At 15 of her 35 solo exhibitions, Silvija exhibited photos of Lipizzaners, the latest under the intriguing title "Fifty Shades of Gray".

Her artistic eye knows beauty and value, which she immortalizes with her camera, and the Đakovo Lipizzaners are forever her inspiration. Meet Silvija Butković, an employee in the Department of Tourism and Marketing of the Đakovo State Stud Farm. So far, Silvija permanently framed this value from the UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity list in 15 of her 35 independent exhibitions. Exhibiting all over Croatia and beyond, Butković presents the framed perfection of the animal world that is the horse, the Lipizzaner from Đakovo. As she’s an employee of the Stables, they (un)consciously pose for her every single day when she walks by Pastuharna and Ivandvor carrying her camera. Both in moments of stillness and while conquering the farm’s expanses.

The Aristocrats, Slavonia in the Eye, Pearls of the Plains, White Horses, Dark Horses, The Slavonian Intermezzo… - to name just a few exhibitions from Silvija's collection dedicated to the Lipizzaners of Đakovo. Through her photography, she permanently recorded them in the four seasons, in sports, Lipizzaners as dancers and actors in tourist shows where they show off all the perfection of dressage while taking on the Slavonian plains; while frolicking during Đakovački Vezovi or trotting to the wedding party; while breaking the silence in a gallop. And this year's Vezovi exhibition was intriguingly titled Fifty Shades of Grey. After 70 solo exhibitions and 250 group exhibitions, this hard-working Đakovo artist keeps coming back to the Lipizzaners.

By capturing the details of their eyes in a photograph, she touched the deepest history of their breeding, right here, in the heart of Slavonia. She captured the unreserved loyalty to man and the intellect of this creature whose body was perfectly sculpted by nature. And she keeps doing it both while they are endlessly patient and when their hooves just want to go on, and on, and on…

Information about the Lipizzaner State Stud Farm in Đakovo: www.ergela-djakovo.hr