CULTURAL
HERITAGE
Our three cultural and artistic clubs (KUD) are the keepers of the cultural heritage of this area.
Clubs from Sunja and Greda Sunjska preserve and pass onto the youth customs,traditional songs and dances of the Posavina land. Moreover, the people involved proudly wear unique folk costumes which were preserved during the recent Homeland War as the most precious and unique treasure. Residents of Bobovac can trace back their roots to migrants from Bosnia (Bobovac place) who arrived several centuries ago. Accordingly, their traditional costumes along with songs represent Bosnia, their acient homeland.
Greda Sunjska 145, 44210 Sunja
Gabrijela Baljak – art director
044/840-069
Renown Stjepan Radic said: " When we sing and listen patritic songs among people who feel alike, it brings brings about dignity, making us feel magnificent. Moreover, by reading about Croatia, its people and history, we feel even greater pride arising inside of us, even greater bond to our Homeland, even greater readiness to defend Croatia."
Those words by the late Radic motivated and
inspired our forefathers and parents who initiated the work of the club's branch
in Greda Sunjska, aiming to maintain, care and pass on various customs, dances
and songs onto the next generation. The Club begun working prior to the New year
1936. Soon afterwards, the Club founded a choir, tambourine section and folklore
group. The Club also organised
courses in cooking, sawing, reading and writing, personal hygene, lectures in
farming and cattle breeding, taught by well-known experts from Sisak and Zagreb.
After the Second World War, the folklore section is
where the know-how centres. The importance and quality of the folklore section
the Club owes to the unselfish work by the two of our greatest experts in the
theory and practice of ethnic music: Vinko Zganec (first in Croatia begun
applying scientific methods in resarching the structure of folk melodies) and
Zvonimir Levakovic (the founder of the world-famous Lado ensemble). These men
trained the Club's folklore section for the first international folklore
festival in Opatija 1951. Thanks to the efforts of the two, the Club, even to
this day, performs customs, songs and dances in its original form. It did not
matter that attraction of the performances was disregarded in favour of
originality. In the end, what
mattered was that we have been able to present traditions to our youth with
pleasure. In turn, they have been able to familiarise themselves with customs of
our region and their performance. Folklore section has performed on each and
every important folklore event acoss our Beautiful Homeland. Here is where we
have danced: sixt times on the International folklore festival in Zagreb, two
times on the Vinkovacke jeseni (autumn festival; Sisak municipal community sent
our Club to this festival the third time, but we were prevented by the outbreak
of the war in 1991). We have been twice to the "Djakovacki vezovi"
festival and many others. We have organised a large number of concerts
together with other clubs (1993 together with the "Sunja-Greda" Fire
brigade brass band and our Primary school in the "Vatroslav Lisinski"
concert hall, then in the "Globus" hall and in ten or so other halls
in Zagreb). We have danced and played in other towns in Croatia and abroad; two
performances in Germany (Bonn and Berlin), once in Hungary (Budapest) and in
Bosnia and Herzegovina (Tomislavgrad).
During the past 20 years, the Club, under the
leadership of Nikola Brlekovic, professor of history and art history, gathers
primarly young dancers and its own tambourine performers
(17 of them).
Apart from dancing and playing music, we have
organised a series of cultural events, promotions of books and magazines whereby
we hosted such similar clubs.
We have always proudly presented the original traditional garment from Sunjska Greda, as a fitting example of simple beauty with a decoration on a linen base, embroided with a "tvez" – white on white.
Bobovac 165, 44214 Bobovac
Renato Klaric, president
044/871-061
This club was founded back in 1948, on the
initiative of the the then teacher in the regional primary school in Bobovac,
Ivan Trupkovic. The aim was to ensure that traditional songs, dances and customs
do not fall into oblivion.
Nowadays, the Club performs original old songs and
dances from Bobovac and Donja Posavina, unaltered and unstyled by
choreographers, just the way our forefathers used to do.
We are especially proud of what makes us stand out
– a costume called "sokica" adorned by a red "kocenas" and
folded sleeves and three coloured band having a red, white and blue.
Mostly young people, about a hundred of them, play string instruments, sing, dance and act.
Trg Kralja Tomislava 3, 44210 Sunja
Jelica Dugac – president
044/833-783
This club has been functioning for the past 16 years, with an interruption during the Homeland War. It was founded to express specific features of this region. Back in 1987, a ladies' club initiated the founding of the Club which worked up till 1991. The club restarted in November 2000. There are 75 active members in the folklore (children and adults), singing and tambourine sections. The club "Sunjanka" cherishes folklore and customs and particularly looks after the young. Garments worn by the club members when performing are traditional folklore outfits, some of which over a hundred years old.