About the Salon

About the Salon

The Youth Salon is the largest and most respected national exhibition event for visual artists up to 35 years old in Croatia. In its slightly over 50 years of existence, it has showcased more than 3,500 artists and, in each of its editions, introduced new names to the Croatian art scene while connecting the Croatian and international cultural scenes. Apart from presenting the latest artistic trends, the Salon has been awarding prizes to the most successful achievements since its inception, adequately valuing artistic work and emphasizing to the broader public who the new names on the scene are whose work should be followed in the future.

The first Salon was organized in the distant, revolutionary year of 1968, sponsored by reputable companies such as the Yugoslav Bank for Foreign Trade, Pliva, Ina, and Generalturist. From its beginnings to the present day, it has undergone a series of programmatic changes and experiments. For example, at the 2nd Salon, the review, or introduction text, was replaced by a survey on the meaning of the Salon and ideas for improvement; at the 5th Salon, a sort of anti-conception was presented, and all submitted works, including those by amateurs, were exhibited, while in subsequent salons, the curator concept and situation review were introduced. Over half a century, the Salon has launched, recognized, and promoted significant artistic movements and concepts such as New Painting, the Biafra group, and the Group of Six, which also initiated the PM Gallery, now an integral part of the Croatian Association of Fine Artists.

The Youth Salon was held in several locations: at the Art Pavilion, PM and Karas Gallery, the Modern Gallery, the Museum of the Revolution of the Peoples of Croatia, the Zagreb Cultural Information Center, the Gliptotheque HAZU and the SC Gallery, but since 1989, with the exception of the Zagreb Fair at the 26th Salon, it found it´s place permanently in the Home of HDLU.

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