Once upon a time there was a girl who grew up playing with clay at her father’s brick factory. Life looked good but, as in every story, a twist occurred that would forever change the course of her life – the second world war. The girl becomes a refugee, running away from her birthplace, with her family, so as not to be targeted by what was then called the Independent state of Croatia, allied with Nazi Germany. The family was caught when they crossed the border into Italy and put into an Italian internment camp where they suffered but survived. In 1943, when Italy capitulated, she and her family joined thousands of other refugees hiding in the forests, running from place to place, protected by the Yugoslav partisans until the end of the war in 1945.
New world. New times. New optimism and opportunities. The girl has become a woman and wants to be an artist. She graduates as a sculptor at the Academy of Fine Arts Zagreb under mentorship of some of the era’s greatest names – Anton Augustinčić and Frano Kršinić.

She qualifies for a French state scholarship to continue her postgraduate studies at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. In 1953, this was no small feat. Only eight years had passed since the war. Scars are deep and still fresh.
Upon her return to Zagreb, her credentials earn her a state-granted space for an atelier. Many of her male colleagues get existing art studios or spacious lofts with big windows. She however, enters an old derelict former bakery inside the courtyard of Ilica 110. Her family sells their apartment and, with the help of her friends, architects, builders, artists, poets and others, she remakes the space into her atelier. The year is 1958.
Until her passing in 2014, she worked, created and sculpted in this space.
This is a brief sketch of the life story of Vera Dajht-Kralj, one of the most prominent sculptors of the second half of the 20th century in what was Yugoslavia and is now in Croatia.
Since 2015, in the same space that was her atelier, her artistic and life legacy are continued by the non-profit art cooperative – Živi Atelje DK (Living Atelier DK).
What follows is our in-depth reflection on the first nine years.
