Greetings From Get!
If you find yourself in Split, wandering the narrow streets inside The Golden Gate, it is very likely that, at some point, you will also find yourself in front of the newly opened concept store with a catchy name GET GET GET. The shop’s interior is in tune with the city’s urban pulse, and it also offers a new view on the unique brand design concept. Since its opening, a little over a month ago, GET GET GET has been making a name for itself as a gallery and a designer store that promotes creative design made by 12 authors (for now) mainly form Split. Items that can be found in the store include: T-shirts with ‘briškula’ and ‘trešeta’ logo designed by Mišo Komenda (‘briškula’ and ‘trešeta’ are two popular card games in Dalmatia); lomographic cubes with sights from Split; plexi-jewelry with the stylized bell-tower of St. Dominus Cathedral; postcards from Žnjan, Marjan or Firule… However, not all those represented are designers; there are also “painters and photographers and architects, as well as seamen, journalists, historians, psychologists, musicians.” The ghetto in Split has received its cultural response.
Store/gallery GET GET GET is the idea and project of Ana Barbarić Krželj, a photographer from Split, and her husband Ivan Krželj, whose works can also be seen (and bought) in the gallery. The need for something new in a city contaminated by the Chinese mass-products in the Basements (of the Diocletian’s Palace) seems inevitable. According to Ana, the citizens of Split find the idea of the store appealing and they buy there more often than tourists. She says: “That is the sign that they will continue to come here throughout the year.” Nothing is left to chance at GET GET GET – the interior with its “industrial-recycle” touch, as well as the visual identity of the store, are the result of inspiration by the owner.
However, what makes GET GET GET different from other stores promoting young Croatian designers is the request by the owners that all the items be designed exclusively for the store. Also, the ideas are presented to the owners whose “blessing” depends on the production. Such an approach to designer stores is relatively new to Croatia, and has not been fully embraced. Some of the names are already familiar to us, such as Iva Stojković i Marko Prpić ZETS; but the excellently developed concept by Iskra Grisogono should also be mentioned here. It is a series of items of use in plexi, entitled “eSTetika”. These items include coasters and napkin holders; as well as jewelry, and rosaries with the stylized bell-tower of the Cathedral in Split. Iconic sphinxes from Split can be found on the handmade postcards by Ivan Krželj. Ana points out that soon we can expect a series of cloth dolls, representing the characters of Roko, Anđa, Luigi and Bepina.
The gallery part of the GET GET GET begins with Nataša Ljubetić, an artist from Split who presents her work with three light-boxes in which she inserts handmade enlarged foils of the well-known candy wrappers from the socialist period; and which were a part of an installation from 2009, that was on display in the Diocletian’s basements. A painter from Zadar, Ana Kolega, exhibits her two “holograms”; and there are also photo-mosaics by Ana Barbarić Krželj.
All those who wish to become a part of the GET GET GET story, exhibit in their store/gallery; can always send their portfolio and suggest ideas, because the GET GET GET owners are always open for new collaborations. Everyone else is invited to visit the GET GET GET and experience a different state of mind in Split, firsthand.
More on GET GET GET can be found here.
