Ljubljana
We arrived to Ljubjana by car, we got a lift with Miha who I met last night at the Ex-Garage gallery space. Miha was on the way to Trieste to play in an artist’s football match. We only met at the station by chance and it was lucky coincidence. I was very impressed with his commitment to art and football to travel 216 km on a Saturday morning. The journey was a great opportunity to find out more interesting facts about Ljubljana, politics and art in Slovenia. I was sad to find out how badly recent Slovenian government cuts had affected the arts and the public sector.
I met for a quick coffee with Miha Ciglar founder of the Institute for Sonic Arts Research (IRZU). IRZU irzu.org is based on an interdisciplinary concept and is conducting artistic productions in the field of electro-acoustic music / inter-media performances and installations, as well as audio technology research and educational activities. Miha kindly gave me link to very interesting website with European filed recordings http://www.soundsofeurope.eu/
Ljubljana is another city that we have visited with a hill and a castle on the top (as Brno, Bratislava and Graz ). There is a river running thought the city too, which is much smaller then Mur in Graz or Drava in Maribor. The main square in the town is called Presernov Square, it is next to the river and the three bridges designed by Slovenian architect Joze Plecnik. The town is full of beautiful buildings and plazas and there are a lot green spaces in between. Surprisingly among the 5 story buildings you can find single story 19th century houses with triangular roofs. They look little bit out of a place in the city centre, as they look like they could belong to suburbs or villages.
It was a pleasure to wonder around the streets with the recorder capturing the general ambience of the relaxed weekend in the city. Unfortunately Sunday afternoon rain made the outdoor recording much more complicated. I think I captured enough for the project but if not I will be more then happy to return to Ljubljana again.
We had a day and a half in Ljubljana and most of my time I had to spend on the streets recording, so I missed visiting all the museums and contemporary gallery spaces this town has to offer. The only gallery, which I managed to visit, was Metelkova Museum of Contemporary Art which opened in November 2011 http://www.mg-lj.si/node/60.
The gallery is built within a former Yugoslav Army barracks at Metelkova Street. In 1994 the Moderna Gallery Ljubljana was given the use of one of the buildings of a former Headquarters’ of the Yugoslav army within the Metalkova barracks to convert into a new Museum of Art. This new gallery would build its collection around avant-garde art created in Eastern Europe and later it formed the seed of a new Museum of Contemporary Art.
My next destination Trieste is only 110 km away but I have discovered that there is no direct train route connecting these two cities. Unfortunately there appears to be a dispute between both countries rail companies, which has severed international rail links for the last few years. This means I will have to rise at 04:50 to catch a bus at 06.30, which I am really looking forward to.
