CROATIAN ETHNOGRAPHIC HERITAGE, ISTRA

Istria is the largest peninsula on the Croatian side of the Adriatic Sea. It is positioned close to the heart of Europe and it represents a bridge that connects mid-European continental area with the Mediterranean. This has been manifested in its rich and diverse ethnographic heritage. Two-part singing and playing in the Istrian scale, a characteristic musical phenomenon, was added to UNESCO's representative list of intangible cultural heritage. Fabric handwork in Istria has inherited mid-European, Mediterranean and Slavic traditions. In Istria, women handled the tasks of processing and preparing raw fabric materials, while men were in charge of weaving. Weavers were greatly respected people who took up weaving alongside their primary agricultural tasks. The skill of weaving was passed from father to son or from weavers to their apprentices. Weavers from the area around Žminj, Kringa and Zrenj were renowned for the quality of their weaving. They worked on large horizontal looms and they weaved flax, hemp and wool fabrics of natural white and brown colour with the help of two or four heddles. The weaving production had begun to disappear at the end of the 19th century, and it almost completely disappeared during the 1960s. Today, weaving is done by older persons for the purpose of presentations and workshops. There are two basic types of outerwear patterns found on Istrian women’s garments where centuries have accumulated: dresses tailored using pegs (“modrne klinarice”) and dresses that consist of vests and pleated skirts (“modrne na skas”). Both types are made from domestic hemp, wool or purchased fabrics. Pleated skirts are adorned with simple embellishments above the hemline with narrow or broad trim stripes of various colours. They have many pleats giving the garments elegance and special effects in dance movements. Tihana Petrović Leš, PhD