War, slave labour, concentration camps and life as a refugee: having survived such hardships, it is no wonder Yugoslavian musician Branko Mataja was happy to live quietly in a Los Angeles suburb and build custom guitars for the likes of Johnny Cash and Geddy Lee. His death in 2000 attracted no obituaries and his 1973 LP Traditional and Folk Songs of Yugoslavia remained unsung. Mataja had lived und
![From labour camp to guitar hero: the abstract beauty of Branko Mataja](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/fd75cff459ab268a199ea6a540157541c6b28365/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fi.guim.co.uk%2Fimg%2Fmedia%2F1c4bca6b0cb6fd77946a3ea522c25e598f23dd37%2F2450_572_2917_1750%2Fmaster%2F2917.jpg%3Fwidth%3D1200%26height%3D630%26quality%3D85%26auto%3Dformat%26fit%3Dcrop%26overlay-align%3Dbottom%252Cleft%26overlay-width%3D100p%26overlay-base64%3DL2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctYWdlLTIwMjIucG5n%26enable%3Dupscale%26s%3D78c1fd0b4f8f8e13b6239610bda96760)