Mate Čvrljak: Olga Ban
(inauguracija biste 1972. godine)
Olga Ban, politička aktivistica i antifašistica (Zarečje kod Pazina, 29. VI. 1926 – Pazin, 7. ili 8. X. 1943). Nakon završene pučke škole zbog siromaštva nije mogla nastaviti školovanje, nego je pomagala ocu narodnjaku Mati u krojačkim poslovima. Otac je bio član napredne organizacije Edinost iz Trsta pa je i Olga pristupila navedenom pokretu. Početkom Drugoga svjetskoga rata (1941. godine) kuća obitelji Ban pretvorena je u partizansku bazu. Tu se skupljala hrana, oružje i sanitetski materijal za Narodnooslobodilački pokret (NOP), održavali su se sastanci aktivista, a Olga je obavljala kurirske zadatke. Zajedno s ocem šila je odjeću za partizane, vršila kurirsku službu, prikupljala hranu i lijekove. U veljači 1942. primljena je u Savez komunističke omladine Jugoslavije (SKOJ). Otac Mate aktivno je sudjelovao u širenju NOP-a uključivši u njega nekoliko provjerenih ljudi koji su 27. ožujka 1942. godine osnovali NOP Zarečje. Nakon otkrivanja organizacije NOP-a Pazinštine u lipnju 1943. godine s ocem je pobjegla u Brinje gdje je pohađala skojevski tečaj. U Gorskom kotaru borila se u II. primorsko-goranskom odredu. U Istru se vratila 10. rujna 1943. gdje nastavlja s političkim radom i organizira odlazak omladine i ženâ u NOP. Ljubo Drndić ju je zajedno s ocem primio u Komunističku partiju Hrvatske (KPH). Nijemci su ju uhitili tijekom Rommelove ofenzive 6. listopada 1943. godine i zatočili u Pazinskome kaštelu. 7. ili 8. listopada zajedno s ocem i mnogobrojnim Istranima strijeljana je na pazinskome groblju. Njezinu majku Anu i maloljetnog brata Antuna poslali su u koncentracijski logor u Dachau.
Narodnim herojem proglašena je 26. rujna 1973. godine. U više istarskih gradova njezinim imenom nazvane su ulice i druge javne površine, a u Pazinu njezino ime nosi dječji vrtić.
Bistu antifašistice i narodne herojine odlikuje realistična i narativna obradba. Njezin osobni, fizički identitet određuje šire četvrtasto lice, moćni lukovi obrva, istaknut pravilan nos i pune, veće usne. Ilustrativnu impresiju djevojke iz ruralne sredine upotpunjuje kosa s razdjeljkom na tjemenu koja je svezana na zatiljku dok visoko čelo i izvjestan, prikriven i prkosni izraz razotkriva stamen, čvrst karakter.
Mate Čvrljak, akademski kipar (Konjevrate kod Šibenika, 30. IV. 1934 – Rijeka, 17. IV. 2018). Diplomirao je kiparstvo na Akademiji likovnih umjetnosti u Zagrebu u klasi prof. Vanje Radauša (1961), od 1962. do 1964. bio je suradnik majstorske radionice Antuna Augustinčića. Od 1965. do 2000. radio je kao profesor umjetnosti u Srednjoj školi Mate Blažina u Labinu i suutemeljitelj je Labinskih ateliera. Sudjelovao je na skulptorskim simpozijima, od 1972. godine održao brojne samostalne izložbe, a 1985. izložbu skulptura u Kaštelu u Pazinu. Čvrljak je autor javnih spomenika u Labinu, Buzetu, Aranđelovcu (Srbija), Iloku, Puli i Medulinu. Ostvario je značajan opus portreta i poprsja koji su postavljeni u javne i otvorene prostore. U pazinskom Parku istarskih velikana autor je sedam bisti.
Olga Ban
Sculptor: Mate Čvrljak, inauguration of the bust: 1972
Olga Ban, political activist, anti-fascist (Zarečje near Pazin, June 29, 1926 – Pazin, October 7 or 8, 1943). After finishing public school, due to poverty, she was unable to continue her education, but helped her father Mate, a member of People’s Party, in his tailoring work. Her father was a member of the progressive organization Edinost from Trieste, so Olga joined the progressive movement too. When World War II broke out in the former Yugoslavia in 1941, the Ban family’s home was turned into a partisan base. Here, food, weapons and medical supplies for the National Liberation Movement were collected, while activist meetings were held, and Olga ran errands. Together with her father, she sewed clothes for the partisans, did courier service and collected food and medicine. In February 1942, she was admitted to the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia. Her father Mate actively participated in the expansion of the National Liberation Movement, together with several trusted people who founded the Zarečje National Liberation Committee on March 27, 1942. After the discovery of the National Liberation Movement organization in Pazin in June 1943, she fled to Brinje with her father, where she attended a course run by the League of Communist Youth of Yugoslavia. She fought with the 2nd coastal and mountain detachment in Gorski Kotar. She returned to Istria on September 10, 1943, where she continued with her political work and organized the departure of young people and women to the National Liberation Movement. Both Olga and her father were admitted to the Communist Party of Croatia by Ljubo Drndić. During Romel’s offensive, in October 1943, the Germans arrested her on October 6, and imprisoned her in Pazin Castle. On October 7 or 8, together with her father and a number of other Istrian people, she was shot in Pazin cemetery. Her mother Ana and younger brother Antun were sent to the Dachau concentration camp. She was declared a national hero on September 26, 1973. Streets and other public areas have been named after her in several Istrian towns, and a kindergarten is also named after her in Pazin.
The bust of this anti-fascist and national heroine is characterized by a realistic, narrative processing. Her personal, physical identity is defined by a broad, square face, powerful brow arches, a prominent, regular nose, and large, full lips. The illustrative impression of a girl from a rural environment is completed by hair with a parting on the crown, tied at the back of her head, while a high forehead and a certain, hidden defiant expression reveal a staunch, firm character.
Mate Čvrljak, was an academic sculptor (Konjevrate near Šibenik, April 30, 1934 – Rijeka, April 17, 2018). He graduated in sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb under prof. Vanja Radauš (1961). From 1962 to 1964, he was an associate of Antun Augustinčić’s master workshop. From 1965 to 2000, he worked as an art teacher at the Mate Blažina High School in Labin and co-founded the Labin Ateliers. He participated in sculpture symposia, and from 1972 held a number of solo exhibitions with an exhibition of sculptures in Pazin Castle in 1985. Čvrljak is the artist behind public monuments that can be found in Labin, Buzet, Aranđelovac (Serbia), Ilok, Pula and Medulin, and he also created a significant body of work of portraits and busts placed in public, open spaces, with seven of them being placed in Pazin’s Park istarskih velikana.