Art as a Religion Substitute in the Search of for Ultimate

The Springtime of Nations in 1990 was a great victory over the Evil Empire. We will examine some of its background in Croatia, concentrating on cultural phenomena and fine arts in particular. Even under Socialist Realism, there were some flights into “decadence”, such as the EXAT 51 exhibition in Zagreb, as Yugoslavia, threatened by the Russians, wanted to show its “pro-western” leanings. We will examine two outstanding Croatian artists who spanned the periods of Communism and its aftermath. The sculptor, Ljubo Dekarina (b. Rijeka, 1948), has mostly worked in the small Istrian township of Brseč. The painter, Ivan Rabuzin, from the Croatian Zagorje village of Ključ (b. 1921–d. 2008), maintained considerable ties with the Croatian capital of Zagreb. Thanks to them, we have discovered a world of an artistically contrived beauty and truth of eternal presence. Rabuzin’s is one of hills and groves, of rounded trees, and scattered hay-roofed homes, a short cut to paradise. Dekarina’s penetrations are entranceways into secret spaces of the beyond. Rabuzin and Dekarina just see better and know how to better communicate their experiences. It is the humanities that makes us human. Aristotle, as opposed to Plato, saw the arts as an improved and not a debased version of reality. Thus, the art experience comes close to religion, making us better, happier, more complete human beings. Art and religion are two aspects of that same pool.