Along the Palm Avenue promenade in Sutivan, fifty stone planters have now been installed, fully formed and integrated into the new visual identity of the space.
Our workshop is proud of the excellent collaboration with the Municipality of Sutivan and the FLAG of Brač Island, who made this demanding and valuable project possible.
The entire project was conceived and led by Dr.art. Dina Jakšić Pavasović, in collaboration with visual communications designer Goran Pavasović.
In addition, Dr.sc. Nika Ugrin, a marine biologist, took part in the project and contributed essential scientific expertise. Her authorship is visible in the texts engraved on the sides of each planter.
These texts describe the fish species, their natural habitat, the algae they live among, and the traditional fishing tools once used to catch them.
Each planter represents a single species — 50 planters, 50 fish of our Adriatic Sea.
All planters are made from Veselje white Brač stone, known for its durability and brightness.
On the promenade they blend harmoniously with the palms, stone surroundings and Mediterranean light, and the users of the space — walkers, residents and visitors — have expressed great satisfaction with this artistic intervention.
The most prominent artistic element on the planters is the alga, whose negative silhouette stretches across the entire surface of each planter.
Carved as a rhythmic and airy structure, it creates the impression of a “stone lace” that visually connects all pieces into a single unified story.
The alga was chosen as the central motif because it links two worlds:
the land plants growing inside the planters and the marine plants carved into the stone below, giving the entire form a symbolic sense of completeness.
All planters share a common feature — the upper sea-line, which moves in a wave-like rhythm along their top edge and emphasises the feeling of travelling through different sea depths.
At the start of the promenade, the motif of the shallow zone prevails.
These planters are low, wide and shaped with a soft wave on top, featuring fish and algae typical of coastal shallows.
As the promenade advances toward the open sea, the planters also shift — they become taller, slimmer and more dynamic.
At the far end, in the open-sea zone, the planters are high and slender, with a strong, expressive wave-line.
They depict fish of the deeper waters and algae species belonging to darker, deeper marine habitats.
One planter differs entirely from the rest.
Located at the very beginning of the promenade, rectangular and without a wave-line, it represents the geological site of rudists near Livka beach — fossilised shell-bearing organisms marking the transition from the age of dinosaurs to the age of mammals.
This significant piece of natural heritage is displayed on its surface.
The project was funded by the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund 2014–2020 through the FLAG of Brač Island.
The result is a public space that unites design, science and cultural heritage.
On Palm Avenue, between the shade of tall palms and the sound of the sea, these planters now live their full life — as functional elements, as visual art, and as lasting stories of the Adriatic carved into stone.
