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Q&A – with Danijel, dad of Kiša Vita, Zagreb, Croatia
Do you know our Blog series Q&A?
The idea was born out of the desire to get to know families choosing Rafa-kids design. We have already travelled to Spain to meet Andrea. Berlin to see the lovely family of Victoria. We visited Sladjana in Amsterdam, where we met her little boy Ezra. Do not forget our chat with Belinda, and her boys, from Melbourne!
I’m glad to introduce to you this unique family from Zagreb. I discovered Danijel’s account on Instagram and was excited to see an inspiring DAD finally! This was not the only thing, of course, but also his artistic work intrigued me enormously. He and his life’s partner Dubravka are raising their 4 years old daughter Kiša Vita.
Hello Danijel, thank you for accepting an invitation for a small interview. It’s a pleasure to follow you on Instagram / under Danijelsrdarev / and enjoy your journey. I find it very inspiring that you are raising your daughter as part of an artistic adventure. I’m glad I have the chance to ask you a few questions and share with our readers part of your daily life.
1. Could you shortly introduce yourself and tell us about where do you live and with whom?
My name is Danijel Srdarev, and I am an academic painter – graphic artist and illustrator. I was born in Šibenik, a town on the Adriatic coast. I live in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, with my family, a partner Dubravka and our 4-year-old daughter Kiša Vita.
2. I’m sure many of our followers would like to know more about your work, can you tell us a bit about it?
Of course. My main preoccupation, next to the other aspects of art through different media, is art. I spend most of my time painting in my studio. Mostly, my paintings are in bigger dimensions and on canvas. Lately, throughout my paintings, I deal with the subject of the bestiary. Next to the painting, which is my primary expression, I also spend a lot of time illustrating. I illustrate books for children; so far 12 books with my illustrations have been published. Furthermore, there are posters for theatre plays, classic music concerts and book festivals. Then, there are other aspects of scenography for theatre plays, sculpting and different installations, and the workshops with my daughter, which I organize in my studio.
3. What’s your favourite activity as a family, and raising a child in a city? do you travel often?
We share all activities when it comes to raising our daughter and there is nothing I wouldn’t do. I spend a little more time with my daughter on different workshops which I create, or we create them together. We spend a lot of time together, and we love travelling, which completes us in a way. We travel with our daughter, but lately, we don’t travel at all because of the world’s current situation, and we miss that quite a lot. We hope this global pandemic will come to an end soon.
4. Your daughter has a lovely name, Kiša Vita; what’s the story behind it?
We had more options for our daughter’s name. Before we even knew the baby’s gender, it was hilariously fun because we had many names for a baby girl. Kiša, when translated, means Rain, and I loved it for some time; it is unusual and definitely not a common name, at least not here in Croatia. My partner loved the name Vita which is Life in Italian. We both love Italy, so we have decided to combine our names together and we named our lovely daughter Kiša Vita.
5. I saw on your profile a specially made Mobile – Birds, Planes & Clouds hang above her bed in the nursery room, where came this idea, and how did you make it?
First, I drew an illustration by which I made mobile in a few examples. It is made of wood, while a plane, birds and clouds have been printed in silk–screen technique. I did everything by myself. Frequently I create short versions of mobiles, and recently I made one inspired by Bernardo Bernardi. It’s a Croatian product designer who was active in the 50s and 60s, and his A4 chair model inspired the mobile. www.arhitekturazadjecu.com
Architecture for children is a web page that I have created and where I try to bring closer to the young population the creators from modern time, architects and designers who were active in this area. I love the idea of mobile, especially when combined with light; there is a whole theatre there.
6. I noticed the work of Enzo Mari on your Instagram. Did he have a special place in your life?
Yes, Enzo plays an important part in our lives. We are deeply sorry that he and his wife Lea Vergine have passed away during this ruthless pandemic. His retrospective was open at Milan Triennale, but unfortunately, we couldn’t go there to visit it. For the same pandemic reasons and according to the wishes of Enzo Mari, all his work will be deposited in the archive and will not be available for the public for the next 40 years. On the day when I saw on the news about Enzo Mari’s passing, I felt so sorry, but on the other hand, I thought…. well, it was a nice death, his retrospective exhibition had just been opened, and now he is gone, but he didn’t leave. Covid was the cause… even though Enzo Mari will never leave. He gave a lot, he was a genius, and we simply adore his persona and his work. When Kiša Vita was 8 months old, she met the work of Enzo Mari through his story books and games. Enzo Mari is every day with us through his work, and I am sure he will remain an important figure in her life.
7. Of course, we are curious why you chose Rafa-kids F bunk bed and whether this choice was yours or your little girl?
We saw Rafa-kids F bunk bed on one of our earlier travellings, and I loved it instantly. We agreed that we would get exactly this one when the time came to change our daughter’s bed. So it was. This summer, she turned 4, and we have decided to replace the old bed, which was small, with Rafa kids bunk bed. In the lower part of the bed, there is her workspace with a drawing table. Everything is adjustable, so at the moment, there is a curtain over the sides as her little theatre, her stage, her world. She is very happy with her bed.
8. And lastly, could you reveal one of your guilty pleasures?
Going to Venice, a hotel by my choice, a square not crowded with tourists in the summer evening and a glass of fine wine in pleasant company. Repeat all the above mentioned in some other city. ☺
THANK YOU so much, Danijel, for taking your time and sharing with us a bit of your creative life.
We wish your family all the best.
If you would like to meet and follow Kiša Vita 😉 on Instagram, you can find her here: Danijelsrdarev
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