Why do I love prints? Zašto volim uzorke?

I always loved ethnic prints. I think it might have something to do with my fascination with folklore. There was always something drawing me to cultural studies, there was always this sensation that I could experience something new and wonderful by getting myself familiar with some new culture. There was nothing wrong with this instinct, I would say. It made me more curious and it lead me to some great places. Even as a little girl, I felt the desire to learn more about different cultures and over the years this curiously motivated me undertake personal study projects. It caused a lot of wanderlust in my childhood. 

As I grew older, I realized that it is not always necessary to travel to experience new cultures. We can learn about some country without even visiting it. Being physically present doesn't always matter much. Do you know those people that are always on their phone? They might call you to meet up but spend all their time texting. When you say your goodbyes, you don't even have the feeling they were actually there with you. That can be applied to many situations. Sometimes we are truly there where our heart is, and our physical location might not be as important as me might think. 

 My own culture was also a source of much interest to me. If you look closely, you will discover that even the city you happen to live in has a particular culture, sometimes even a dozen of them (depending on its location and history). There are so many cultures we can study, both those foreign to us and those familiar. There is so much we can learn, no matter do we speak of the old or of the modern cultures. Perhaps culture in itself is always a mix of the old and the new anyway. My interest in culture was always accompanied with my interest in clothes. I still love learning about folklore dresses, national costumes and different traditions connected with clothes. So, no wonder this little red cap is so dear to me. I love its patter. After this introduction that probably doesn't come as a surprise to you, right? P.S. These photos were taken in Međugorje, Herzegovina- just in case you're wondering.

Uvijek sam voljela tradicionalne uzorke. Mislim da to ima veze s mojim zanimanjem za folklor. Uvijek me nešto privlačilo  izučavanju kultura, uvijek sam imala taj osjećaj da mogu iskusiti nešto novo i divno tako da ću se upoznati s nekom drugom kulturom. Mislim da me taj osjećaj nije prevario. Povećao je u meni znatiželju i odveo me na neka divna mjesta. Čak i kao djevojčica, osjećala sam želju da naučim više o drugim kulturama i tijekom godina ova znatiželja me motivirala da samostalno istražujem brojne teme. U meni je to izazivalo i veliku želju za putovanjem u djetinstvu. 

Kako sam odrastala, shvaćala sam da nije uvijek potrebno putovati da bi iskusili nove kulture. Možemo naučiti puno o nekoj zemlji bez da je i posjetimo. Biti fizički na nekom mjestu ne mora značiti previše. Znate one ljude koji su uvijek na mobitelu? Možda vas nazovu da se sastanete, ali provedu svo vrijeme šaljući poruke. Kada kažete doviđenja, nemate osjećaj da su zapravo bili s vama. To se može primijeniti na razne situacije. Nekad smo doista tamo gdje nam je srce i naša fizična lokacija ne mora biti toliko važna koliko mislimo da je.

Moja vlastita kultura me također uvijek zanimala. Pogledate li dovoljno pažljivo, otkriti ćete da čak i grad u kojem živite ima svoju posebnu kulturu (ponekad čak i desetak njih). Ovisno o svojoj povijesti i položaju, može ih imati veći ili manji broj. Postoji toliko kultura koje možemo izučavati, i one koje su nam poznate i one koje su nam strane, sve nas mogu puno naučiti, a isto vrijedi i kada je riječ o starim i modernim kulturama. Možda je kultura zapravo uvijek mješavina staroga i novoga. Moje zanimanje za kulture je uvijek pratilo i moje zanimanje za odjeću. Još uvijek volim učiti o folklornim nošnjama, kostimima i različim tradicijama vezanim uz odjeću. Tako da nije čudo što mi je ova mala crvena kapica tako draga. Sviđa mi se njen uzorak.  Nakon ovoga uvoda, to vas vjerovatno i ne čudi, zar ne? P.S. Ove su slike uslikane u Međugorju, eto ako ikoga zanima.