On 1 February, with the urban Rijeka Opera Industriale and a 24-hour programme of over 70 events at more than 30 different locations in the city centre, Rijeka is kicking off the year during which it will become the most interesting city in Europe!
This enthusiastic and energetic cultural mobilization in both the organization and the participation, the largest in some time, is happening in Rijeka on 1 February 2020 at the opening of the European Capital of Culture. Everyone should enter this date in their diaries, come to Rijeka, get down to the city centre and be part of the huge 24-hour cultural celebration, which offers numerous events for all ages, tastes and interests.
On 1 February, Rijeka is entering the year during which it will become one of the most interesting cities in Europe, offering more than 600 cultural and artistic events over the span of 365 days.
Work and pride, rebellion and the avant-garde, heritage and tradition
The Opera Industriale is the central opening programme and will take place at 7:00 p.m. in the Rijeka Port. With it, Rijeka pays homage to its workers, its artistic avant-garde and the tradition of the region that surrounds it, whilst at the same time reminding us of the fundamental social values on which modern Europe was built.
The port represents a strong identity point for Rijeka. In the history and the present of the city, it was and is a symbol of an open and modern Rijeka, and by choosing this venue for the central opening ceremony of the ECoC, Rijeka is sending a message about the significance of understanding the Port of Diversity, which rests on the acceptance of sails of all colours.
The Opera Industriale was created on the basis of the musical template of the Rijeka art duo JMZM (Josip Maršić and Zoran Medved) and on the orchestration of the Croatian composer, maestro Fran Đurović, and will be performed by almost one hundred and fifty performers with participation from several thousand people in the audience. The programme director is Dalibor Matanić.
24 hours of culture, entertainment, urban music, humour, dance and more.
In addition to the central event in the Rijeka Port, the opening programme of the European Capital of Culture also brings 24 hours of great fun to Rijeka’s streets and squares, cafes and clubs. More than 70 events in over 30 locations in the city centre are being organized by an incredible number of associations, entrepreneurs, arts organizations and individuals. The programme features about five hundred performers, perhaps even more. On 1 February, Rijeka will become a place for all ages, tastes and interests.
The morning part of the programme is dominated by dance, dramatic and instrumental performances, and performances by children’s choirs, vocal groups and dancers. Particularly interesting will be the daily pop-up performances in unusual places like singing or dancing at the Rijeka fish market, but also an anti-tourist tour on the Rijeka tour bus. About 20 playwrights are involved in the morning and day events. The choral and vocal performances include all generations – from children to pensioners.
As early as the afternoon, DJ performances will begin in certain locations. The entire programme, including evening club events, features more than 30 DJs. Among them, particularly noteworthy is DJ Nicky Siano, owner and designer of a venue considered to be the first New York disco club, THE GALLERY, and the first resident of STUDIO 54.
In addition, concerts by rock, pop, jazz and blues performers and bands are starting in the afternoon, with over 60 bands representing rock, pop, electro and jazz music performing throughout the day, including evening performances in Rijeka clubs. Pogon kulture will host performances by Jonathan, Parafi, Fit, and Denis & Denis, and the Life club will see the performance of the electro pop duo The Siids, while the tech house collective Deep’n’Delicious will be performing at the club Crkva. Several performers will be featured in Palach, in the organization of the RiRock Association, while numerous other venues will see performances by Marko Tolja, Duško Jeličić Bonaca, Šajeta, Izet Medošević, Marinada and more. The concert offering of the city will be so diverse in terms of genres and performers that truly everyone will be able to find something to their taste.
Light and noise – the Rijeka Port
The performances on the streets, squares and clubs will only pause for the central opening ceremony in the Rijeka Port, from 7:00 to 8.30 p.m., when the entire audience will move to the port piers, from where they will watch the performance of the Opera Industriale.
This grand open-air urban opera brings together the sounds of the city, industry and noise, music and effects created by a combination of light and darkness as well as powerful symbols of Rijeka and Europe.
Welders, sparks, the noise of grinders and drills, metalware and ironworks – symbols of labour and the workers who built Rijeka with pride.
The House of Extreme Musical Theatre of Damir Bartol Indoš, in collaboration with the Rumorists on unique instruments called schachtophones, devotes part of the performance to the great Rijeka artist who heralded the arrival of the European avant-garde with the power of his written word – Janko Polić Kamov. The opening programme brings the energy of his lyrics, thereby upholding the European magnitude of their great author.
The performance also includes a particularly intriguing Finnish men’s chorus that performs by shouting, rattling and screaming – Mieskuoro Huutajat. They will present the audience with representations of the turbulent history of Rijeka, during which this city, like few others, was under the rule of as many as seven countries in the last hundred years alone.
Also performing on the main stage is the mixed choir Jeka Primorja, led by Igor Vlajnić (CRO) and an orchestra of strings and wind instruments comprising members of the Opera Orchestra of the CNT Ivan pl. Zajc.
An ensemble of twenty-five Rijeka guitarists, ten drummers, and a workers’ orchestra of grinders, welders and sparks are also included in the performance. They will bring the propulsive energy of Rijeka’s punk and rock, which in their time represented the rebelliousness and boldness of Rijeka.
A number of custom designed spatial light installations will be positioned at several locations around the port, and at locations leading to the port, spatial installations – kaleidoscopes – will be placed. The programme also includes smaller illuminated boats within the waters of the port. Rijeka will conclude its central opening ceremony with the most powerful sound that has surrounded it since ancient times. In an ancient magical pagan ritual, bell ringers will create an enormous noise with their bells, driving away winter and heralding spring in the European Capital of Culture, a new era that Rijeka is entering on 1 February 2020.
After this rhapsody of sound, noise, light and darkness, the programme continues in the squares and clubs until the early hours of Sunday.
Ceremonial part of the opening in the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc
On Saturday afternoon, the Croatian National Theatre Ivan pl. Zajc hosts the ceremonial part of the ECoC opening, with short music and stage performances and welcome speeches, and a ceremonial handover of the European Capital of Culture plaque to the City of Rijeka.
This part of the programme will be attended by high-ranking officials from Europe and Croatia – representatives of the EU Commission, ministers of culture of European countries, representatives of previous and future European Capitals of Culture, ambassadors, the diplomatic corps and more. After the conclusion of the ceremonial part of the programme, the distinguished guests will also head to the Rijeka Port to attend the central opening ceremony.
A long weekend in Rijeka not to be missed
A rich full-day (and all-night) programme is guaranteed to provide cultural enjoyment, a great time and a fantastic extended weekend in Rijeka. It should be noted that as early as Friday 31 January, the exhibition “With the Collection” by David Maljković opens in Rijeka’s Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, and the evening will be marked by the Long Night of Museums.
On Saturday 1 February, the cultural and entertainment programme will take place at over 30 locations in the centre of Rijeka from the early morning, and for all culture enthusiasts, on Sunday Rijeka is offering a visit to the exhibitions previously opened in the Maritime and History Museum of the Croatian Littoral as part of the European Capital of Culture project: D’ Annunzio’s Martyr; Violins Above Borders / Stradivari in Rijeka – Kresnik and Cremona; Invisible Borders. Those of you who cannot make it to the opening of the exhibition With the Collection by David Maljković at the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art can see it on Sunday.
Without a doubt, on 1 February Rijeka will be Europe’s most interesting city, and will remain so throughout 2020 – the cultural and artistic programme of this European Capital of Culture offers over 600 individual events over the span of 365 days, involving more than 300 organizations from 40 countries in Europe and the entire world.
