On Monday, April 2 His Excellency Veselko Grubišić of Croatia visited the Wirth Institute together with the embassy official Mario Martinec. The ambassador was in Edmonton to mark the first anniversary of Croatia's formal ties to the institute and to discuss further initiatives to deepen ties between the University of Alberta and that country. Ambassador Grubišić also opened the travelling exhibition "150th Anniversary of the Croatian National Theater in Zagreb" which was on display in the Old Arts Building at the university for three weeks. In addition to attending sessions of the Wirth Institute conference "Trans-Aesthetics: Crossing Central Europe", the Croatian delegation visited the National Institute of Nanotechnology and met with Cen Huang, the university's Director of International Relations and Recruitment, Heather Zwicker, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Arts responsible for international affairs, and university provost Carl Amrhein. Wirth Institute director Joseph F. Patrouch will follow up with initiatives discussed with the ambassador when Patrouch travels to Zagreb in June. These initiatives include possible study abroad programs for UAlberta students and faculty exchange opportunities.
To view photos from the opening ceremony of the exhibition, click here.