The Croatian Ambassador to the UK, HE Josko Paro, has invited CSYPNmembers and their guests to a reception at his residency in Hampsteadon Thursday 22 December. This will be our 3rd visit to the Hampsteadresidency - proving that CSYPN is an important part of the Croatian-UKcommunity, or that our members are behaving themselves, or both. 

Christmas approaches and of course your CSYPN Committee has prepared a treat for you. Christmas dinner is always the highlight of our social calendar and hopefully you will join us.

We are planning a visit to see the exhibition Forgotten Empire: "The world of ancient Persia" at the British Museum followed by our regular monthly pub event. 

Marco Polo of Korcula

We have a reception at 6.30, then the talk will begin at 7.00 for thirty minutes, to be followed by questions and after that an opportunity to mingle and talk with the author.

If you wish to buy a copy of his book, Mr Donley will have copies for sale at a special price of £10 (down from £12.99) which he will be happy to sign.

A talk by the Croatian President Stjepan Mesic on the modern world viewed from South-East Europe and Croatia.

We have booked a ground floor of a beautiful, prestigious Turkish restaurant next to the British Museum for our next CSYPN event.

There will be a concert on Wednesday 9 November in Wigmore Hall under the Patronage of His Excellency Josko Paro, Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia.

There will be a screening of a few Croatian films next month in The Blue Elephant Theatre, including 'Lucky Kid'/'Sretno dijete' and 'A Wonderful Night in Split'/'Ta divna splitska noc'.

Istrian Wine Tasting

Eight leading wine producers from Istria will present their products and provide an opportunity to answer your questions.

We are pleased to tell you that talented Croatian pianist Ivana Marija Vidovic will be returning to London to perform two concerts on 27 and 29 August in St Albans and at St Martin-in-the-Fields in London. 

CSYPN is planning something different for you. The National Theatre and Improbable is staging a production of Theatre of Blood, a play based on the classic British 1970's horror comedy of the same name. 

Allianz Arena

So we have prepared a visit to an exhibition of world-renowned Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron, at Tate Modern during July and August.

The plan is to visit the exhibition around 2pm on Saturday, 23 July, have a cold beer in a nearby pub afterwards and catch up with the latest CSYPN gossip. Viktor will provide an expert tour of the exhibition.

Don Drago Berisic of the Croatian Catholic Mission will hold the Mass for the Croatian National Day. Afterwards, there will be a reception just few steps from the St. Augustine's Church. Do join us!

London's City Hall

This will (probably) be your once in a lifetime chance to go there, to a place optimistically called London's Living Room.

There is another great (Croatian) cultural event going on. A new play called 'Cold Hands' was written by a member of our community, Christina Katic. The play is the winner of the 'Empty Space Peter Brook Theatre Award 2004'. The play won great reviews, like "A playwright with a provocatively unconventional imagination ... a gem" - TIME OUT  

This coming Friday, which is the first Friday in June, we continue with our regular pub events. However, this time we'll put ballet in the same evening - very obvious, isn't it?  

On Friday the ballet troupe Croatia from Zagreb will perform Tchaikovsky's ballet 'Hamlet' in the Lilian Baylis Theatre (Sadler's Wells). More info on here. 

We are pleased to announce that CSYPN has arranged a Croatian Concert of the classical music at the prestigious Wigmore Hall on Sunday 29 May. The concert is dedicated to all Croatian heroes.

This is a charitable concert for the benefit of the Adopt-A-Minefield (UK) and it will undoubtedly be the Croatian cultural event of the year in London, and indeed world-wide.  

On Thursday, 5th May there will be the opening of a photo exhibition entitled 'Trapped', by three young artists - a CSYPN member Jelena Blagovic and her colleagues Frederic Huska and Erika Hayashi. It would be great if you could join us and support Jelena.  

Don Drago Berisic of the Croatian Catholic Mission has informed us that there will be the Easter Mass in Croatian at 4pm on Sunday, 27 March 2005 at the Church of Sacred Heart. Moreover, there will be additional services on Easter Friday (3pm) and Saturday (9pm) at the same church. Please do join us for the service(s).

Note that the service in Croatian is held at the Church of Sacred Heart every Sunday at 4pm.

A CSYPN member Stephanie McNamara has already entertained us with her lovely voice in the past. And there will be another opportunity quite soon.

Steph and her friends, clarinettist Helen Cowmeadow and pianist Nathalie Topalian, are organising an afternoon of modern and popular music entitled "Our Trio On the Town".

The concert includes pieces by: Michael Head, Arnold Cooke, Joseph Horowitz, George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael and more. 

Year 2004 has been a tremendous success for Croatia's efforts to join the European Union. In April Croatia received a positive avis from the Commission; in June it became an official EU candidate country; and in December it got a (somewhat conditional) confirmation of the beginning of negotiations on the 17th of March, 2005.

The Croatian Ambassador Mr Josko Paro will give a talk entitled "Croatia between the Balkans and Europe" which will take place on Wednesday at 6.30pm at The British Association for Central and Eastern Europe.

We had an ice-skating event last year and it was very successful. We have no doubt that this too will be an entertaining event. Afterwards we can go to one of the many excellent pubs the area offers. Beginners are most welcome - don't worry, you won't be the only ones falling down - we'll be there as well.

Dr Tomislav Sunic, Minister Counsellor of Croatian Embassy, will give a talk about British-Croatian Cultural Links.

The talk will take place in the Croatian Embassy, London. Refreshments will be provided.

If you are staying in the UK/London you might join us for the Christmas Mass. Don Drago Berisic of the Croatian Catholic Mission has informed us that the Christmas Mass in Croatian will be held on Christmas Eve, on Friday, 24 December 2004 at 9.00pm at the Church of Sacred Heart. This is the traditional "Midnight Mass", but it will be held at 9.00pm.

We are delighted to announce that the Croatian Ambassador to London, His Excellency Josko Paro has invited CSYPN members to a reception for us at his residence in Hampstead on the 22 December. 

A CSYPN member, Suncica Perisin, will have an exhibition of her paintings in Macondo, a gallery cafe located on the west side of Hoxton Square.

Suncica is a fine art student of prestigious Saint Martin's College of Art & Design and was Sandro Botticelli in one of her previous lives (as she says with a smile on her face). Enjoy cappuccino in one of Macondo's comfortable sofas and see Sunci's paintings.

Christmas approaches and of course your CSYPN Committee has prepared a treat for you. Our Christmas dinner will be held on 11 December at Salvador's El Bodegon in fashionable Chelsea.

As you know, CSYPN demands only the best cuisine for its members. Salvador's El Bodegon is London's leading Spanish Brasserie and a superb set menu will be provided for us. The restaurant will be open only for our event.

Furthermore, if people wish to go on somewhere after the meal finishes then we are delighted to report that you won’t have to go far; there is a special downstairs bar and dance area to go on to, which is open to the public.

A Croatian artist Josip Zanki will exhibit some of his works in The Violin Factory which featured on Channel 4's Grand Designs. 

British Croatian Society (BCS) will be holding its annual dinner in the Grand Hall of the Battersea Arts Centre on Friday 26 November. Of course, you do not need to be a BCS member to come. 

If you enjoyed Croatian films we brought you earlier this month, there is another Croatian film to be screened soon as part of the London Film Festival. The film is "Here/Tu" by Zrinko Ogresta. Its selection for the London Film Festival is a great success for the director. 

Closer Croatia

Festival, entitled 'Closer Croatia', will take place over 7-10 October 2004 at the Riverside Studios in Hammersmith, London.

We are delighted to announce that the patron of the festival will be Vanessa Redgrave, who will open it on Thursday, 7 October at 7.30pm.

There will be 9 great Croatian films, including both classic and new films. It will also feature two programmes of animated films - a field in which Croatia is world renowned. Simultaneously, there will be an exhibition of Croatian cinema art at the same venue.

Cardinal Bozanic

Cardinal Bozanic will hold the Mass in St. Augustine's, Hammersmith at 6pm on Sunday, 3 October. The reception will follow at 7pm until 10pm. 

Join us at the opening of the exhibition of paintings by our Josip Lizatovic. Refreshments will be provided. 

A British archaeologist Jill Cook, of the British Museum, will give a talk about Neanderthals from Krapina and theories of their cannibalism. 

After quite a successful walk in May, there was lots of interest for another one. This time we'll walk in an area south of Haslemere (border between Surrey and Sussex). It's designated as an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. 

It doesn't look like it, but it's summer! And we have a jolly summer event for you to put into your diary as we're planning to go for a picnic in Hyde Park (weather permitting). 

We are returning to Spago's for a meal on Saturday, 3 July, to celebrate Croatian National Day. Many of you will remember our previous events at Spago's in South Kensington, and so will know that a great night awaits us.

London has a lot to offer, probably more than any other place in the world. Numerous exhibitions, festivals, concerts, etc. So, we have decided to give you an excuse and motivation to join us on our tour of London. Every month we'll try to attend a concert, performance or exhibition in the capital, which will help you to get the best out of this place. Of course, that will be an opportunity to meet each other and socialise. 

Maya Albina Morella is a young Croatian artist, resident in London and Paris and a student at Central St. Martin's College of Art and Design in London. 

Pips Chips & Videoclips are one of the most original and exciting bands on the Croatian music scene. Thematically provocative, visually attractive, always on the edge of things: they are the personification of a modern pop band.

We are pleased to announce, in conjunction with the Croatian Society at Imperial College London, a major CSYPN event. We are delighted that Robin Harris, author of the acclaimed 'Dubrovnik: A History' will be giving a talk to us about the "Pearl of the Adriatic", followed by a Q&A session. 

We have yet another great event underway! We were inspired by your enthusiasm at the skating/pub event last week and decided to take you for another fun and energetic night out. This time it will be dancing to the rhythm of Salsa, Merengue, Cumbia and Dance in one of London's most prestigious venues. 

Doesn't the time just fly? And before you know it, it's the end of January, and hopefully we'll all be getting that well-needed injection of money (these sales were just tooooooooo tempting for some). Hopefully everyone is back from their breaks and would like to join us at the next CSYPN event - Ice-skating.

Predavac ovog predavanja je Roland Jovanovic Barolda, predsjednik Matrix Croatica UK. Uvodnu rijec odrzat ce Krsto Cviic. Od 18.30 i nakon predavanja imati ćete priliku razgledati izložbu akvarela i crteža s motivima iz Hrvatske britanskog arhitekta i slikara Sir T.G.Jacksona (1835 - 1924).