May 1, 2020 – A message from the City of Split about this year’s modest Sv. Duje celebration.
As we delve into the days of Sudamja 2020, a festival dedicated to the patron saint of Split, the holy Dujam, given the circumstances this year, we must celebrate modestly, begins the City of Split announcing this year’s Sv. Duje celebration.
“On May 6, our archbishop and mayor will inaugurate the feast of Sv. Duje, and instead of Holy Mass on the waterfront on May 7, Archbishop of Split-Makarska, Marin Barisic, will hold a solemn mass in the Cathedral with a few priests, which will be broadcast on the first HTV program.
This year, there will be no Sudamja fair, no traditional tonbula, no sporting events, no concert, and no fireworks. Everything we do will be marked by the screens of local TV stations, radios and social networks, and you will be able to follow it all with your family from home.”
The City asks all citizens to celebrate this festival in the environment of your own home and respect the decisions of the National Civil Protection Headquarters.
The Sudamja poster traditionally annually commemorates the Sv. Duje festivities, and though the theme has been explicitly Split, this year, it has switched to the coronavirus pandemic.
Thus, this year’s Sudamja poster is called the Zero Year Consolation and commemorates the feast by a straightforward but powerful message: “Don’t be afraid.”
The poster recalls the most significant event in the history of Christianity, the crucifixion of Jesus, on which the whole religion is based, and which is especially important right now, the City says.
“Through His anguish and resurrection, He redeemed all sins and saved the world from evil, including sickness.
In no word or image, the poster shows the “evil” Corona.
The poster shows Jesus’ crown of thorns – the Latin “CORONA SPINAE CHRISTI”, and in turn, it is a symbol of Jesus, his torment, redemption and salvation.
Not even blood is shown, but quotation marks and points as an association with it, and which in this way is presented metaphorically representing words, wisdom and consolation.
Namely, in the spirit of current daily life and the #OSTANIDOMA (Stay Home) message from the National Civil Protection Headquarters, no poster will ever see the light of day. There is no celebration program, people are mostly home, so there is no need for an otherwise custom printed poster. Thus, this poster for Sudamja, probably for the first time in history, is only a poster for home, prepared but not printed,” said the City.
The poster was designed by Split designer Stjepko Rosin, whose work for Sudamja last year won him the silver award from Graphis, one of the world’s most respected American magazines for graphic design and advertising, based in New York. The poster was also included in the Graphis Design Annual 2020.
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