MoCA of the Month
Moderna galerija / Museum of Modern Art, Ljubljana, Slovenia
Moderna galerija (Museum of Modern Art) is the Slovene national institution for modern and contemporary art. As a museum of Slovene modern art it explores and presents the 20th-century Slovene art tradition, while as a museum of contemporary art and exhibition venue it presents new art practices and their context.
It is also a documentary, study, research and education centre, a place for discussions and reflection and for presenting art to a wider audience.
The Moderna galerija regularly stages exhibitions of both Slovene and international contemporary art. By featuring retrospectives and overviews of Slovene artists (displayed in a contemporary and innovative way), it maintains a continuity by informing the wider public of the Slovene contemporary art tradition, and follows developments and new trends in Slovenia and internationally with exhibitions of contemporary art.
The institution draws on the specific cultural, historical and geopolitical circumstances in which it operates, as well as on the new reality of the globalised society. It sees its role as being an intermediate point between national and international, between local and global. Its specific position enables it to operate as a bridge between various geopolitical and cultural regions in Europe (East-West, North-South).
The new Moderna galerija
From 2007 to 2009 the building of the Moderna galerija was totally renovated. Before the renovation began, the Moderna galerija shared the fate of most museums of modern art: dedicated to modernism, which was the contemporary art of the era in which it was founded, it gradually became a museum of the past, and while the past accumulated, the present and the future slipped further and further out of reach. Over the last two decades it became increasingly obvious that reorganization in terms of space and purpose was imperative in order for the Moderna galerija to efficiently and professionally deal with modern and contemporary art in equal measure. The renovation plans for the Moderna galerija at Tomšičeva and Metelkova were based on the idea of a division of work between two formal units – a Museum of Modern Art and a Museum of Contemporary Art, with their respective collections – sharing joint professional, technical, and administrative offices. The two units will continue to cooperate closely, maintaining a dialogue between their departments and collections, in the spirit of bringing together modern and contemporary art.
The Museum of Modern Art
The Museum of Modern Art on Tomšičeva will house a display of the national collection of 20th-century modernist art and 21st-century art based on the modernist tradition and tendencies. The Museum of Modern Art maintains, adds to, and presents to the public the national collection of 20th-century Slovenian art, and prepares, in its exhibition rooms and in other exhibition sites in Slovenia and abroad, survey exhibitions, scholarly exhibitions, retrospectives, and solo shows featuring modernist artists, and sees to the continuity of the general public’s knowledge about the tradition of modern art.
The Museum of Contemporary Art
The Museum of Contemporary Art on Metelkova will house a display of the collection of contemporary art (the national and international Arteast 2000+ collections) and stage related exhibitions. The Museum of Contemporary Art will thus present art that deals with contemporary themes and media, including works that present the tradition of such art from the 1960s onward.
Mala galerija
Mala galerija is Moderna galerija’s outstation, located in the heart of the city center. In its fifty years of existence it has hosted some of the most highly acclaimed Slovenian and international artists, a tradition that has made it a prestigious venue for contemporary visual practices. Nowadays, it is a project space for individual artistic statements, whose messages gain special resonance thanks to Mala galerija’s conspicuous location on the city’s main street.
Moderna galerija, Museum of Modern Art
Tomšičeva 14, SI-1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
phone: +386 1 2416800, fax: +386 1 2514120,
FUTURE LOCATION:
Moderna galerija, Museum of Contemporary Art
Metelkova 22, SI-1000 Ljubljana
Edvard Ravnikar (1947), Bevk Perović Arhitekti (restoration 2007-2009), Groleger Arhitekti (restoration of Metelkova 22, end of 2010)
Mission Statement
The institution draws on the specific cultural, historical and geopolitical circumstances in which it operates, as well as on the new reality of the globalised society. It sees its role as being an intermediate point between national and international, between local and global. Its specific position enables it to operate as a bridge between various geopolitical and cultural regions in Europe (East-West, North-South).
Education
One of the tasks of the Moderna galerija is to provide education about and popularize modern and contemporary art. The Museum’s educational programs are conceived to encourage active participation in and a creative dialogue with art, rather than its static contemplation and aesthetic experiencing. Thus diverse explanatory materials are made available at exhibitions, there are guided tours and organized opportunities to meet and talk with artists and curators.
Cultural education for children and adolescents focuses on raising their awareness through art. The Museum works with kindergartens, primary and secondary schools, and art institutes. For a decade and a half we have been systematically educating the youngest generation to become active Museum visitors with the Minimalists’ Club workshops, designed to familiarize children with modernist and contemporary artworks in inventive, interdisciplinary, and interactive ways. In addition to programs relating to exhibitions, Moderna galerija is also involved in a great variety of other educational projects organized in association with other institutions, initiatives, and individuals and carried out elsewhere, which encourage critical discourse on contemporary art in the broader social and political space.
Collection
The Moderna galerija collections comprise: the national collection of Slovenian art of the 20th century (collections of paintings, sculptures, prints, drawings, photographs, video, and electronic media); a collection of works from the other nations of former Yugoslavia; and the international Arteast 2000+ Collection. The national collection presents all the crucial points in the development of the traditions of Slovenian modern and contemporary art since the beginning of the 20th century. The international Arteast 2000+ Collection presents the most important Eastern European postwar avant-gardes in dialogue with artistic practices from other spaces.
Collection Focus
History
The Moderna galerija in Ljubljana was founded in 1947 as the national Slovenian museum for modern and contemporary art. In 1939, the then central figure in architecture in Slovenia, Edvard Ravnikar, drew up plans for the building. The project was the result of his thorough consideration of what the needs and tasks would be for a contemporary art museum of the time. Ravnikar conceived of a building that would be formally neutral – a “white cube” – where the exhibition rooms were hierarchically equal, while the central hall, from which one had access to the other rooms, would allow the independent installation of various exhibitions and collections. But despite being designed specifically as an art museum, after nearly sixty years of operation, the Moderna galerija building had become too small and could no longer meet contemporary international museum standards. In 2007, the total renovation of the building began; the firm Bevk Perović Arhitekti, which had been selected in an open competition, undertook this. The renovation of the protected historic building within the existing specifications was completed in the autumn of 2009.
The building’s renovation represents not only an architectural restoration, but also, and especially, a renewal of purpose, which has been made possible by the acquisition of additional floor space in the building at Metelkova 22, where restoration work is just being in progress and are to be finished by the end of 2010; for this project, the firm Groleger Arhitekti was selected. The renovation of the Metelkova building is the final step in the restoration and upgrading of the former army barracks and will complete the formation of a new urban cultural center on Metelkova Street.
