The Matija Vlačić Ilirik and His Time exhibition opened at AMI's C8 Gallery this Friday, 21 November 2025. The event is a collaborative effort of the Archaeological Museum of Istria, the University Library in Pula, the Pula City Library and Reading Room, and the Historical and Maritime Museum of Istria.
AMI Director Darko Komšo noted that this exhibition is an excellent example of collaboration between city, county, and state institutions, underlining the advantages inherent in this kind of cooperative work.
University Library in Pula Director Ivan Kraljević recalled that the institution he leads organised a two-day conference five years ago on the 500th anniversary of Matija Vlačić Ilirik's birth that showcased his works from the Flaciana Collection, part of which is presented at this exhibition.
Nadia Bužleta, Director of Pula's City Library and Reading Room and co-author of the exhibition, pointed out that Matija Vlačić Ilirik lived 55 turbulent years not easily condensed in exhibition format. She highlighted the fact that the exhibited volumes come to us from the early period of book printing, noting that they encapsulate both Vlačić's thoughts, and artistic and historic value in their own right as products of the early phase of book printing, noting that Protestants like Vlačić used the invention of printing to affirm their ideas.
The exhibition features first editions of three of Vlačić's key works: a 13-volume History of the Church, his Key to the Holy Scripture, and a Catalogue of Witnesses of Truth. Notably, Vlačić penned over 200 works.
Exhibition co-author Katarina Marić underscored the fact that Vlačić matured and was educated far from Istria, but noted that his radicalism may well have grown out of Istrian stubbornness. For her part co-author Katarina Zenzerović referred to the exhibition as a sort of homecoming for Matija Vlačić, a home he left as a youth of 16 and which he returned to only once at the age of 43.
Paola Orlić, head of the City of Pula culture department said that this exhibition is an exceptional opportunity to remember, 505 years later, a man who intellectually changed European history and civilisation. Istra County culture department head Vladimir Torbica officially opened the exhibition, noting that there are great people who have great thoughts, perspectives, and character, and that being different today is needed more than it ever has been, although not at all an easy task.
The exhibition is open through to 1 March 2026.
