Govori ljubavi by the Church Cistern in Bale

Cisterna kod Crkve - Friday, 31.07.2026. 21:00. h

By the church cistern in Bale, Govori ljubavi brings together love poetry and chanson with Vedran Mlikota, Siniša Ružić and Matej Šušić on guitar.

Govori ljubavi is part of the 6th Bembo Fest and takes place by the church cistern. The programme is performed by Vedran Mlikota, Siniša Ružić and guitarist Matej Šušić, with a selection of Croatian and international love poetry and chanson.

Love poetry as performance

Govori ljubavi is not an evening where poetry is merely read from a page. The programme depends on acting interpretation, the rhythm of the spoken word and guitar accompaniment that is not decoration, but a partner to the text. The list of authors gives the evening a wide range of love poetry: A. G. Matoš, Tin Ujević, Dobriša Cesarić, Arsen Dedić, Zvonimir Golob, Drago Ivanišević, Luko Paljetak, A. B. Šimić, Željko Sabol, Enes Kišević, Dragutin Tadijanović and Renato Baretić stand alongside Yesenin, Konstantin Simonov, Charles Baudelaire, Jiří Šotola, E. A. Poe, Jacques Prévert, Pablo Neruda and Jacques Brel. With that selection, love is not reduced to one emotion. Longing, irony, loss, passion, memory, tenderness and chanson melancholy can all enter the same evening. Mlikota and Ružić, as actors, can shift from intimate speech to stage gesture, while Šušić's guitar holds the transitions between poetic word and musical phrase.

An evening for listening closely

The church cistern gives the programme a smaller and more concentrated space in Bale's old town. That matters because poetry and chanson depend on nuance: pauses between lines, a change of voice, a quieter chord and the moment when a familiar text gains another colour in front of an audience.

Accommodation in Bale

For Govori ljubavi by the church cistern, staying in Bale keeps the evening easy: you can walk through the old town to the performance, without driving or looking for parking after poetry and chanson. See options here: accommodation in Bale.