Amicale

When I travel on the trains of the Croatian railway from Zagreb to Leipzig, I always observe the transitions in the cultural landscapes. The scenery outside the window passes me by: on the outskirts of Zagreb, well-tended gardens line up; then misty forests of Slovenia with occasional picturesque villages; followed by Austrian backyards with restrained vegetation; which finally merge into rows of Saxon monoculture forests, that at certain angles reveal the horizon under the mild and clear sun.

Numerous geographical features change along this route, but in fifteen years it has become a unique scenery for me. The landscape is a reflection of economic conditions, aesthetic values, architectural traditions and many other features of the people who live in it. But above all, the landscape is a whole created by observation. Having lived in two countries for almost as many years, my personal Croatian-German landscape has emerged from memories and experiences. I flick through those memories as postcards, now that the landscape is slowly fading ...