Stone Dreams: poetry by the old town well in Bale

Friday, 28.08.2026. 20:00. h

Stone Dreams in Bale is an evening of poetry written and performed by Josip Ledina and Diego Vitasović.

Stone Dreams takes place by the well near the Church of the Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bale's old town. The selection includes poetry by A. B. Šimić, Josip Pupačić, Mak Dizdar, Tin Ujević, Petar Gudelj and Vesna Parun, as well as French poetry and 20th-century chansons. Admission is free.

Poetry between modernism, the Mediterranean and chanson

Josip Ledina and Diego Vitasović do not build this evening around a single poet or one literary school. A. B. Šimić opens a dense, almost stripped-down poetic language; Pupačić brings lyrical clarity and a sense of closeness, while Dizdar adds a voice in which history, stone, sign and metaphysical weight meet. Ujević stands at another pole: large in scope, restless, musical and impossible to reduce to one emotion. Gudelj and Vesna Parun widen the range further, from Mediterranean imagery to intimate, love-related and existential lines. When French poetry and 20th-century chanson join that selection, Stone Dreams becomes a listening experience in which voice, rhythm and musical feeling are inseparable from the meaning of the words. The audience should know that this is not merely a reading of poems, but an evening whose choice of authors calls for focused listening and attention to different tones.

The well as a space for voice

The well beside the church gives the evening a smaller, direct frame in which poetry can remain close to the audience. This kind of space does not need heavy stage equipment; diction, pause, rhythm and the transition between spoken word and chanson matter more. The easiest arrival is on foot through Bale's old town.

Accommodation in Bale

For Stone Dreams by the old town well, accommodation in Bale is the most direct choice: you can walk to the programme and return without using a car after the evening. See the options here: accommodation in Bale.