Inspired by the recent shooting of Star Wars in Dubrovnik, the two of the most popular Croatian street artists Lunar & Lonac joined their forces for the first time and created a fantastic mural just outside Dubrovnik, behind the elementary school Mokošica. They decided to give it an interesting name : ”Once upon a time in a flat not far from yours.”, referring to the original opening line from Star Wars that originally goes ”Once upon a time in a galaxy far, far away…”. I spoke to Slaven Kosanović a.k.a. Lunar.
What is it like to work as a street artist in Croatia?
Working as a street artist in Croatia or anywhere else is similar. Every beautiful initiative and project that looks fantastic on picture or video is a result of somebodies exhausting work. System doesn’t work in a way that it rewards people that create and work, they are there to levy taxes and feed their mechanism. People who get results worthy of respect and are recognizable on international levels are driven firstly by passion, along with persistent work. No matter where you work, in New York, Amsterdam or Zagreb, the same people will help you if you help yourself first with continuous work and thought.
How does the scene of street artists look like in Croatia?
The scene in Croatia is in one of it’s most beautiful editions. In the first place, it makes me happy to work with my brother Smack who has been ironing his styles around Zagreb and plenty international cities for years. I’m happy with the diversity of the current protagonists and what bounces out from what we have already seen in our regions, names that are promising are Lonac, Sarme, Chez and Oko. I’d love to see art on the streets from some other strong artists that have gone to work in interiors or digitally, such as Morka, Mosk or Zets, their engagement would definitely enrich the environment.
How did you and Lonac decide on what to create?
Lonac has been working on the streets for many of years and has created some impressive work. I appreciate people who silently push their story and work nonstop, collaborations with artists like that give me joy. Star Wars was our choice after a short negotiating on possible subjects. My father used to take me to the first films when I was a little boy in the early 1980s, and the series fascinated me even then. Today the newer sequels fascinate some other kids and that is where we found a link with one beautiful story of the eternal fight of good and bad that connects generations, to make it simple.
How long did it take you to create the mural?
The process of creating the mural, if we’re only counting the painting on the wall, took us 5 days.
Are you planning to create something new in Dubrovnik, solo or together?
We have some new ideas for Dubrovnik, on our first day we held a two-hour lecture in Lazareti and we were impressed with the reactions so we’d love to come back. For me personally, Dubrovnik is one of the cities that I visit often just to re-charge my batteries, but this was the first time I almost emptied them. For sure we’ll be coming back, possibly together. 🙂
Did you enjoy your time in Dubrovnik and what is your favorite thing in the city?
We didn’t really have a chance do rest and enjoy, but we took a tour around the Old Town and visited some dear places, met with friends – the new and the old ones. It’s hard to single out one thing that I love the most in Dubrovnik, there are a lot of elements but I’ll say the general impression, especially in the period before and after the peak season when the crowds are not yet in full swing.
