Zagreb announces support for the preservation of traditional arts and handicrafts in the city

The Croatian capital would not exist without its traditional crafts, according to the city’s mayor

In order to preserve its traditional crafts and handicrafts, the City of Zagreb has announced a tender for grants for the preservation and development of traditional, deficient and productive crafts. The initiative was presented at a press conference at the city’s Chamber of Trades and Crafts by Mayor Milan Bandić and was also attended by the President of the Association of Craftsmen of the City of Zagreb Antun Trojnar and the Head of the City Office for Economy, Energy and Environmental Protection Mirka Jozić.

Preserving history and tradition

"Zagreb would not exist without Zagreb craftsmen, deficient and traditional crafts, and Zagreb craftsmen would not exist without Zagreb and that is why this competition has a special weight. Let us continue the trend of increasing crafts," said Mayor Bandić.

Through the tender craftsmen can receive from 10,000.00 to 30,000.00 kuna for the purchase of equipment, landscaping, education and promotion. For this purpose, almost 17 million kuna has been provided in the Budget of the City of Zagreb for 2021.

So far more than 8,500 grants in the amount of HRK 120.1 million have been granted since 2004, which has enabled a large number of craft workshops to survive and retain employees. This also enables the transfer of craft knowledge and skills to new generations. According to the latest available data, in October 2020, there were 30,083 employees in crafts and freelancers.

Despite the difficult circumstances in which the Croatian capital finds itself in – including the COVID-19 pandemic and the recent earthquake that devasted parts of the city, officials are adamant that this support is vital for the city’s continued prosperity and are more than eager to deploy more and more measures to support local craftsmen in their plight.