Ante Šimunović – student and wine producer

This space is dedicated for common student with uncommon background. Ante Šimunović is student on University of Dubrovnik. His father decided to create a wine brand called Markus that won the best wine from Pelješac and best wine in category of Dingač on Dubrovnik wine degustation competition. 

Introduce yourself in a few sentences

Hi, my name is Ante. I’m from Zagreb and I decided to study in Dubrovnik. I’m studying in second year of bachelor degree in restoration and conservation of metal objects. The reason why I choose Dubrovnik is because, specialization in metal objects is not available in Zagreb.

What's the best and worst thing about Dubrovnik?

For me the best thing is beautiful historic town, full of nice people and top of that is on the sea. It means that incredible nature is on top of my fingers tips. The bad side for me is that Dubrovnik during winter season becomes a ghost town.

What are your hobbies?

I am a type of person who really enjoys nature, so I like sports in general that are somehow connected with it. Snowboarding and Surfing are great examples. I started working a few years ago in Pelješac as a surfing instructor. Pelješac is not just a place where I’m working during summer, but also a location from which my family buys wine grapes for producing wine.

How and when did you start, what exactly are you doing?

The idea about wine came about 6 years ago and idea soon became reality. The goal of my father and his business partner was to create the best wine that can be. Šimunović and Szabo is the name of the company and brand of wine is Markus. We produce wine made out of Plavac sort of grapes. My position is promoting and participating on representative events.

Have you ever been to a competition?

Our most important competition was held in Dubrovnik this year 2015, which is called Festiwine. There we won 3 gold and 1 bronze medal.  Considering rivals whose wines were produced by people for generations we finished very successfully as a new brand of wine. We won the best wine from Pelješac and best wine in category of Dingač. As I mentioned before we are relatively new company so it means that we still have not been out of Croatia.

Why do you think that this wines are not recognize outside of Croatia?

For this I blame Croatian government and the type of external politics that is obviously not putting enough effort in supporting home products on the international trade. This is especially hard for smaller agro culture companies, which are being put down by high taxes.

How many types of wine do you make?

We produce wine from sort of grapes called Plavac Mali. There is different types of Plavac Mali, like Dingač and everyone is special. Those types depends on micro location of Pelješac.

How many bottles of wine do you produce?

Since the company started we produce approximately 10 000 bottles.

How many days it takes to do wine?

First of all wine is special product, that you can’t just produce and that’s it. I think that people really don’t know that wine changes in the bottle, so it means that wine is done when you open it. Producing wine takes a lot of effort and time. The way we do it is that first buy the grapes and transported to Zagreb. From that point it could take up to 4 years that our process is over. So in the end we can say that producing wine is not a question of days even not months but at least a few years.

What are your future plans? Are they connected with wine? 

In the future I would like to be involved in producing wine. Essential element would be buying wine grapes from other people and producing in collaboration with Croatians Oenologists superior wine. Personally my main goal would be to make Pelješac wine centre of the world.

How to compose happiness with Golden man

We are passing by a lot of people, foreigners, friends. You wouldn't remember most of them at the end of the day and sometimes you will just passed someone and don't realise that it was a mistake as I did. 

Golden man at Stradun, Dubrovnik. Yes, I passed without realizing what is his real job and sense of it. Dragan is 46 years old man. He was born in capital city of Croatia, Zagreb.

"Golden" story of his life started as venetian mask  in The Stephansplatz in Vienna in 1998. 

Basically, he came to Vienna with the aim to find a job. He met one brazilian guy who has been statue street performer and he inspired him to start with street performance. Dragan started with his gold costume made by macedonian tailor and with venecian mask. After some time he decided to visit foreign countries because travelling was much more easier and cheaper before 15 years ago. He visited countries and cities from Istanbul to Copenhagen and met a lot of interesting people, got know new  cultures, languages and also celebrities and politicians, for example, Prince Charles with his wife Camilla, austrian, croatian and slovenian president.

,,Most of us live with mask."

Golden man and his performance changes according his life experience. One day he took off his mask to show mimics and smile.  Next day he bought  flowers and started to bless people regardless of religion. He is also using key of Saint Peter, keys of heaven. Key and flowers are symbolic for his perfomance and its moments.

                                                ,,People are people." 

Most of us don't know what he is doing during his performance. Some people notice him, for some is better to pass and not watching. If you stay for a few minutes you will see what is his job about. The fact is that people are sceptic about new and unusual things. He claims:,, People are people." If you are not interested in what he is doing he doesn't care. He always tries to do his best and believes that every action has a reaction and finally, it works. He is like dirigent, people are musicians and he is creating his own composition with possitive energy and in the end Stradun is dancing. 2 hours of performing are like 2 minutes for him. The secret is ,,don't look at time and feel the moment".

,,When you finish your studies you will start to live. Never stop. Go. Go. Go. Never forget about that." 

But, what is his job? What is the purpose of his work? Just make you smile and give his possitive energy to you, to create moment when you stop thinking for a few seconds and make you happy. Nowadays, he livens Stradun in Old Town in Dubrovnik, Croatia. He doesn't have a family, girlfriend and stable place but he has something what most of us is looking for, unforgettable feelings and life he loves. 

During the interview he was talking about everything with love. Sometimes you may think that he is able to find happiness in everything around him. He loves good vibes, pretty women, good food, drinks. He loves life. 

Stjepo Roko - judo is more than sport

Now you will have an amazing opportunity to get to know a judo player Stjepo Roko. He is 20 years old and currently studying for Mass Media Communication bachelor. When he was six years old his parents suggested him to start taking up a sport activity. Whereas he was not interested in football or basketball thus he decided to play judo. At the beginning he was training just for fun but after a couple of years it became his full time job - five years ago a coach of a Croatia national judo team asked him to join.

Could you describe your regular day?

I have trainings twice or three times a day during the season. Also, I have to go to university and after it there is no time for anything else, except eating and sleeping. Furthermore, I am a member of ESN Dubrovnik so when I have time I try to help them. During summer I work in one hotel in the morning and training in the afternoon.

What about the University? Do you have enough time for it?

It is difficult to combine both, professional sport and studies but I think it is worth trying because a won medal is the best reward for all the hard training.

What about your free time?

I do not have a lot of free time but if I do, I usually play futsal or go for a coffee with my friends. It is a bit complicated because I can not meet them as often as I would like to, however I am glad that they understand why. I have supportive friends who greet and congratulate me after each competition no matter what.

Could you mention your awards?

I won three medals in European cups in Cohimbra (second place), Zagreb (third place) and Ukraine (second place).  I participated in the World and European Championships in which I won the first match but unfortunately lost the second one.

Could you mention all countries where you had competitions?

I had fights in the whole Europe. I have been to Spain, France, Hungary, Slovakia, Turkey, Italy, Malta, Ukraine, Poland, Russia, Slovenia and Portugal. To be honest, Portugal is my favourite country so far. I have been there several times and my dream is to go to study there as Erasmus student.

Is it true that you spend more time abroad than in Dubrovnik?

Actually, I spend a lot of time in foreign countries. For example, last year I was abroad about 150 days just because of judo and competitions.

Did you make new friends during competitions?

I made some good friends in many countries, like Sweden, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Spain and Turkey. Actually one of my best friends is from Sweden and he comes to Dubrovnik to visit me every summer.

Did you get any injuries during your sports career?

I had three serious injuries in my career. The first injury happened during the semi-finals of a championship in the middle of the season when I had more intense trainings than usually. The second one happened one month ago. I could not take up judo for four weeks! Now I am better and just started preparation for upcoming championship in Zagreb. Injuries are inseparable part of sportsman’s life especially when you have to do training twice per day.

Did something funny happen during your travels to various competitions?

When we were in Kiev we went to watch a football match between Dynamo Kiev and Arsenal Kiev. Me and friends of mine were wearing white T-shirt but we did not know that white colour is an official symbol of Dynamo Kiev. Suddenly a group of Arsenal Kiev fans showed up who wanted to prove that their team is better. Fortunately, the police came in the last minute and saved our lives.

Could you mention the most important things in your life?

The most important thing in my life is family. When I lose the confidence, they still believe in me, when I lose the power, they give me power. They support me all the time and they always accept my decisions. The second most important thing is sport and third one is university.

What do you want to do in the future?

On Saturday there is going to be the last fight in this season. It is my last year in Junior category and next year I will be in Senior.  Therefore I have to decide if I want to play judo professionally and get a job related with it or find a job connected with my current studies. I hope I will decide after a few meetings in summer. It is very hard to make up my mind because I want to make a right decision.

Stjepko Mamić – Captain living in the world of art

Being a captain for 30 years, Stjepko Mamić decided to return to his first love – painting. “Art is a different world,” he says. “There is no rush, no pressure. I am painting and creating only when I feel comfortable and you can see that in my works.” Changing ship for atelier was a terrific change for him and the freedom to do whatever he feels like is still his favourite part of being an artist.

From marks on the wall to serious art

Stjepko Mamić has always been very creative and skillful, even as a very little child. “As a kid I was using anything to do different shapes and marks on the walls. Later on all my school books and notebooks were full of sketches. I did it al the time without even thinking about it”. When he had to decide for a profession he was divided between following his mother’s artistic traditions or his father’s captain tradition. He chose the sea, mostly because he wanted to live a life full of adventures.

"I did arts al the time without even thinking about it."

Eight years ago he decided to quit his job as a captain: “Sailing has changed a lot in those 30 years,” he says: “The captain is just an administrator, doing paperwork all the time. I remember my beginnings when we were located in one port for days or even weeks and we could see the country, meet the people.  Nowadays everything is simply too fast.” This was also one of the reasons why he decided to go back to painting. Nevertheless, 30 years of life on the sea still means a lot of memories and therefore a lot of inspiration.

Art is freedom

Stjepko’s favourite part of being a painter is freedom. He likes being his own boss, not working under pressure and doing whatever he wants without fear. But there are several things that are necessary for that kind of freedom: inspiration, a feeling for colours and creativity with tools, techniques and styles.

"All the fish on my paintings have human expressions." 

“I have loved swimming and diving since I was 4. When I am in the water I feel very connected to our ancestors – that’s how I call fish.” As you can imagine fish and sea are Stjepko’s greatest inspirations. “When I dive I am entering my second home so all my paintings are connected to the sea,” he says.

He tried different motives as well but I had some problems, especially with ladies portraits. He realized that to be a good female portraitist you have to know Photoshop and how to paint things that you can’t see. “That is also the reason why all the fish on my paintings have human expressions - they don’t complain!”

Afraid of colours? No way! 

Moreover his natural talent for colours and light enables him to experiment with different colours without any fear: “One can teach an average arts student about perspective but when it comes to colours, there are no rules. No one can say that two colours don’t go together. A lot of artists are afraid of colours because of critiques they got and I think that is terrible. I am not afraid of colours at all.”

"I implemented some new techniques like using glass paint."

Having tried various techniques he is most comfortable with his own invention: glass paint applied to canvas with a pallet knife. “I implemented some new techniques like using glass paint – I am unique in that way. You can easily change shade of the colours and it is the most quality colour you can get – it has to survive dishwashing after all!” But why painting and not some other form of art? “Painting is just more then enough for me. You can try a lot of things but you will never be excellent if you don’t focus.”

Home sweet home

Stjepko was born in Dubrovnik and even though he had very many opportunities to go abroad he still feels the most at home here. Since he likes swimming and scuba diving, Adriatic is perfect for him: no strong currents, good visibility and very vivid sea life. But he is a bit worried about Dubrovnik as a city: “It is a very old city which is overcrowded and therefore not easy to leave in. But the city without people is not city anymore, it is an empty place...” he says.

Having seen the whole world he stopped counting the countries he had visited – now instead of drawing a map of his own travels he draws one for the paintings he sells. Some of them went to very exotic places such as Bermudes and Mauritius but the majority ended up in USA and UK. All in all: Stjepko Memić still has a lot of inspiration to be transferred to canvas and definitely a lot of motivation to promote his hometown trough his arts.