Island as a Fortress: Art Exhibition by Natalia Borčić
Fort George presents Island as a Fortress, a new exhibition of paintings by Natalia Borčić opening on 30 June 2026. The work explores the parallel between islands and fortresses as spaces defined by isolation, memory, and the need for protection, shown inside the walls of a 19th-century fortress that is itself one of the subjects of the work.
Exhibition Overview
Exhibition Dates
- Opening: 30 June 2026
- Exhibition period: 30.06.2026 – 15.09.2026
- Location: Fort George Gallery, Vis Island, Croatia
About the Exhibition
Island as a Fortress draws on the idea that islands and fortresses share a fundamental quality: both are spaces separated from the surrounding world, defined by their boundaries, and shaped by the tension between protection and isolation.
Natalia Borčić approached this idea through the specific landscape and military history of Vis, an island with a long and layered past as a strategic military site in the Adriatic. Fort George, built by the British after the Battle of Vis in 1811 and named after King George III, provides both the setting and one of the central subjects of the exhibition. Its stone walls, defensive positions, and views across the open sea have informed the paintings directly, and the work is shown in the same space that inspired it.
In her paintings, Borčić uses layers of pigment and corrosive substances to trace the passage of time across stone, concrete, and fortified structures. The surfaces of the works become tactile and worn, carrying the marks of decay and memory in a way that mirrors the surfaces of the fortress itself. Military motifs, bunkers, and tunnels merge with the natural structures of the island, so that the boundary between built and natural, between human presence and landscape, begins to dissolve.
The exhibition is part of Borčić’s participation in Island Connect, an international artistic research project that has taken her to residencies in Corsica, Tenerife, and Ireland, where she explored the military heritage of island communities across Europe and drew comparisons with Vis.
The Story Behind Island as a Fortress
Vis Between Isolation and Belonging
Islands occupy a particular kind of space. Separated from the mainland by water, they exist between distance and shelter, between belonging and isolation. The sea that surrounds them functions like a natural wall, and many islands have historically been understood as natural fortresses, places where the geography itself provides a form of defence.
Vis is a clear example of this. The island has served as a military base across multiple periods of history, from the ancient Greeks and Romans to the British, Austro-Hungarian, and Yugoslav military. Its tunnels, bunkers, and fortifications are not relics of a single conflict but of a long, layered history in which the island’s geography made it strategically essential. Closed to foreign visitors until 1989, Vis preserved much of this military infrastructure intact, and it remains visible across the island today.
Military Heritage of Vis
The military heritage of Vis is not confined to Fort George. Across the island there are tunnels carved through rock, bunkers built into hillsides, watchtowers positioned along the coastline, and submarine tunnels beneath the bays. These structures were built for control and concealment, and today they stand as traces of a history that shaped the island’s landscape and identity.
For Borčić, these structures are not simply historical artefacts. They are painting subjects that carry meaning about power, memory, and the relationship between a community and the space it occupies. In her work, military architecture becomes a landscape through which she explores how places hold history in their surfaces.
Fort George as Inspiration
Fort George is both the venue for this exhibition and one of its central subjects. Borčić has exhibited here several times since 2013, and each body of work has engaged differently with the island’s landscape and history. For Island as a Fortress, the fortress itself becomes the most direct point of connection between the work and its setting.
The stone walls, the defensive towers, the view across the Adriatic, and the sense of a place that has outlived its original purpose all feed directly into the paintings. Showing this work inside Fort George allows the viewer to stand in the same space that inspired it, and to look out at the same sea that Borčić was looking at when she made it.
About the Artist
Who Is Natalia Borčić?
Natalia Borčić was born in Vis in 1989. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb in 2013 under Professor Matko Vekić and is a member of HDLU (Croatian Association of Visual Artists) and HZSU (Croatian Association of Fine Artists). She has exhibited widely across Croatia and internationally, with solo exhibitions in Zagreb, Ljubljana, Split, Hvar, Maribor, and Novo Mesto, as well as group exhibitions in Germany, Montenegro, and Slovenia.
In 2024, she received two awards at the 7th Painting Biennale: the Young Artist Award and the Counterpoint Award Vladimir Dodig Trokut. Her work has been shown at institutions including the Emanuel Vidović Gallery in Split, the Arsenal in Hvar, the Museum of Modern Art in Dubrovnik, and HDLU’s Meštrović Pavilion in Zagreb.
Borčić has maintained a continuous relationship with Fort George since 2013, exhibiting new work here every year. Her previous shows at the gallery include Touch (2013 and 2014), Illustrations for the book Forbidden Carnation (2022), Artist Mother (2023), Vis Tunnels (2024), and Open Sea Islands (2025).
Artistic Style and Themes
Borčić works primarily in painting, using experimental techniques that combine layers of pigment with corrosive substances to create surfaces that are tactile, layered, and physically present. The process itself reflects the themes she explores: time, decay, memory, and the way that places accumulate meaning over long periods.
Her subject matter returns repeatedly to Vis, its beaches, coves, vegetation, and military architecture, alongside the broader ideas of island identity, isolation, and belonging. In recent cycles, including Lobster Tunnel and Island as a Fortress, military structures have become the primary focus, treated not as historical curiosities but as living parts of the landscape that continue to shape how the island is experienced and understood.
Featured Works in the Exhibition
The exhibition presents a new series of paintings developed during Borčić’s participation in Island Connect, alongside works from recent cycles that trace the military landscape of Vis and its parallels with other island communities.
Selected Paintings
Why Visit This Exhibition
Island as a Fortress offers something that is rare in a summer on Vis: an encounter with serious contemporary art made by an artist born on the island, in direct response to its landscape and history, shown inside one of its most significant historic buildings.
Borčić is not an artist who paints Vis for outside audiences. She lives between Zagreb and Vis, and her engagement with the island is long-term, personal, and grounded in genuine knowledge of its history and geography. The work in this exhibition is the result of years of attention to the same place, filtered through an international research project that placed Vis in conversation with other militarised islands across Europe.
Visiting the exhibition is also an opportunity to experience Fort George in a different way, not only as a restaurant or a sunset bar, but as a building with a history that is still being explored and interpreted by the people who live closest to it.
Visit the Exhibition at Fort George
Location
Fort George
Šetalište Apolonija Zanelle 19
21480 Vis, Croatia
The gallery is integrated into the venue. There is no separate gallery entrance.
Opening Hours
The exhibition can be viewed during regular Fort George opening hours: daily 11:00 to 18:00 throughout the summer season.
Please note that on selected dates the venue may be closed to the public due to private events. Check the Events Calendar before visiting.
How to Get There
Fort George is located approximately 5 to 10 minutes by car from the town of Vis. Taxis are usually parked at the ferry dock in Vis port. Parking is available near the entrance and is free of charge. The venue can also be reached on foot from Vis Town, though the route is uphill.
For full visitor information, see the How to Visit page.
Admission Information
Entry to the exhibition is free of charge. The gallery is integrated into the venue and can be viewed during regular opening hours alongside a visit to the restaurant, lounge bar, or rooftop bar. No ticket or prior booking is required to view the exhibition.
About Fort George Art Gallery
Fort George has hosted contemporary art exhibitions since 2013, making it one of the most active gallery spaces on Vis Island. The programme focuses on artists whose work is connected to the island, its landscape, history, and identity.
The gallery does not operate as a permanent white-cube space. Exhibitions are site-specific, designed to work with the fortress architecture and the particular atmosphere of the venue. Each summer, a new exhibition runs alongside the restaurant, lounge bar, and events programme, making art a natural part of a visit to Fort George rather than a separate destination.
Fort George is committed to supporting local and Croatian artists and to building a long-term cultural programme that reflects the island’s character and history.
Frequently Asked Questions
When does the Island as a Fortress exhibition open?
The exhibition opens on 30 June 2026 at Fort George on Vis Island.
Who is Natalia Borčić?
Natalia Borčić is a Croatian painter born in Vis in 1989. She graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb and has exhibited widely in Croatia and internationally. She has exhibited at Fort George every year since 2013 and received two awards at the 7th Painting Biennale in 2024.
Is there an admission fee for the exhibition?
No. Entry to the exhibition is free of charge.
How long will the exhibition be on display?
The exhibition runs from 30 June to 15 September 2026.
Are artworks available for purchase?
For any enquiries regarding the artworks, please contact the artist directly at www.nataliaborcic.com.
Will Fort George host future exhibitions?
Yes. Fort George runs an annual exhibition programme through the summer season. Follow us on Instagram or visit the Art Gallery page to stay informed about upcoming exhibitions.