School essay
PONTORMO : MARIA SALVIATI
Darkness, utterly solid darkness entirely covers the background, all is lost in it and the abyss behind it can be full of dread or entirely empty.
Thousands of lifeless faces gaze from invisible crevices, while a half dead child stiffly stares at the phantom.
Frozen in the endless space, heart stopped in the accelerated beat and veins split on bulging forehead, streams of swollen blood, slashed ripples and unraveled hair, all mixed up, connected and frozen in the last moment of life.
All together, that shattered procession of eyes and murdered torrent of life, hidden and invisible behind nontransparent huge dark hands.
Hands, big and stiff, like birds wings comprised the entire universe, covering everything with thick and cold darkness.
Suddenly, like a flash of lightning, a blazing figure sparks up, stopping than with the same abruptness, ramming its whiteness and coldness deep, deep in to the black mass.
It tainted the darkness with milk and through the gaping mouths of wounds, in a split second thousands of dying started screaming, while a few hearts managed to break.
Eyes wanted to pop out and rivers yearned to flow, and than, than everything ended suddenly. The wounded darkness silenced its cry and the snake eyed lightning have chilled the pain.
The silence came up again, eerie, stiff silence of the anxious, the scream and pain have sunk in to the nontransparent abyss.
Dubravka Janda (a school essay written in the second grade of high school, of the VII. gymnasium. The text was published two years later, in 1961, in the yearbook of the same gymnasium Umjetnost i mi (Art and us) edited by prof. Jadranka Damjanov).
Biography
Dubravka Janda was born March 29th 1942.in Osijek (Croatia) and died October 30th 1991.in Düsseldorf (Germany).
She studied Art History and Philosophy at the University of Zagreb (Croatia). Already as a high school student and later on she participated with her writings in the Annual of a Zagreb High school, Visual Art and Us.
After graduating she taught Art History, Philosophy, Sociology, Psychology, Logic and Marxism from 1965 till 1989.
She was a co-worker in Jadranka Damjanov handbook Visual Art, 1, 2 published in Zagreb, which has been in use in Croatia more than 40 years. She was co-author in the handbook Damjanov, Janda, Bačić, Visual Art, published in Novi Sad (Serbia, former Yugoslavia) in 1975 also translated in Hungarian, Rumanian, Slovakian and Russinian.
Together with Jadranka Damjanov she worked in a UNESCO research Cultural contents in education, published under the same title in Zagreb, 1977, and in Paris 1978. She was a co-author also with J. Damjanov Visual Art, in Illustrated Encyclopedia of Yugoslavia for Children, published in Zagreb, 1981. She was a co-author (Chapter on Visual Art) in a handbook for Marxism, published in 1987 and received an award for that work. ( the book was translated into Italian).
Also she was co-author in a handbook Damjanov, Janda, the Culture of Visual Art, published in Novi Sad, in 1988.
She worked with Jadranka Damjanov on a posthumous book of a great Croatian architect Stjepan Planić, The Culture of Habitation, published in Osijek, 1985.
Posthumous was published her original picture-book for children (without pictures) Šarenooblikovnica (Colori e forme, Die Buntformbücher, Multicololivres, Tarkalakönyvek, Kleurige Vormenbocken, Formfärgrike bökerne, Colors and Shapes).
She published in different Zagreb Reviews 1980 articles About the Pumpkin and the «Kvak» and Room for a child of architect Planić, and together with Damjanov and Bačić Language and Visual Art.
Dubravka Janda worked also as a photographer. Her original photos are in Planić The Culture of Habitation, in Illustrated Encyclopedia of Yugoslavia for Children (Visual Art); in Damjanov, Visual Language and Art; Damjanov, Janda, The Culture of Visual Art; Damjanov, Art Adventure; Damjanov, Metaphysics of Drawing (also in Hungarian), and in web project Methodic Syntagmas and Paradigms (http://195.29.243.219/avangarda-msp/ .
Dubravka Janda was an extraordinary teacher, here are some of her students testimonies.
Students about Dubravka Janda
Very often I remember my dear teacher Dubravka Janda who taught me in 'XIV High School. 25 'May', grade I through IV the following subjects: Art History, Logic and Philosophy. The way she explained subject- object relation motivated me to study Physics. Even more than that, she was the first one to initiate my conscious understanding of the selfsimilarity beauty. I still very vividly remember her Art History lecture in first grade (about architecture). She compared a photo of an American city slum invasive growth
with a microscopic shot of cancer cells progression.
Katica Biljaković
Ph.D physicist, in The Institut of Physics, Zagreb
My teacher Dubravka Janda radiated fascinating tenderness that has shone through my entire life making me a better person. Every autumn, when days narrow down to the coldness and darkness, I make a pilgrimage to bow down to her glorious ashes. Overflowed with melancholic thoughts - I wish she were here - as her worshipper I strongly believe - this world would be much better place and each and every of us would benefit her goodness.
Ivan Bogavcic,
M.S. in Art History, Univeristy lecturer.
After so many years I let my memories fly around.., Dubravka has imprinted the sense and directions into my life since the very beginning of my high school days. Thanks to her I have been and still am very fond of Art and Philosophy. I vividly remember her teaching: by the way she thinks, speaks, and takes stand, she wakes up all treasure deeply hidden in my heart. Gently and humble she guides me to the transcendental field 'on the other side' through various books, films, ideas, characters. I feel especially lucky to get a chance to be Dubravka's student, her presence in my life switched on an impulse, opened up all aspects of my life to the cosmic dimensions ever since. Unlike many of my school mates I enjoyed immensely Dubravka's art lessons in 'the dark room', the way she led us through Q&A to teach us how to observe, dive in the magic depth of a piece of visual art and ultimately appreciate it.
I carried on the same appreciation to the Philosophy, Psychology, all lessons Dubravka taught. Marcuse, Fromm and many others have become my lifelong friends.
Dubravka's eyes radiated the depth, wisdom, innocence and kindness sometimes reflecting sincere inner wow or skeptic attitude. She would always welcome something new and different, ready to draw out a sensible conclusion out of it. I have treasured those precious moments and they have become a permanent and the most important part of my personal world.
Being warm and able to motivate and embrace the field of all possibilities Dubravka has given me 'a permission' to live my difficult moments with dignity. All the books, movies, TM technique, gestalt, Maja Beck, Dvorzak, Jadranka Damjanov and many others have paved my life path thanks to my dearest teacher Dubravka Janda.
Zdravko Bokulić
teacher, Gestalt psychologist, completed study at Faculty of Arts in Zagreb.
Art is mystical but accessible. It is here and everywhere. The image of an overloaded market basket, all richness is in the school. The art cabinet key is available on Saturdays, we could enter it easily. What a joy watching the slides alone or lead interesting discussions. We could read. Out of our teenage phenomena there exists a world one could talk to and talk about.
Ana Pezer,
architect
Beside as her pupil, I can also judge as a professional who knows the practice of education, for I was working on the theme of «motivation for learning». Alongside this, I can compare many other teachers, professors, lecturers.
Her low and trembling voice (sometimes she could hardly be heard) was carrying the message like the trumpets of Jericho, you had to be deeply silent in your mind to hear what she was speaking about, and when it sinked in your head, it was like an earthquake.
Beside this, without any formal duty, already in the first year of grammar school, and prompted with deep questions with which I was obsessing her, Dubravka turned my attention to C.G Jung and his eastern sources, what completely changed my life, had put things in their place and gave meaning to my living.
The objectivity is always subjective.
Initiative of the page by Damir Moritz
One of the main social recognitions that became firmly imprinted in my mind is that some, but rather rare, people are simply talented. They have ability and will to bring out the best in others, the most interesting in them. It is confirmed by the durability of creativity that is manifested in the persons selected by those enlightening thoughts. It has been nearly twenty-three years since the first meeting with the professor Dubravka at an hour on visual art in MIOC High school. Subject was a Klee drawing. The time before the first hour was polluted with mostly spicy superficial student remarks about good, but the unusual person who lives in her world, who sometimes respond "strangely". The light is turned off, the projector is turned on and reproduction has been shown. Future physicist within me then thought: "If my professor. Janda explains how this can be a work of art then she is a wonder maker". During those wonderful days occurred one of the most important transformations and awakening of my life. That is perfect teacher.
Art does not reproduce what we see; rather, it makes us see.
Paul Klee
Robert Pezer,
physics professor
She defined my vocation and life path.
Karmen Ratković
Art historian