The Easter Traditions Festival - Penga focuses on, affirms, and presents elements of the rich intangible cultural heritage of Dubrovnik and its surroundings, Dalmatia, and Croatia, connected to the celebration of the greatest Christian holiday, Easter, as well as the beginning of spring. Through numerous presentations, exhibitions, performances, creative and educational workshops, competitions, and exhibitions in museum and public spaces, both local and international visitors can directly engage with the phenomena, knowledge, techniques of craftsmanship, and other forms of intangible cultural heritage, as well as their bearers. The aim of the festival is to highlight valuable yet somewhat neglected aspects of spiritual heritage, which are an integral part of our identity and a unique symbol of our recognition in the European cultural context. The festival is organized by the Dubrovnik Museums, the City of Dubrovnik, and the Dubrovnik Tourist Board.
Guardians of Easter Traditions
Josip Cugovčan was born on the 28th of February 1955, in Podravske Sesvete. He learned the technique of traditional decorating of Podravina Easter eggs using batik, i.e., applying beeswax, in 1973 from his father’s aunt, Ana Halusek (née Derežić, born in 1899), while the technique of decorating eggs with the plant setaria or foxtail millet was taught to him by Jela Birovčec (née Kovačić, born in 1936). The traditional Easter eggs of Podravske Sesvete are dyed in four colours – a white base, yellow, red, and black, starting from the lightest to the darkest. In the towns of Molve and Novigrad Podravski, Easter eggs are dyed in three colours. The decorations on the eggs were once applied with a stylus, a wooden stick with inserted flax wire used in making traditional women’s caps (known as poculica), and today a thin copper wire is inserted into the stylus. In addition to floral motifs, which are the most common, hearts are also drawn, and messages or verses from Podravina folk songs are written. The technique of decorating Podravina Easter eggs is protected as an intangible cultural heritage of Croatia. Unlike the batik-decorated eggs (i.e., with wax), the technique of decorating with setaria was done on blown eggs, using flour and water to glue fabric scraps or pieces of cloth, while the lines between the pieces were filled with setaria. The decoration with wool and setaria is an Easter tradition from the Bilogora region. Following traditional patterns, Cugovčan developed his own method of decorating using only the plant setaria. In addition to the mentioned techniques, the traditional technique of scraping dyed eggs with a razor, knife, or needle, known as grecanje (Pitomača, Novigrad Podravski, Đurđevac, and the area around Koprivnica), is also recorded in Podravina. Josip Cugovčan is a great enthusiast of traditional culture and the owner of the Ethnographic Collection Josip Cugovčan. With his Easter eggs, he has participated in numerous domestic and international exhibitions, actively participated in and led folklore groups of original folklore, including the Croatian Folklore Society Sesvečice. He is a freelance artist, a naive painter, closely linked to the Hlebine school, and has exhibited his works in Croatia and abroad.
Mario Kiš was born on the 13th of July, 1986, in Bogdanovci. He learned the technique of silk painting and embroidered eggs from his grandmother, Manda Anokić, née Šimić, born in 1933. The tradition of silk painting was recorded at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century in the areas of Slavonia and Srijem (Bogdanovci, Nuštar, Tovarnik, Ilača, the surroundings of Đakovo, Gibarci, Kukujevci) and Baranja (Baranjsko Petrovo Selo, Draž, Gajić), where the same technique is also known by the names of painted eggs with wax and eggs in ink bath – jaja u tintoblaju. Eggs made using the batik technique, or silk painting, are dipped in three to four colours, starting from the lightest to the darkest. On a white egg, patterns are drawn with melted wax and carriage guise -kolomast and decoration is done with a fine stick with a metal bent tip, into which silk wrapped with thread is inserted. Any additional decoration or filling in the motifs with wax on the new colour is called tropanje or waxing over. By melting the wax on the egg, which is brought close to a hot stove and wiping it with a cloth, the decoration in a certain colour remains visible. The distinctive feature of silk painting is that the egg must first be dyed and then decorated with wax in multiple colours, and in the end, the entire egg is rinsed with vinegar. After the colour is removed, everything covered by the wax remains in colour. The motifs are typically vegetal and floral, such as birds, acorns, rakes, and other symbols. The technique of embroidery, protected as an intangible cultural heritage of the Republic of Croatia, is performed on a blown egg, where first a net or foundation is made with thread, and then cotton threads or silk of various colours are used to stitch the design, creating a diamond motif. Such eggs are further decorated with sequins and grains. Embroidered eggs are a heritage of eastern Slavonia and Srijem (Bogdanovci, Nuštar, Tovarnik, the surroundings of Đakovo and Gibarac). Mario Kiš is a guardian and reviver of the traditional heritage of Bogdanovci, which was completely devastated during the Homeland War. He is a renowned weaver and the president of the KUD (Cultural Arts Society) Seljačka sloga in Bogdanovci, founded in 1936.
Vinko Babić was born on the 21st of January 1989, in Zagreb, and grew up and lives in Gradište. He learned the technique of decorating gourds, using nitric acid for decoration, and šatvosiranje (a traditional technique of egg decoration using nitric acid) from his father's aunt Eva Peratović, née Varnica, born in 1934, and is, along with the City Museum of Županja, a bearer of the craft of creating this intangible cultural heritage of Croatia. Šaranje jaja šatvosiranjem (painting eggs using nitric acid) is a traditional technique that was widespread in the area of Šokadija, specifically the former Military Frontier from Slavonski Brod, Đakovo, Vinkovci, to Srijemska Mitrovica. With crafts coming from Central Europe, Austria, and Germany, the decoration of objects using nitric acid also reached Slavonia, and it is assumed that by the end of the 19th century, šatvosiranje of eggs began. Unlike šatvosiranje on gourds, where colourless nitric acid gives a reddish-brown colour to the decoration, on dyed eggs in onion skins, it removes the colour, leaving the decoration in the natural colour of the eggshell. In addition to onion skins, eggs were dyed with nettles and cabbage. Decorations such as floral or vegetal motifs, zigzag lines, and circles were made using a little broomstick - metljica, and today, for practical reasons, a wooden pencil is used as it creates a finer line for the decoration. Vinko is a dedicated guardian of local heritage and the artistic leader of the KUD Seljačka sloga Gradište, founded in 1923. He plays several traditional instruments, and his gourds have found their place with the Pope in the Vatican and in the home of the Japanese Imperial family.
Jagoda Konjuh (née Brbora) was born on the 4th of April 1962, in Čepikuće, and now lives in Doli. She began decorating eggs, also known as penganje or wax-resist egg decorating at the age of eight, learning the craft from her grandmother, Mare Brbora (née Marlais, born 1891) and Mare Brbora (née Miletić) from Točionik. Jagoda uses a combined technique for penganje, which involves using a torch, a head-shaped needle inserted into a stick - bakljačica, and a pen. She heats beeswax in a special container and decorates raw eggs, then places them in a prepared cold dye (grease - mast), which she heats over the fire. After five minutes, she removes the eggs and cleans off any remaining wax. For the egg dyeing process, she uses aniline dyes for textiles, often in a combination of burgundy red and Turkish red, or natural colours obtained from the roots of broć or the rose madder (a local plant). After the basic decoration is done with the head-shaped needle, she further embellishes and fills in the design with the pen, using it to write various symbols and messages. Her delicate and precise handiwork reflects a calm and meticulous approach, with great attention to detail and a respect for traditional patterns. Jagoda preserves and nurtures the traditional culture of her region, creating folk costumes from the Dubrovnik hinterland and is the president of the Baština Dubrovnik (Dubrovnik Heritage) society.
Zdenka Kraljić (née Popović) was born on the 2nd of July 1968, in Majkovi, and lives in Slano. Her first experience with egg painting (penganje) came from observing her grandmother Ana Popović (née Radić), born in 1904 in Majkovi, who was an expert egg painter. In addition to making painted eggs for her own use, she also made them by order and sold them at the market. For egg painting, Ana Popović used a small branch of the sijerak or sow thistle plant and a pen, dipping the writing nib in a small copper dish filled with beeswax, which was kept in the heat of a pot on a black stove. The freshly painted eggs were placed in a pot where she mixed light and dark red aniline dyes. The eggs would remain in the dye until the boiling point, when a prayer (Apostles Creed) would be said, and then they were taken out to cool. Her granddaughter, Zdenka Kraljić, began practicing egg painting more systematically after her marriage and moving to Slano in 1989. At that time, she recorded her grandmother's old patterns and messages from memory, and following the combined method of using sijerak and a pen, she began painting eggs for family, friends, and customers. After her grandmother's death in 1995, Zdenka inherited her copper dish and pen, continuing the family tradition. Zdenka's handwriting reveals a deep-rooted connection to established traditional motifs.
Nina Smokvina (née Bianchi) was born on the 22nd of January 1967, in Dubrovnik and lives in Slano. As a child, she received pengana eggs (painted eggs) as gifts from her grandmother Anka Perajica from Majkovi. Although her grandmother didn’t make the eggs herself but ordered them from other women in Majkovi, the painted eggs from her always sparked Nina's desire to learn this traditional technique. At that time, in Slano, they did not make painted eggs but only coloured them in red dye—called kaludjeri. The word kaludjeri is derived from the term for monks. The burgundy colour of the kaludjeri was obtained by combining light and dark red colours, and the same colour was used for colouring eggs. Nina began to colour eggs in the 1990s, inspired by her mother-in-law Nike Smokvina (née Tomašević), born in 1925 in Trnova, who was an excellent egg painter. She used a bakljačica (a special tool) – a head-shaped needle inserted into a vine branch – to create the basic motif, and then further decorated it with a penica (a pen). Nina, in her work, exclusively uses the bakljačica to draw the patterns from her childhood, with the main motif being the sun. In addition to making eggs for her family and friends, Nina also conducts educational workshops in the Deša association, as well as in schools in the Dubrovnik hinterland and surrounding areas.
Publication Details
Project Author and Festival Manager: Ivica Kipre
Text Author: Ivica Kipre
Publisher: Dubrovnik Museums
For the Publisher: Dr. Marija Šiša Vivek
Graphic Design: Studio Bonsenjo
Marketing and Public Relations: Marta Vukadin, Ana Prohaska Vlahinić
Technical Service: Pasko Burin, Mišo Lečić, Mišo Kukuruzović
Wood Conservator Technician: Željko Ćatić
Language Editing: Ivana ObradovićTranslator: Mark Thomas
Printing: Fotostar, Serraglli d.o.o
Partners: City of Dubrovnik, Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Dubrovnik Natural History Museum
Print Run: 300 Copies
FESTIVAL PROGRAM
Thursday, April 10, 2025, 13:00 – 15:00, Ethnographic Museum, Grain Storage Rupe
Welcome address, presentation of the program and festival participants
Lectures and Presentations:
The Tradition and Symbolism of Painted Eggs of the Dubrovnik Riviera / Ivica Kipre
Traditional Egg Decoration Techniques of Eastern Croatia: Silk Painting and Embroidery / Mario Kiš, Bogdanovci
Traditional Egg Decoration Techniques with Wax and the Plant Setaria in Podravina / Josip Cugovčan, Podravske Sesvete
Traditional Egg Decoration Technique using Nitric Acid in the Šokadija Region / Vinko Babić, Gradište
Thursday, April 10, 2025, 15:30 – 17:30, Ethnographic Museum, Grain Storage Rupe
Workshops:
Making Painted Eggs of the Dubrovačko primorje / Jagoda Konjuh, Doli / Zdenka Kraljić, Slano / Nina Smokvina, Slano
Making Silk-painted and Embroidered Eggs of Eastern Slavonia / Mario Kiš, Bogdanovci
Making Podravina Eggs with Wax and the Plant Setaria / Josip Cugovčan, Podravske Sesvete
Making Eggs decorated with Nitric Acid among the Šokci/ Vinko Babić, Gradište
Friday, April 11, 2025, 10:00 – 12:00, Sponza Palace – Courtyard
Presentation Workshops:
Embellishing Eggs with Embroidery from Eastern Slavonia / Mario Kiš
Decorating Eggs with the Plant Setaria from Podravina / Josip Cugovčan
Making traditional braided palm branches from the Pelješac Peninsula / Marina Filipović, Dubrovnik Museums
Creative Workshop for Children:
Little Logs and Patterns for Skilful Little Fingers / Dubravka Tullio, Natural History Museum Dubrovnik
Traditional Easter Games - Tournament on the valje (traditional Easter game of rolling eggs)
Saturday, April 12, 2025, Easter in the Primorje, Mrčevo, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM
Decorating Easter eggs using the batik technique – Heritage that connects
Workshop on making silk-painted eggs in Eastern Slavonia /Mario Kiš, Bogdanovci/
Workshop on making Podravina Easter eggs with wax /Josip Cugovčan, Podravske Sesvete/
Workshop on making Easter eggs using nitric acid among the Šokci /Vinko Babić, Gradište/
Competition for the most beautiful Easter egg