Dear colleagues/members of ICOM Croatia, entire Croatian museum community

The earthquake that hit first and foremost the City of Zagreb and its museum institutions, the strongest in this area in the last 140 years, has left numerous damage to infrastructure and museum collections. As far as we know there is no human loss, and hopefully it will remain so. We will make up for the rest, the cultural heritage museums preserve are Croatia’s most valuable jewels, along with its people, and also part of the heritage of humanity.

A particular challenge in this situation is the global pandemic of the Covid-19 virus, with many restrictive measures in place, so what would be common emergency management (earthquake) is much more difficult here. But we will overcome these challenges, together, we are confident by the messages you already send and still coming. We receive the same from our colleagues from other ICOM National Committees, in the region, in Europe and beyond – we are grateful to everyone.

In this context, and possibilities of ICOM Croatia, please – without unduly exposing yourself to any other extraordinary threat – submit shorter (or longer) reports on the damage your institutions (infrastructure or collections) have suffered. You can send those to dbabic@icom-croatia.hr and / or tajnistvo@icom-croatia.hr. Be aware that we may not be able to respond to all messages immediately, some of us personally have suffered significant damage and we are working under changed circumstances.

Yours sincerely, Darko Babić, Chair of ICOM Croatia