Interview: Nives Bošnjak/ Kàko
Hello Nives, could you introduce yourself and your team in a few sentences for the OLS platform the language learning platform for Erasmus + participants and ESC volunteers?
Hi, my name is Nives Bošnjak, I am a journalist and editor with 10+ years of experience in the media industry. Among other things I do as a freelancer, I edit and write for Kàko magazine. There I work with Ivan Blagajić who founded the magazine and is its head of ideas, our graphic designer Alen Marić, and a pleiad of wonderful contributing writers.
Photo: Nives Bosnjak, Kàko magazine
Kàko is a special magazine and aspires to be very different in many ways. Can you tell us more how it all started?
At the beginning of 2023, Ivan contacted Alen and me and asked if we could help him start a print magazine. He is passionate about analogue media, from print to vinyl records, and wanted to start a magazine meant for dedicated reading, without ads, financed exclusively by people who actually want to read it. By then I was quite fed up with the ad-oriented content I was creating for various digital media and immediately said yes to his idea. We started working and in January 2024 the first issue of Kàko came out.
Kàko sounds great, who came up with the name?
Thank you. It was Ivan’s idea. We wanted a Croatian name that would be easy to pronounce in most languages and could also tell the reader what the magazine is about. Kàko, which means how in Croatian, is an adverb we use in every story or interview. We need to understand how things are made, how the times change, how certain phenomena came to be - it’s the most important question in the magazine so it made sense to name it that way. We decided to write it phonetically, with an accent, to avoid confusion and make it clear to our readers that it’s a simple interrogative adverb. However, it seems to have confused them even more, but we like it and are keeping the accent for now.
Photo: Nives Bosnjak, Kàko magazine
Can you walk us through the editorial process for selecting content that embodies the spirit of your magazine?
Every issue has a bigger theme, allowing us to dig deeper into every story. We start by choosing a theme and then we start looking for authors. They can be journalists specialised in specific fields, scientists, professors, designers… The most important thing for us is their writing skill and/or knowledge and experience in a certain field, depending on the type of story they’re writing. Once we agree on the subject of their story, they start writing and then we go through the editing process together to get a final piece that is both fact-checked and well-written. Once the stories are done, Alen takes over, and does his magic designing each page, reaching out to authors again if necessary, including illustrators and photographers… It’s a long and slow process but it’s what guarantees a great product, in our opinion.
How do you collaborate with featured individuals to ensure their stories and voices are authentically represented?
We try to keep an open mind at all times and hear their vision of the story whether it’s an author or an interviewee, while keeping our values in mind, too.
Beyond the final product, what role does your magazine play in fostering dialogue and connections between artists, creators, and the audience?
I think it’s more honest and open than in traditional media because there’s nothing behind it. We don’t work with advertisers and we don’t apply for public funding. We are funded exclusively by our readers and therefore don’t owe anything to anyone but the reader.
Photo: Nives Bosnjak, Kàko magazine
Beyond mere facts, how does Kàko use storytelling to illuminate the human experience and its connection to culture?
We’re trying to bring the focus back to this moment, here and now. With excessive use of social media and the internet in general, it’s so easy to trick yourself into thinking you are in touch with what’s happening in the world while you’re actually isolated from it. Kàko is an invitation to take a break and focus on the moment, on a single page or a photo, on someone’s story rather than their online image. After every issue comes out we have an event to celebrate and tell people more about it, and it’s always open to the public. We’re trying to build a community of like-minded people fed up with doomscrolling, clickbaits and sponsored posts.
What cultural movements or figures inspire the work you do?
For me, it’s the recent rise of niche media, especially newsletters. Kàko, on the other hand, is inspired by people all over the world doing similar things to build this new reader-oriented media world. That’s Peter Biľak from Works that Work or Sandra Reichl and Karin Novozamsky from A Passion Thing, to name a few.
Photo: Nives Bosnjak, Kàko magazine
In today's globalized world, how does your magazine navigate the tension between promoting Croatian culture and fostering a sense of cultural exchange?
It happens very naturally once we choose the theme of the issue. We don’t force anything but we have so much to learn from other cultures that every issue has at least one story that features or is written by someone from another country. In the first issue, it was a story about a fashion design programme for refugees in Sarajevo, in the second one it was a story about ladies who sell fruits on their bikes in Hanoi, to name a few. In addition, we’re currently working on an English translation of the magazine to introduce it around Europe and beyond and encourage cultural exchange in the opposite direction too.
Many argue that technology both enriches and threatens cultural experiences. How does your magazine navigate this complex relationship?
Kàko is pro-technology. However, we’d prefer AI to do our laundry and cleaning instead of painting, writing stories and showing us ads we’re more likely to click on.
What are some of the biggest challenges you face?
Right now it’s getting Kàko to a wider audience. We skipped the newsstands and are selling the magazine exclusively in specialised concept stores which is good because our readers come to those places anyway. On the other hand, the number of those stores in Croatia isn’t that big. The English translation should be of great help with tackling this issue.
How do you balance artistic integrity with reader expectations?
We don’t compromise here and don’t want to sacrifice artistic expression to create a lighter reading experience. The goal is to surprise readers with every issue, to offer them something fresh, maybe even to educate him.
Photo: Nives Bosnjak, Kàko magazine
If you had unlimited resources, what ground-breaking cultural project would you spearhead?
That’s a big question. :) I guess it would be exterminating ads from the media in general. No medium can be objective if it treats its readers as clicking machines whose goal is to sell more ads. And they all do that.
Can you see Kàko coming out in a different country with a similar content adapted to different language public? Are there any plans for translating Kako or to be persued in digital form?
A digital version is not in our future for now. We are working on an English translation which we plan to launch first in different shops along the Croatian coastline, and then, hopefully, in specialised magazine stores around Europe and the world.
Do you think language defines us?
Not so much as it used to now that English is the unofficial language of the world, but it still does in a way. Certain cultural phenomena, big and small, can still only be described in a native language. And I love that.
Photo: Nives Bosnjak, Kàko magazine
What are your hopes for the lasting impact your magazine will have on the cultural landscape?
If every issue makes only one person reconsider the way the media industry works today, I will be happy.
Has your own cultural background or experiences shaped your editorial approach?
Unconsciously probably yes. I grew up in a small village where it’s perfectly normal to grow your vegetables, get your milk and cheese from your neighbour's cow, and have a relative who grows chickens and provides you with eggs. Knowing where things I consume come from and what and who is behind them has always been a way of life for me.
What is Nives like in private? Do you have your favourite Croatian spots you’d like to share?
Introverted and shy. :) I love our natural resources and would encourage anyone coming to Croatia to explore them with respect. I have too many favourite spots but right now would recommend the Šibenik archipelago (the uninhabited islands) for swimming and sailing and Velebit for climbing and hiking (with proper hiking shoes).
Photo: Nives Bosnjak, Kàko magazine
Do you have your favourite Croatian authors? What do you read for yourself?
I read everything from fantasy fiction and memoirs, newsletters and fanzines to non-fiction books about fashion, psychology, and the general state of the world. I recently finished Hotel Horizont, a novel by my dear friend Valerija Cerovec who is an author and artist from Čakovec.
Before, you were a very talented designer (which we hope you’ll continue to pursue it as well). How do you see the future of fashion?
I’d love it if the focus could shift back to craftsmanship instead of gimmicks. I’d also like to see a more transparent industry. The production process in the fashion industry is one of the most complicated ones in the world and it’s so hard to know who made the T-shirt you’re wearing, let alone where the cotton fibre it’s made of came from.
We think your path is admirable, to have a courage to back up from mass media and have this success in a local area. If you could share a piece of cultural wisdom with your readers, what would it be?
Thank you. I think that if you like things that are different from what you see in the mainstream media or you feel different from the people you see online, it’s very likely you’re not alone and it’s worth it to go out and find a community where you belong.
Tell us, how can we pursue Kàko magazine and what can you tell us about the next issue!
Kàko is available to order on our website as well in stores Selectedd, Radionica32 and Mango Sticky Rice Vintage in Zagreb, Smartspace in Split, and Koridor Gallery in Labin. The new issue just came out and is dedicated to the streets. The theme of the third issue is “play”. It should be out in October.
Loreta, OLS Community Manager – Croatian