50th anniversary of the City Art Gallery Ljubljana

The exhibition traces the work carried out by the gallery since its founding; on 22 November 1962 the former Jakopič Pavilion was renamed Mestna galerija / City Art Gallery. After the original Jakopič Pavilion building was demolished in early January 1962, its administration was temporarily housed at several locations in the old town nucleus and it continued to stage exhibitions in a number of venues, such as the Yugoslav People’s Army Center, the former premises of the Town Planning Institute at Mestni trg 16, the atrium of the Town Hall, and in the Nebotičnik / Skyscraper building; in addition to that, they organized exhibitions that toured other Slovenian towns and travelled abroad. Designed by architect Boris Kobe, the new gallery premises in a renovated town house at Mestni trg 5 were inaugurated on 25 December 1963.

In its 50 years of work, City Art Gallery has staged over 830 solo and group shows, 91 of which went on tour in Slovenia or abroad. In 1996, its permanent collection of works on paper, acquired through donations and purchases, was formally founded. Currently, the collection comprises over 200 works by 73 Slovenian and foreign artists. In the permanent collection premises, originally at Mestni trg 4, and from 2002 through the end of 2010 at Cankarjevo nabrežje 11, 120 exhibitions of works (predominantly) on paper were staged. In 2009, Mestna galerija merged with Mestni muzej Ljubljana / Ljubljana City Museum and now works under the auspices of the newly founded institute MGML / Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana. After the exhibition premises at Cankarjevo nabrežje closed, Mestna galerija was allotted a replacement building in March 2011; in addition to being an exhibition venue, the Tobačna Cultural Center 001 houses the gallery’s artist-in-residence program.
Conceived in line with a contemporary dynamic, the exhibition is a combined display of artworks and documentary material, with priority given to artists whose works have been featured in more than one exhibition at the gallery and/or have travelled to other cultural milieus. It chronologically presents over 95 artists, who are represented, with some exceptions, by one work each. A few among them, primarily foreign artists, are presented with works from the MGML permanent collection and a number of private collections.

A comprehensive publication will also be brought out on this occasion, with relevant data on the history of the gallery.

An Exhibition. 50 Years of City Art Gallery Ljubljana

An Exhibition marks the 50th anniversary of the central Ljubljana art gallery, which has left an indelible mark in the history of Slovenian culture with its distinctive program features and ...