Adventures of the Jadran

It wasn’t only from the Soviet Union and Poland that elegant passenger ships set sail for western waters. In Tito’s Yugoslavia, the need to secure hard currency and a natural desire to see national values and culture promoted abroad deeply influenced the strategies of the two state-owned shipping companies. An exhibition in Rijeka this summer marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of Jugolinija, a shipping company which was based in the Croatian city. Jugolinija did much in the socialist era to consolidate Rijeka’s position as Yugoslavia’s premier port and there are many in the city who regret the company’s dissolution in 2002. The exhibition, called Tales of the Blue Horizon , charts how Jugolinija’s network once spanned the oceans.