleksandar Miđor, Nikola Džaja, Kažimir Hraste, Kuzma Kovačić). He graduated in 2006 in the class of Prof. Matko Mijić. He has participated in several group exhibitions and two sculptural colonies. In 2013, he won the ULUPUH Award for the best young artist.
He is a young artist of contemporary sensibility, an undeniable member of the information age who is simultaneously fascinated by the natural, human, and spiritual dimensions of the Imotski region—a space to which he fully belongs, which he constantly explores, and in which he lives and creates. It is precisely in this native environment that Stipan Kujundžić finds an inexhaustible source of artistic inspiration. These inspirations are always present in his every work, but only at the level of creative energy, never descriptively. The articulation of his artistic personality, starting from very early impulses, continues through thorough education and early achievements toward a truly desired direction—the idea of how to actually live one's art, so that it remains authentic and serves as a true guide toward the better world we all, after all, dream of.
(Mario Beusan)