THE PIPES (July 2, 2008)
A pretty young woman wearing high heels and playing pipes led the way up narrow cobblestone streets from the main Labin square to St. Stephen’s chapel, where Ivo Vrtarić’s art performance was to take place. When the small crowd assembled at the plateau in front of the chapel’s entrance just across the street from the main art gallery in town, she played a few more minutes. As soon as she was finished, she got a heartfelt applause from all those who gathered for the event. And then she swiftly let the air out of her pipes, folded them into a tight bundle, tucked it under her arm, and disappeared in the crowd. The size of that bundle blew me away: such a huge sound out of such a tiny instrument!