Jagoda Buić, A Brief Biography
Jagoda Buić (1930, Split – 2022, Venice) is celebrated as one of Croatia’s greatest tapestry artists of the second part of the twentieth century. As a multimedia artist, her portfolio spans a wide spectrum of visual expression, encompassing theatre and film set design, costume design, and tapestry, with the latter being the most prominent aspect of her work. She was an avant-garde artist internationally recognized for her significant contributions to the New Tapestry movement in Europe during the 1960s and 1970s.
She was an eminent student of the first generation of the Academy of Applied Arts in Zagreb (1949 – 1953) and simultaneously studied the History of Art. In 1952, with an interest in costume design and scenography, Jagoda Buić pursued education at the Experimental Center Cinecittà in Rome, where her father Mirko Buić, who served as mayor of Split and governor of the Littoral Banovina, lived after World War II, and at the International Center for Arts and Costumes in Venice (Palazzo Grassi). However, she completed her studies in Vienna at the Academy of Applied Arts (1953 – 1954), where she earned an honorary prize for her thesis. In Vienna, twenty-two years later, Jagoda Buić received the prestigious Herder Award in the category of visual arts in 1976.
Through her approach of “setting the tapestry free of its own two-dimensional decorative nature”, as acknowledged by Vera Grimmer, Jagoda Buić expanded the possibilities of tapestry art by weaving it into the sculpture. In her early work, she referenced figuration, as seen in her first tapestry piece, Reminiscence of Dubrovnik (1962). Later, she created somewhat abstract, high relief, two-dimensional but also sculptural and spatial “tapestry situations” among which the work Black Environment earned the Grand Prix at the XIII International Biennale of São Paulo in 1975. She produced a large body of work whose impact on contemporary tapestry art has been profound and continues to grow.
Jagoda Buić was born on March 14, 1930, and raised in Split, Croatia, where she completed elementary school. Following a significant event in her life, the loss of her brother Đorđe Buić, who served as the personal translator to the son of British Prime Minister Winston Churchill during World War II, she relocated to Dubrovnik after World War II, where she completed high school.
Upon her return to Yugoslavia, these two cities became significant professional launching points where she began developing her costume designs and scenographies, first for the National Theatre in Split and later for the Dubrovnik Summer Festival. Throughout her career, she created over 150 costumes and set designs and contributed costumes for film and television productions throughout the country. Dubrovnik, in particular, held a special place for her – the festival became a site of continuous professional collaboration, while the city housed her beloved summer artist’s studio in the protected area of Kolorina. Today, the city’s cemetery beside the church of St. Mary serves as the final resting place for both her husband, Dr. Hans Wuttke, who was a high-ranking international banker, and herself.
Buić’s professional exhibition career began in 1955, when her work, categorized as textile and costume design, was included in the exhibition of the I. Zagreb Triennial of Applied Art, held in the Art Pavilion in Zagreb. Since then, she has exhibited in group shows across Yugoslavia and in exhibitions representing Yugoslavia abroad. In the early stages, she was involved in textile design and participated in the establishment of the Studio for Industrial Design (SIO) in Zagreb in 1957. That year, she participated in the XI Triennale in Milan as part of the SIO group, which was awarded the silver medal for the residential unit design project.
In 1962, tapestry became her primary creative focus, drawing inspiration from the folk fabrics of the Dalmatian hinterland. Her first tapestry piece, “Reminiscence of Dubrovnik,” was commissioned by the Federal Executive Council in Belgrade and produced for the Salon of the Socialist Republic of Croatia. Later, many public spaces across Yugoslavia provided settings for commissioned tapestries by Jagoda Buić. At the beginning of the 1970s, she began collaborating with a group of women weavers in Sandžak (a geographical region administratively divided between Serbia and Montenegro) and started creating and producing monumental and environmental tapestry installations. However, the Croatian War of Independence in the 1990s interrupted the long-standing production.
Her first solo exhibition was presented in Croatia in 1964, at Split’s Art Gallery, and two years later at Dubrovnik’s Bokar Fortress, where she exhibited tapestries. As early as 1956, Jagoda Buić began to exhibit internationally. From 1965, Jagoda Buić began to be a regular presence in major international exhibitions focusing on textiles such as International Lausanne Tapestry Biennials (1965, 1977, 1985, 1987, 1995). Her work was included in the exhibition “Wall Hangings” (1969), MOMA, New York, exhibition “Perspective in Textiles” (1969), Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, “Experiencias artístico-textiles” (1969 – 1970) at Museo Español de Arte Contemporáneo Madrid, and others.
In 1968, she participated in the exhibition section entitled “Linea della Ricerca” at the 33rd Venice Biennale, alongside Magdalena Abakanowicz and Wilhelmina Fruyter. Two years later, Jagoda Buić represented Yugoslavia at the 34th Venice Biennale, alongside Dušan Đamonja and Janez Bernik. In 1975, she had her first major retrospective exhibition abroad at the Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris. Exhibitions continued to take place in other major museums and institutions across Europe. Throughout her career, she had over 70 solo exhibitions and participated in over 70 group exhibitions worldwide.
Her works are part of major museums and are held in private collections and galleries. The work “Fallen Angel” from 1967 is on display in the permanent exhibition at Tate Modern, London.
Text by Ivana Čuljak