Operating as the seat of Croatia’s presidency of the Council of the European Union, the National and University Library in Zagreb has prepared a rich programme of exhibitions to present to the international public the greatest treasures of Croatian national heritage, as well as some of the most significant figures in Croatia’s history. Some of these exhibitions will partly or in their entirety be put on all around Europe.

On 9 January 2020, the Library put on the Book Art in Croatia exhibition, spotlighting the wealth and diversity of Croatia’s cultural heritage. It provides a historical overview of techniques and styles employed in the production and decoration of books in Croatia since the Middle Ages to contemporary times, and features a selection of some of the greatest treasures preserved in the Library’s Manuscripts and Old Books Collection. Visited by Croatia’s Prime Minister Andrej Plenković, President of the European Council Charles Michel and President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, the exhibition will remain on view until 31 January 2020, after which a part of it will be put on in Rome.

From 15 January to 14 February 2020, the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania will be hosting Marko Marulić – A European Humanist, an exhibition presenting the father of Croatian literature, whose work brought together the influences and content making up European identity and earned him wide recognition in the cultural circles of both Europe and the rest of the world. Upon its closing in Vilnius, this exhibition will be put on in several other Lithuanian cities. Also, from 18 to 29 May 2020, in cooperation with the Embassy of the Republic of Croatia in the Swiss Confederation, the Library will put it on at the University of Zurich.

Finally, in June 2020, The St. Cyril and Methodius National Library of the Republic of Bulgaria will be hosting Croatian Glagolitic Script, an exhibition through which the Library wishes to bring closer to the wider public Croatia’s oldest alphabet and its development throughout history, and present its typography, cultural impact and contemporary use. It additionally presents the Library’s Croatian Glagolitic Heritage project and the related Glagoljica.hr online portal, which makes available Glagolitic books, manuscripts and research papers in the field of Glagolitic studies digitised as part of the project, and also provides access to the Croatian Glagolitic Script online exhibition.

The Book Art in Croatia exhibition catalogue.

The Marko Marulić – A European Humanist exhibition catalogue.

The Croatian Glagolitic Script exhibition catalogue.