Today in our new unofficial column “It’s a bad week for culture in Zagreb”: the Automobile Museum Ferdinand Budicki might be closing down in near future, zagreb.info reports.
Due to accumulated debt, the museum management is having a hard time running the place. They were supported by the Ministry of Culture with annual incentives of 30.000 kuna from 2013 to 2015, but the funding ceased in 2016 and all following programme proposals have been rejected. To protest the lack of support by the state, the museum boycotted this year’s edition of the popular manifestation called Night at the Museum.
“At this time, our accounts are frozen. We have no financial resources and are facing closure,” said Valentino Valjak, founder and manager of the museum. The City has shown no understanding for the debt owed to the Holding city enterprise, and the Mayor’s alleged standing is that Zagreb has no need for an automobile museum. !We haven’t achieved a thing at our meeting with the Mayor and don’t know how to proceed. Children from all parts of Croatia are continuing to visit the museum, we have a social responsibility to the community.” added Valjak.
The museum is home to more than 100 authentic old-timers and engines, as well as a vast collection of memorabilia, photographs, and films. No financial support by the City of Zagreb has been shown at the time of the opening; the exhibition space was renovated and arranged by the managing team and volunteers. Seeing that the museum is a crucial institution preserving the national history of automobiles that dates back to 1899, it would be a disgrace for the capital if the governing bodies allow such an important cultural destination to get wiped off the map.
Automobile Museum Ferdinand Budicki
