This is an English translation of the article “Maja Panic: tra arte, narrazione e magia nel cuore di Zagabria”, published on 8 August 2026 in the Italian cultural magazine CulturesMag (Cultura section).
Read the original article in Italian →
In the heart of Zagreb, just a few steps from the main city square, there is a place that is hard to fit into a single definition. It is not just a museum, not a gallery, and not a stage set either. Cabinet Magicum – Museum of Magic was born where art, literature, history, legend and symbolism meet, and from a very human wish to believe in wonder again, if only for a moment.
Behind this unusual project is Maja Panić – an artist, writer and creative entrepreneur from Zagreb who builds her world from words, images and stories. For her, art does not have to stay shut between the covers of a book or inside the frame of a canvas. It can become a space you step into, a story you listen to, an experience you remember.
An idea that grew over the years
Cabinet Magicum did not appear overnight. For years, Maja wrote and published books, painted, researched and collected stories, objects and symbols that sparked her curiosity. She has always been drawn to what lies on the border between history, art, legend and human imagination.
At some point came the wish to bring all these worlds together in one place – not as a collection of objects, but as a space where every object, every character and every detail has its own story.
“I believe that in each of us there remains a part of the child who wants to open an unknown door and see what lies behind it. In a way, Cabinet Magicum was born from exactly that feeling.”
A journey through small worlds
Instead of a classic museum display, Maja created a series of small worlds for visitors to travel through. Cabinet Magicum brings together different eras, cultures, legends and traditions: from the mysteries of ancient Egypt and its symbolism, through Venice and the world of illusionists, to prophecies, fairy creatures and unusual human destinies.
Each room has its own atmosphere and its own set design, and many details hide a story. Much of the concept behind the display grew out of Maja’s own ideas, sketches, research and artwork.
“I didn’t want to create a place people would just walk through. I wanted them to feel something.”
Perhaps this simple sentence sums up the idea of the whole project best. Cabinet Magicum does not try to convince visitors that magic exists in a literal sense. Its magic lives in imagination, art, symbols and the stories humanity has passed down for centuries – and in that brief moment when adults become as curious as children again.
Painting and writing
A large part of Maja’s life is devoted to artistic and literary work. Her creative path unfolds through two worlds that complement each other: painting and writing. She is the author of published books, and the urge to tell stories is as present in her texts as it is on her canvases.
In painting, she moves between figuration, symbolism and intuitive expression. Her works feature intense colours, female figures, nature, the circus, emotions and the inner world of the human being. In her writing, she explores a range of themes and human experiences, always returning to what connects all of her work: story, symbol and emotion.
That is why Cabinet Magicum feels like a natural continuation of her artistic path. Here, painting, literature, set design, history and storytelling meet. What once lived on the pages of a book, on canvas or in the imagination has been given a physical space in which to take shape.
A living cultural venue
Cabinet Magicum was not conceived as a static museum. Maja sees it as a living place of culture, creativity and encounters. Alongside the museum display, it hosts exhibitions, art workshops, talks, storytelling programmes and gatherings that bring authors, artists and audiences together.
Its ambitions, however, do not stop at Zagreb. One of the goals is to open Cabinet Magicum to the world and develop international collaborations with artists, cultural institutions and people who share the same curiosity about art, history and the stories of different cultures.
A story of a new beginning
For Maja, Cabinet Magicum is also a deeply personal story of a new beginning. It was born at a stage of life when many people start thinking about slowing down. She chose the opposite direction: to keep creating, taking risks and learning, and to try to open a small idea born in Zagreb to the wider world.
Perhaps this is one of the most important messages of this unusual place: there is no set age for curiosity, creativity, dreams and new beginnings.
In a time when almost everything happens quickly and through screens, small places like Cabinet Magicum can have a special value. Places where you stop. Look. Listen to a story. And, at least for a moment, remember that the world can still be a little mysterious.
That is the magic Maja Panić wants to preserve at Cabinet Magicum – and share with the world.
Maja Panić
Maja Panić is a Croatian artist and writer who lives and works in Zagreb. Her creative path combines painting, writing, symbolism and storytelling. She is the author of published books and numerous art projects.
She is the founder and creator of Cabinet Magicum – the Museum of Magic in Zagreb, an independent cultural space born where art, literature, history, imagination and storytelling meet. Through her work she explores emotions, symbols and human stories, aiming to build connections between people, the arts and different cultures. Today she is also developing international artistic and cultural collaborations linked to Cabinet Magicum and to her own artistic and literary work.
Maja’s passion for creating unusual spaces did not begin with Cabinet Magicum. Even before the museum, she turned her own home into a kind of artwork – the distinctive “purple apartment”, a space of intense colours, artworks, unusual objects and details that reflect her creative world. The originality of that space also caught the attention of the Croatian media: newspapers wrote about it and TV stations reported on it and its story. In a way, the “purple apartment” foreshadowed what would later become Cabinet Magicum.
Born in 1966 and a mother of two, Maja has walked a life path that was not always easy. Personal experiences, changes and challenges have deeply shaped the way she sees life and expresses herself through creativity. Her way into art did not follow a traditional route: it came about above all intuitively, relying on natural talent and a special feel for colour, word, space and story.
Over the years she wrote and published books, painted and created, and she carried the same imagination into Cabinet Magicum. From the initial idea to much of the visual identity, the stories and the set design, the museum bears her personal creative signature.
Behind the fairy-tale atmosphere of Cabinet Magicum, then, lies a very real story: the story of a woman who, after many life challenges, did not give up on her dreams, but chose to keep creating and to find the courage to start something entirely new.