The story of the Lazaret (Lazareti) in Dubrovnik  begins with the decision of the Dubrovnik Senate in 1590 to build a new, more functional, modern, and humane lazaret (quarantine station) which would facilitate the better reception of people and goods arriving not only by sea but also overland with Turkish caravans from the East. Construction of the Lazareti began only in 1627, and although it was built in several phases, expanded, and modified, it was never completed according to the original design. Its construction and commissioning missed the peak of Dubrovnik’s commercial prowess, a strength that the city never regained after the great earthquake of 1667.  The Lazareti are situated on the outskirts of the city, touching it closely, yet they remain a separate entity. They are, in fact, a city before the city. This separation, whether spatial or temporal, was indeed defined by their original quarantine function. It is a space that one city-state undertakes to protect itself from disease or contagion; it is a space that precedes integration into the everyday life of the city. To stay there meant reaching a destination but not arriving. To be on land without touching the land.

The term “quarantine” originates from the Italian “Quaranta” (forty), referring to a decree issued by Venice in 1374 that mandated the isolation of ships at anchor for forty days, without contact with the mainland, to confirm or deny the presence of any disease on board. Lazaret is an old term for an isolation hospital that has become synonymous with a place or building for quarantine. 

The space of the Lazareti is also a space of waiting – a space in which one waits and a space that waits. They served as quarantine facilities until the 19th century. After the fall of the Republic in 1808, their different history began – a history of seeking and waiting for a new and appropriate purpose. They were used as stables, slaughterhouses, markets, and, for the longest time, mainly as warehouses; they could have been converted into hotels, casinos, entertainment centres, and shopping centres. The unrefined and originally utilitarian space of the Lazaret, although a whole, was generally not conceived or used as a unified space. Since the early 2000s, both permanent and temporary users of the Lazaret space have been building and affirming it as a place of art, culture, community, and creativity.

During the 2000s, the Lazareti underwent thorough renovations through two waves and two restoration projects, and through the projects “Lazareti – the Creative Quarter of Dubrovnik” and “Community Place – Development of a Socio-Cultural Center in the Lazareti,” further development and projection of the Lazareti as a “city before the city” was enabled, unified through artistic, cultural, and social programs.

In the Lazaret space, the following organisations reside and operate: Dubrovačka baština d.o.o., Folklore Ensemble Linđo, DEŠA – Dubrovnik Association, Deša Pro d.o.o., Lazareti Art Workshop, Teatar Lero, Lazareti Club, Café Lazareti, and numerous other users from various fields of activity making Lazareti vivid and vibrant cultural centre. 

Lazareti Art Workshop is a non-profit organisation based in Dubrovnik, located within the Lazareti buildings. Founded informally in 1989 and formally registered as an NGO in 1995, ARL has continuously developed year-round programs and participated in collaborative projects with organisations and institutions from Dubrovnik, Croatia, and internationally.

The idea that drives ARL is that of enabling and encouraging contemporary artistic creation. Through the production, implementation, distribution, and organisation of contemporary artistic, cultural, and social programs and activities, ARL systematically, continuously, and qualitatively contributes to the development of contemporary arts, new artistic, cultural, and social practices, independent culture, and civil society.

With a strong, context-based approach, ARL promotes the development of arts and culture as tools and spaces for participation, dialogue, activism, artivism and positive social change. The organisation upholds values such as creativity, freedom, solidarity, participation, diversity, responsibility, inclusiveness, and openness.

ARL’s curatorial vision is rooted in critical engagement with contemporary art and its intersections with political, social, economic, and global-local issues. The organisation is also active in research and advocacy, particularly in the fields of cultural policy, civil society, participatory governance, and sustainable use of heritage spaces such as Lazareti.

ARL’s annual programme consists of several streams:

– OTOK Gallery – visual arts exhibitions and projects

– Quarantine Scene – performing arts programme

– The city is dead. Long live the city! / Other Places  – artistic interventions in and about public space

– Participation / Antidote – a series of diverse activities, including workshops, public discussions, reading groups, participatory projects, social events, citizens’ assemblies, meetings, concerts, fairs, talks and presentations 

The activities of ARL are carried out throughout the year, making the space in which ARL operates a public place for creation and gathering. ARL creates and develops its activities in collaboration with other non-profit organisations that operate continuously and occasionally in the Lazareti space, forming an informal organisational initiative known as the Platform for Lazareti. This initiative collectively contributes to the development and continuity of Lazareti’s functioning as a socio-cultural centre.

Lazareti Art Workshop from Dubrovnik began its activities as an independent artistic initiative in 1989, organising exhibitions, performances, lectures, and other artistic events in the Lazareti and public urban spaces of Dubrovnik. Over more than 35 years of active engagement, the position of ARL has transformed from an informal artistic initiative to an organisation with a year-round program and daily activities. Lazareti Art Workshop has endured all the changes Dubrovnik has undergone since the late 1980s, with a clear definition of its program and a determination to critically engage with contemporary art and its intersection with political, social, economic, global, and local issues and problems. Since the late 1980s, ARL has organised and produced a large number of artistic, cultural, and social events, actively participating in public life and contributing to the development and co-creation of the contemporary artistic scene, independent culture, and civil society. Throughout this period, ARL has experienced various turbulent phases, and the Lazaret space in which it operates has been the cause of and reason for several disputes surrounding ARL. Today, with a new contract signed in 2025, ARL is more than ready to continue its work and mission at Lazareti.

GALERIJA OTOK

The program at Galerija Otok focuses on contemporary visual and fine arts practices. It consists of an annual cycle of solo and group exhibitions, installations in the space, preparation and printing of publications for the Artist Books, artist residency programs, and other public activities (workshops, discussions, etc.). 

The program focuses on actively contributing to the creation, production, distribution, development, and affirmation of contemporary visual arts and artistic practices.

Since its inception in 1989, ARL has organised over 500 solo exhibitions of contemporary visual artists from Croatia and abroad, as well as more than 60 group exhibitions, conceptual and thematic exhibitions, lectures, actions, performances, workshops, collaborative projects, and other events.

Galerija Otok, thematically and conceptually, curates its activities around a research-oriented and process-based approach, as well as a critical and reflective relationship to social, political, aesthetic, and economic contexts. 

Recognising the lack of exhibition space in Dubrovnik, the space of Galerija Otok is also open for occasional guest exhibitions that approach the field of visual arts more traditionally, as well as for amateur and documentary exhibitions.

SCENA KARANTENA (Quarantine stage) 

Scena Karantena is a program of contemporary performing arts that ARL has been continuously implementing in the Lazareti space since 2007. The program originated from a festival format (the Karantena Festival – the Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, which ARL organised and produced from 1996 to 2006) to a continuous annual performance program. The main ideas and motivations behind the Scena Karantena program are to encourage and develop contemporary performing arts creation, contribute to the distribution and exchange of contemporary performing arts productions, and actively participate in the creation of new performing arts productions in the fields of contemporary theatre and dance.

PARTICIPATION / ANTIDOTE

The Participation/Antidote program is a collective term for a socio-artistic set of activities implemented continuously throughout the year. The activities of this program, through creativity, a creative approach, and broadly defined cultural and social activities, encourage the development of the field of arts and culture as a space for participation and involvement, both for artists, the artistic and cultural community in a broader social context and for citizens to engage more actively in creative and cultural activities and society in general.

The program comprises a series of workshops, public discussions, literary events, film screenings, social programs, collaborative activities, and the development and implementation of participatory artistic and social initiatives.

THE CITY IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE CITY! / OTHER PLACES 

The City is Dead. Long Live the City! is a program initiated by ARL in 2014, taking public space as the essence, a place of summation, a clear image, but also a symbolic representation of the relationship (or struggle) between the process of nostalgically retaining the identity of long-gone Dubrovnik based on its heritage image and the flood of changes in the public life of the city that reduce it to the formulation of a “tourist destination.” The City is Dead. Long Live the City! addresses the role and potential of art in and about the public spaces of the city through artistic interventions, actions, and research. The program comprises artistic interventions in and around public urban spaces, as well as research and documentary art projects, actions, performances, and presentations in public settings. 

Lazareti Art Workshop has been operating in the Lazaret space since 1989.
Based on the project proposal “Quarantine Project” (Karantena projekt), ARL had signed a long-term agreement for the use of the Lazareti space in 2000. The contract was valid until 2025. Quarantine Project envisioned the entire Lazareti as a vivid, horizontally integrated artistic, cultural, and social centre of Dubrovnik. Under this agreement, ARL was the holder and user of spaces VIII, IX, and X in the Lazareti complex. 

With the consent of the City of Dubrovnik in 2014, ARL signed contracts with other users in the Lazareti, the DEŠA Dubrovnik Association, the Student Theatre Lero, and the Lazareti Club. After the expiration of the contract in 2025, ARL signed a new agreement, this time with the company Dubrovnik Heritage Ltd. (which manages the Lazareti on behalf of the City of Dubrovnik) for the spaces of Galerija Otok and Lađa X (Nave X). This new agreement will ensure the continuity of ARL’s work and its contribution to contemporary arts and culture in Dubrovnik. 

Art Workshop independently utilises the space of Lađa X (Nave X, the building near Banje Beach) and the space of Galerija Otok at the entrance square in the Lazareti. For the other spaces (courtyards and interiors), we coordinate and negotiate amicably with all space users.

In the Lađa X space, we organise workshops, larger exhibitions, installation-type exhibitions, theatre and dance performances, discussions, roundtables, conferences, talks, fairs, and more. 

ARL office works at Lađa X. 

The Lađa X space occupies approximately 140 m² of floor area. It can be organised and used in various ways and for different purposes, depending on the type of event (e.g., exhibition, performance).

The Galerija Otok (Otok Gallery) space is situated in the square of the Lazareti, occupying two adjacent houses with a total area of 38 m² and 37 m². 

For floor plans and more detailed technical instructions about the space, please get in touch with us at arl@arl.hr

The Otok Gallery

Two connected rooms (37 m² and 38 m²) are primarily used for visual arts exhibitions. The gallery offers plenty of wall surface, ideal for 2D works.

Lađa X

A larger, more flexible space used for performances, concerts, talks, exhibitions, and workshops. There is slightly less wall space than in Otok. But we have wooden boards and movable gallery walls to fix that. 

* Photos of both spaces: www.arl.hr/prostor

Basic Technical Equipment for performing arts projects (Lađa X)

• 22 × PC spotlights
• 24 × PAR 64 spotlights
• 4 × Profile spotlights
• 12 × LED spotlights (30W)
• 2 × 12-channel dimmers
• 4 × Dimmer units (covering all lighting needs)
• 1 × 16-channel lighting console Smart fade 
• 1 × 32-channel digital audio mixer Allen & Heath QU-32 
• Harlequin Duo dance floor (30 m²) – grey/black 
• 112 × Acoustic panels
• 4 × Theatre acoustic curtains (6m × 6m)
• Modular stage (6m × 6m)
• Full cabling and Schuko connectors
• 24 × PAR Super 64/1000W/CP60/240V/GEM bulbs
• 24 × PAR Super 64/1000W/CP62/GEM bulbs
• 24 × Halogen lamps CP70/FVA/1000W/GX9.5
• Turbosound iP2000 sound system (2 sets)
• Yamaha StagePas 600i sound system
• 1 × BENQ projector (4000 ANSI lumens)
• 1 × OPTOMA ZU606Te projector
• Projection screen (4m × 5m)
• Additional exhibition equipment is available when not in use

Important Notes

• We can borrow or rent any additional equipment needed.
• In the summer (20.6. – 1.9.), our technical crew and much of the equipment are committed to the Dubrovnik Summer Festival, so we cannot host tech-heavy performances then.

• Weekend scheduling:
• We avoid Sunday events due to a limited technical staff budget.
• Saturdays are always an option.

• If you have any specific technical questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out — we’re happy to help or forward your query to our technical team.

THE CITY IS DEAD. LONG LIVE THE CITY! / OTHER PLACES 

The City is Dead. Long Live the City! is a program initiated by ARL in 2014, taking public space as the essence, a place of summation, a clear image, but also a symbolic representation of the relationship (or struggle) between the process of nostalgically retaining the identity of long-gone Dubrovnik based on its heritage image and the flood of changes in the public life of the city that reduce it to the formulation of a “tourist destination.” The City is Dead. Long Live the City! addresses the role and potential of art in and about the public spaces of the city through artistic interventions, actions, and research. The program comprises artistic interventions in and around public urban spaces, as well as research and documentary art projects, actions, performances, and presentations in public settings. 

LAZARETI ART WORKSHOP

A: Frana Supila 8, Dubrovnik, Croatia
T: +385 (0)20 324 633
E: arl@arl.hr 

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DONATION BOX

Every donation means the world to us — and it shows that we mean something to you, too!

By donating, you help us maintain and care for our space, invest in new equipment, and enhance our work with artists and communities.

See you at ARL — and thank you!

IBAN: HR3523400091111283494

SWIFT: PBZGHR2X 

Purpose:  Donation