Marijan Bušić

Marijan Bušić

The name of Mr. Marijan Bušić cannot be separated from one of the most original, widely used and attractive Croatian products and souvenirs – the necktie (cravat).

According to the historical records, the first cravats were brought to the European regions by Croatian soldiers, cavalrymen and horsemen. In modern day times, it was Mr. Marijan Bušić, a professor of philosophy and sociology, who made a new discovery of the cravat through the company Croata. It was as though the story of Sleeping Beauty was retold, with the cravat reawakening from its centuries long sleep with just the touch of a hand. With the help of partner Zlatko Penavić and other associates, and with the creations of several distinguished Croatian artists, the cravat was transformed into a respectable Croatian product.

He created the network of Croata boutiques throughout the European metropolises which, in a way, became a symbolic "Croatian embassy" for the export not only of Croata products, but Croatian culture as a whole! In this network, Croatian tourism has received a special brilliance and beauty, and the project “Croatia – homeland of the Croats” has opened a new global expression for Croatian tourism.

"The cravat is a stylish accessory in the male fashion culture." But Marijan Bušić's visionary project is much more than that. Even as a secondary school student, Marijan Bušić realized that Croatia could best be presented to the world through the cravat, as a global symbol of dignity, formality and success.

This youthful vision of Marijan Bušić became a reality in 1989 when he and economist Zlatko Penavić founded the company Potomac. This stable partnership and the complementary capabilities and knowledge of these two businessmen were the key to the successful penetration of the Croata brand worldwide. In the years that followed, the Croata brand has grown into a globally recognizable Croatian brand, and the cravat is increasingly recognized as a symbol of Croatian identity.

A new step forward, again courageous and visionary, occurred in 1997, when the non-profit organization Academia Cravatica was established based on Marijan Bušić's ideas. This organization is entrusted with promoting the cravat as a media of its own, and in researching the cravat as part of Croatia's heritage and the global heritage.

The culmination of the work of the Academia Cravatica was the artistic installation "Cravat around the Arena". The image of the finished project was seen by more than a billion people worldwide. Other significant projects include: the “Cravat around Croatia”; the popular international exhibit entitled Challenge of the Cravat (displayed in Cairo, Johannesburg, Split, Sarajevo, Mostar, Vienna, Warsaw, Berlin, Sofia); the documentary film Cravat! that was screened in a dozen countries worldwide; the project World Cravat Day (18 October) and the establishment of the Cravat Museum in Zagreb. In addition to these, many other projects and publications have also enriched Croatia's cultural heritage.

The creative work of Marijan Bušić, imbued with culture and entrepreneurship, has affirmed both cultural diversity and exchange, bringing together the old and the new to reshape the Croatian identity.

This all means in fact that the cravat was worn in Dubrovnik as long as 55 years before it was worn in France, and there is real evidence to support this fact. Although this portrait of Gundulić has been on show in the Rector's Palace for many years, it is interesting that it has never been noticed before now that the poet is not wearing a normal scarf, but precisely a cravat. "Dubrovnik is one of the greatest Croatian brands, just like the cravat, and with this discovery these two brands now complement one another even more" it was pointed out, amongst other things, at the press conference in the atrium of the Dubrovnik Sponza Palace, on the occasion of this discovery, by Mirta Hansal, a public relations officer from "Academia Cravatica". Moreover, Dubrovnik and the cravat are each in their own way a symbol of the centuries long story of freedom.

As well as this exclusive, it was mentioned in Dubrovnik that a 17th century map was recently discovered in the area of Slavonski Brod, on which it is visible that a fortress there is called Cravatten Statt. “The map was drawn by the Dutch cartographer Nikola Sparr de Bensdorf, and in an attempt to record as precisely as possible the layout of military forces in the Habsburg Monarchy, facing the Ottoman Empire, both cavalry and infantry, as well as command posts, as part of the fortifications for the period from 10th to 12th October 1697, he added a number of toponyms. He wrote amongst other things the name of the fortress as Cravatten Statt. This form of archaic German language indicated a Croatian castle, whilst today we find it in various linguistic forms as the word for a cravat. From all this it is indisputable that the cravat originates from the Croats”, it was pointed out in the Sponza Palace by the art historian and curator of the Museum of the Cravat, which is in the process of being established, Nikola Albaneže.

However, this certainly is not the end of the new historical and other discoveries and interesting facts related to the origins of the cravat, nor the always unique projects run by Academia Cravatica, as the true promoter of the Croata brand, thanks to which the cravat is becoming increasingly recognized throughout the world as one of the most original Croatian brands.

Renata Debeljak

Over a billion people around the world have seen Academia Cravatica's largest project.

The project was performed in the city of Pula, Croatia, on 18th October 2003. The author of the installation is prof. Marijan Bušić. The installation around the Arena of Pula, the best preserved Roman amphitheatre in the world, symbolically connected the past and the future, the ancient times and the modern civilisation.