Filip Trade Collection

The Filip Trade Collection (Croatian: Zbirka Filip Trade) is a large private collection of contemporary Croatian art. The collection is a subsidiary of Filip Trade, a distribution company with its offices located in the capital city of Croatia, Zagreb. The offices and collection are currently undergoing a move and will soon be relocated in a purpose built venue in the Črnomerec district of Zagreb, Croatia. The collection was founded in the nineties with the acquisition of the Drystone Walls graphic by artist Oton Gliha, an acquisition suggested by the Croatian art critic and connoisseur Radovan Beck. Nowadays, the collection holds works of Croatian artists created from the 1950s, up to today. The earliest piece in the collection dates back to 1949 and is the bronze sculpture Bara with a Chicken by the Croatian sculptor Ivan Kožarić.

In the past several years the Collection has been more focused on the current production of artists of a younger and middle generation. The collection keeps longstanding relationships with some artists. For example, the collection has 33 works over a 12-year relationship with the Croatian painter Lovro Artuković. However the collection is also continually accepting new artists, in the last year 4 new artists were brought into the collection Silvia Sofija, Andreja Kulunčić, Silvo Šarić and the youngest artist in the collection, Igor Ruf, born 1984. The collection also has significant works from the artists involved in key periods and groups in Croatian art history, for example Exat 51, New Tendencies, Gorgona Group and Informel.

The collection is very involved in the contemporary art scene of Croatia. The Filip Trade award was distributed yearly from 2002 until 2005 to a young emerging Croatian artist. In 2002 the Filip Trade award was given to David Maljković, in 2003 the winner of the award was Matko Vekić, Kristian Kožul was the recipient in 2004 and in 2005 the Filip Trade award was presented to Viktor Popović. The collection has also worked with artists, independent artist associations and cultural institutions to organise various art projects and exhibitions throughout Europe. For example, the Filip Trade Collection organised a number of independent exhibitions which comprised the Linienstrasse113 project, organised in Berlin. The collection also regularly holds an exhibition hosted by Gallery 5 Kula at the yearly Motovun Film Festival in Istria, Croatia. They have also supported the publication of the artist book, Data book on Hydrocarbons, by one of their featured artists who works under the name, Puma 34.

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