LegendIN

About LegendIN

LegendIN – a creative platform for people with disabilities!

With great enthusiasm, we are launching a new LegendFest project titled LegendIN – a creative platform for people with disabilities.

We are aiming to further promote the Croatian intangible heritage with this project and to provide a platform for all creative people with physical or other impairments who go beyond their limited conditions in which they operate and, despite their handicaps, successfully overcome obstacles.

Through LegendIN as a creative platform, we would like to design many multimedia methods and to publicize audio – visual materials that will bring the world of Croatian legends, stories and myths closer to people with disabilities and encourage them to express themselves creatively.

The aim of the LegendIN project is to involve people with disabilities into creative activities through which they will be able to express not only their artistic talents but also their own experience of the Croatian non-material heritage. We also aim to present the results of this creative work at the LegendFest festivals as well as on our web pages, and in this way show how much we can learn from these valuable members of our society.

We invite people who are interested to get involved in the LegendIN project, get acquainted with people with disabilities, provide support and find INspiration in their work.

Ambasadors

LegendIN Ambasadors

We are proud to present the first ambassadors of LegendFest who, with their remarkable lifestyle stories, bear witness to enviable strength emerging from difficulties, the strength that drives ours and we hope your INspiration as well.

GORAN THE DRAGON

A kid’s writer, Goran Čučković is a daring, curious, cheerful and loving person who has been living for three years with a rare and severe peripheral nervous system disease. The very name of his present condition, the ‘flaccid tetraplegia’, indicates that his arms and legs systematically ‘lose control’.

But, the dragon that he is, Goran does not surrender to despair in such difficult moments but fights back with imagination and creation. On the front line he can be seen with the purple keyboard under his fingers, persistently and firmly providing resistance to illness by writing and creating picture books that spread joy and beauty throughout the hospitals in Croatia.

In his everyday life, he is a proud father of Lav, Adam and Max with whom he lives in Velika Mlaka near Zagreb. He is the launcher of the project ‘Angelo the dragon helps children’ for which more info can be found here:

He is the author of three picture books: ‘Angelo the dragon and long tail’, ‘The little turtle Rita’ and ‘Fearless mommy’. Some of them have been translated into 10 languages. He is the launcher of T.E.T.R.A. and a retired photographer.

More about this remarkable dragon, his work and his unwavering attitude can be found at the following links:

We are delighted that Goran joined our team and participates in the LegendArt project as a main jury member for literary works on the subject of Croatian legends and myths. We hope that with our joint efforts, many new ideas will come to life because Goran has many possibilities, just like our Fairy Karmen.

KARMEN THE FAIRY

For Karmen Herceg, B.Sc. Fashion Designer and self-thought Costume Designer, we really could not decide whether to call her a DRAGON or a FAIRY. Since our wonderful collaboration has started with the ‘Secrets of Fairies’, in other words, the fairy dresses that Karmen has made for a fashion parade at LegendFest, the nickname ‘Fairy’ perfectly fits her.

Karmen is from Šibenik and for eleven years has been operating her designer/dressmaking business ‘KARMEN’.

She describes herself as following: ‘I do everything by myself – from an idea in my head, sketching, cutting and sewing to ironing…

I like to have everything under control and do exactly as I have imagined. It is quicker to do it all myself than explaining to others what I want, hah, hah … I do not like the fact that every story about me starts with a description of my physical handicap because it “eats” everything else right away. Okay, I’m different, but just in my physical appearance; thank God I have above average IQ and strong will and perseverance, I am constantly learning something new and I only have one life that I want to make the best of for myself and others.

I volunteer, help children and look after them, I work and I have organized a couple of fashion (and humanitarian) shows.

But I also enjoy life; I love swimming, yoga, reading books in English, writing biography, drawing… well, I do more than some with 10 fingers ?.

I do not brag, I’m just realistic and I’m doing my best. I’d really like to do more, for example try my luck in film costume design, but… let’s just take one step at the time.’

We invite you to come to LegendFest at Roški Waterfall in NP Krka and see for yourself how Karmen imagined and brought to life the harmony of elements and colour that best represents the essence of these secretive fairy beings who blend with the environment so seamlessly.

More about the strength of this exceptional woman and her work can be found at the following links:

Collaboration

'Secrets of Fairies' fashion show by Karmen Herceg - LegendFest Roški slap 2017

More about the participation of the designer Karmen Herceg at LegendFest can be found here.

More about Karmen Herceg can be found here.

Association for Promoting Inclusion, Šibenik - LegendFest Roški slap 2017

More about the creative workshop held by Association for Promoting Inclusion can be found here.

Dance group Art Laboratory and Tamara Bračun - LegendFest Pićan 2017

More about the drama dance performance “The Clarity of Illusion” and involvement of Tamara Bračun can be found here.

You can read about how Tamara became part of the Rijeka Ballet Ensemble here.

Goran Čučković 'Angelo the dragon helps children' - LegendArt 2017

More about the participation of Goran Čučković at LegegendArt can be found here.

More about Goran can be found here.

Sponsors 2017

We invite institutions, organizations, associations and other people who are interested, to join the LegendIN project financially and/or organizationally in order to improve the quality of life of people with disabilities and to cultivate artistic creativity, general well-being and broadening of horizons.