Slovenia Art / Culture Profile 2012

The earliest signs of the Slovenian spirit have surfaced in the field of culture. Ever since the poetry of France Prešeren, culture has formed the heart of Slovenia’s national being. Urban culture has developed over the last two centuries, which have also seen the gradual evolution of fundamental institutions such as the National Museum and the Slovenian Philharmonics. Slovenian literature and poetry is mostly very traditional but has contributed to the most current global literary tendencies.

Urban culture has developed in Slovenia over the last two centuries, which has also seen the gradual evolution of fundamental institutions such as the National Museum, and the Slovenian Philharmonic.

Nowadays, Slovenia has a myriad of theatres, cinemas, libraries and educational facilities and is well known abroad by its current cultural export.

The band Laibach is absolutely pivotal in the field of music. Their early industrial sound from the 1980s still has a cult following around the world. Young composer Mitja Vrhovnik Smrekar is establishing himself as a very reputable composer of theatre music.

Slovene literature and poetry is mostly very traditional, but international translations of the literary works of Drago Janar, Lojze Kovai, Toma Šalamun and Aleš Debeljak prove that even the smallest cultures can create work of high quality and also contribute to the most current global literary tendencies.

The history of visual arts is rich with important artists. The painters of the group Irwin have gained an international reputation. Their work is presented in all relevant overviews of worldwide contemporary art.

Architecture has a special place in Slovenia's cultural heritage, and the most famous Slovene architect is Joe Plenik (1872-1957), a pioneer of Slovene and European modern architecture. Numerous exhibitions abroad have attracted considerable interest in Plenik.

The Slovenian architect and sculptor Marjetica Potr has succeeded in making a break-through into international artistic circles. As a winner of the significant Hugo Boss Prize 2000, she had a solo exhibition in the Guggenheim Museum in New York in 2001. She is very active on the international scene (in 2003 she exhibited in Valencia, Salzburg, Bern). In 2003 she received the Jakopi award, the highest national award in fine arts.

The emerging field of digital media arts has its own eco-system, and the development of this particular field of art on a global scale was partly enabled through the work of Marko Peljhan and Vukosi.

Dance theatre has a disproportionately active centre in Ljubljana and its most notable representative in Slovenia is Iztok Kova, whose performances are constantly admired at international festivals.

Video art has been around in our country for thirty years; its most notable practitioners in the last two decades are Marina Grini& Aina Šmid.