In 1936, a group of young people gathered in a tiny village in northern Gorski Kotar with thirty-odd houses and, together with the illustrious Anton Burić, founded the Croatian reading room in Gornji Kuti. It was a book club and a learned society that paved the way of knowledge for future generations.

At the time, reading rooms were reserved for privileged members of society, which makes the endeavour in Kuti all the more miraculous. This exceptional club did not impose any membership restrictions and admitted both boys and girls, as well as adults and youth. Reading rooms, which were a European trend back then, had their own rules and a list of members. They were extremely important, since these knowledge hubs were breeding grounds for new generations that played a pivotal cultural and political role in a young Europe.

It is this particular fragment of history that Gornji Kuti shares with Europe through books and the fostering and dissemination of knowledge. Today, only about 30 elderly residents and 9,000 books remain in Kuti. The number of book caretakers keeps dwindling.

The Gornji Kuti neighbourhood programme is organised in cooperation with the Brod Moravice Municipality. Genuine efforts have been made to reverse the trend of emigration and to restore the focus on the stunning landscape of this region.

The reading room will once again become the centre of cultural life in Brod Moravice and will be given a first-rate programme. Gornji Kuti has recently been visited by artists who have made new works of art dedicated to this region. The idea behind the Kuti village Happy House is to expand to all 38 happy villages in the Brod Moravice Municipality.

PREPROGRAMME

Kuti Neighbourhood Living Room
2 p.m. – 6 p.m.
Location: Croatian Reading Room of Kuti Village, Gornji Kuti 10a, 51312 Brod Moravice
A Living Room with tea and cakes:
– Exhibition “Čampi – or How to Recycle an Old Winter Coat“
– Exhibition “The Smallest, the Biggest, the Thickest, the Thinnest, the Most Read and the Forgotten Books“ – exhibition of books from the Happy House – Gornji Kuti Village Reading Room collection,
– admission of new members,
– the introduction of European partners with a presentation and an exhibition, NIDA Nidzicka Development Foundation, Dzialania Warminski Zakatek Local Group, Poland.

PROGRAMME
5 p.m. – 9 p.m.

5 p.m. – Opening ceremony – Protocol and handover of the time capsule from the Novi Vinodolski Neighbourhood – the programme will be opened by representatives of the Brod Moravice Municipality, the Croatian Reading Room of Kuti village, Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, the City of Rijeka and Rijeka 2020
Location: Croatian Reading Room of Kuti village

5:30 p.m. – Buna Well – Akiko Sato (JP/HR) – art installation unveiling ceremony and discussion with the artists
Buna Well is an artwork by the Japanese artist Akiko Sato (JP/HR), which was inspired by the enchanting natural surroundings of Gornji Kuti village. Uniquely located by the Lower Well, amid a beech forest, it is the product of a year-long process of working with the community and observing all shapes and seasonal changes, with the installation of the one-of-a-kind Buna Well artwork as the end result.
Location: Lower Well

6 p.m. – 8 p.m. – “Plant a Happy House and Knowledge Will Grow” educational forest walk from one happy house to another;
Locations:
– Lower Well – Viktor Jurković reads a poem about the well and a story about water
– Happy House – a reading of a story about the house
– Partisan School – Slavica Grgurić Panjić reads haiku poetry
– St. Andrew – a reading of 4 legends about the Brod Moravice region

8.15 p.m. – further socialising at the reception with a special programme
Location: Croatian Reading Room of Kuti village