ANA HANŽEKOVIĆ, Management Board Member, Hanza Media

An emotion creates an experience, and an experience creates a lasting memory that changes us forever. A year that has left a lasting mark on the humanity, quickened all the changes and redefined many habits, made no exception when it etched that Sunday, 22 March, into the lives of the people of our capital and its surroundings. Hanza Media presents a record of the devastating earthquake and the days that followed with a multimedia project in the city center, the site of destruction, by way of digital channels and formats throughout the country and the world. We are proud to tell a story of emotion, people’s strength, solidarity and unity with comprehensive content, looking to the future.

We will keep encouraging positive social change and asking new questions, with dedicated work and highest professional standards. With our innovative, cross-platform solutions we will keep bringing our contents and information to the readers.

Thank you.

Goran Ogurlić, Editor-in-Chief, Jutarnji list

With the photo exhibition of Cropix photojournalists we would like to honor the people who were there, throughout the pandemic and right after the earthquake, on Zagreb’s roofs, with the citizens, capturing the emotions, the moment… Now, all people of Zagreb and our guests will be able to see that moment in large format.

We also made a documentary, the first to be screened from the moment of the earthquake. I am proud that we, as a media company, are able to show everything that is outstanding on all platforms, and now through the exhibition and film. We look forward to meeting our readers and Zagreb’s citizens every day, in the place where we are at all times, in the streets, among the people, at the heart of the city.

Nikolina Zečić, Head of Customer Experience, Marketing, Identity and Communication, Zagrebačka banka

The powerful earthquake which struck Zagreb on 22 March, at the height of the coronavirus pandemic, also affected the Zagrebačka banka headquarters – the Gradska štedionica building, one of the most striking visages of our main square.

It was quite damaged by the earthquake and has been assigned the “yellow label”, that is, access to the building is limited. A silver lining – the memories we keep in our Time Vault, which citizens from all over Croatia left for the next 100 years, remained unharmed by the earthquake and the recent flood, safely awaiting their jubilee. We hope that our building, after repairs and investments, will open its doors in full splendor as early as the middle of the next year.

The extraordinary circumstances we have found ourselves in affect the lives of each and every one of us. Unfortunately, the many buildings that the earthquake damaged include Zagreb’s hospitals. Because of that, taking into account our social responsibility, we once again reached out to those who need aid the most, donating 1.3 million HRK to hospitals to help cover the medical costs, purchase medical equipment and repair the earthquake damage.

We are also proud of our employees, who raised 380 thousand HRK, with UniCredit Foundation’s support, as a donation to the Croatian Red Cross, to be used for the purchase and distribution of food packages for socially disadvantaged fellow citizens and households. Zagrebačka banka joined them, adding one million HRK to the donation.

By supporting the Hanza Media initiative, we wanted to help Zagreb and the project that is the first to tell the story of one of the most challenging periods in the history of our capital.

Damjan Geber, Architect, Founder and CEO of Brigada Agency

The idea was to show the photos taken on the day of the earthquake not in a conventional gallery space, but in a public one, precisely where they were created. In a way, we wanted to bring people back to that day emotionally as well. Scaffolds will be our companions for years, even decades after the earthquake. And the crane is the symbol of Zagreb after the earthquake. There were so many of them around the city that it looked like an alien invasion.

Our desire was to take it a step further, that is, for the visitor of our exhibition to be more than just a passive observer.

Zagreb needs closure. The city will carry wounds for a long time to come. And so will the people who have kept living in their homes after all sorts of traumas they went through.