Flying Guitars Festival – bringing together in Varaždin from October 6 to 9 a series of significant local, national and global guitar names – will have its overture at two exhibitions
On the first festival day, Thursday, October 6, the exhibition “Speed of Light” will be opened in the Gallery Centre Varaždin at 18h, by British photographer with an American address Alan Messer, while in the Assembly Hall of the County Palace at 19h begins the programme titled “Riff, in word and image,” where around 80 artefacts, memorabilia and personal dedications will be shown by Dubrovnik collector Vojo Šindolić, Rtl.hr reported on October 6, 2016.
Speaking of the festival programme at the press conference were Elizabeta Dolenec, director of the Varaždin County Tourism Board and Jura Geci, president of the “Musical Time Machine” association, executive organiser of the festival, held under the auspices of the Ministry of Tourism and Croatian Tourism Board.
Messer’s audiovisual show prepared in the Gallery Centre will introduce visitors to the work of this photographer which presents an anthology of rock music from the 1960s until today.
There is no significant name of rock music with whom Messer didn’t work with – let us only name The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Who, Deep Purple, Johnny Cash, Jimi Hendrix, Bob Dylan… – and his photographs adorn the covers of over 800 albums!
The name of Vojo Šindolić is tied to the Džuboks magazine, first rock magazine published in former Yugoslavia. His journalism career brought him in direct creative contact with, among others, champions of beat and rock culture such as Jim Morrison, Allen Ginsberg, Charles Bukowski, Patti Smith, Bob Dylan, Jack Kerouac, Henry Miller, John Lennon…
As part of the exhibition in County Palace visitors will view a part of his enormous collection of various memorabilia he collected, which gives the exhibition a “third dimension” of an era whose tone was defined by the explosion of the popularity of the guitar.
Concerts at the Flying Guitars Festival are scheduled for Friday, Saturday and Sunday, when Kelpie, King King, BJ Cole & Emily Burridge and other names will perform, rounded off on Sunday by the concert of bands under the name Rock Masters, formed by rock legends of former Yugoslavia, led by Vedran Božić, one of Croatia’s renown guitarists. Local musicians have not been overlooked, so many await the performances of band Mindmills and Jam Ritual.
An important part of the programme are numerous workshops by guitar masters of various styles – from classical, acoustic, jazz, jazz bass, gipsy swing, blues rock… All workshops are free, applications are via e-mail jgeci1 @ gmail.com.
Also, emphasis is placed on the festival pinnacle, presentation of the project “Flight of Fame,” which should result in the creation of the house of famous guitarists and guitar museum in the following years.
