“Slovenia's only chance lies in opening up”

A portrait of Igor Zabel (1958-2005), director of the Moderna Galerija in Ljubljana and Slovene representative on the advisory board of tranzit.

Tomšičeva in Ljubljana, is a street that probably boasts the densest concentration of art in Central Europe. The River Ljubljanica flows nearby, the embassy district begins somewhat further downstream. Any number of small galleries, the Opera House and one of the largest bookshops in the city are to be found here. In a small hollow between the embankment and the main traffic artery, Slovenska, and within a few walking minutes distance of each other, traditional Slovene art in the Narodni Galerija and in the Narodni Museum collides with contemporary art in the Moderna Galerija.

The influence of the architect Jože Plečnik on the appearance of Ljubljana is almost oppressive. In the case of the Moderna Galerija his far-sightedness apparently deserted him, as director Igor Zabel recounts. Although commissioned at the beginning of the 1930s to design a building for contemporary Slovene art, Plečnik supplied the concept for only a small hall. "There will be ample space for all good Slovene art in it" is supposed to have been his line of argument. Due to dissatisfaction with this design the project was subsequently handed over to Plečnik's student, Edvard Ravnikar, who was thus able to complete his first major work. It was built from 1929 onwards, the war followed in 1941. Thus the Galerija is divided into a base and facades in a fascist, neo-classical style while the interiors and walls are those of a rational and functional concrete structure.

The director of the gallery, Igor Zabel, was born in Ljubljana. He studied comparative literature and philosophy at the University of Ljubljana. "At that time there was a feeling of change in the air, the university had only been in existence only since 1901, interrupted by the two world wars. Additionally, at the end of the seventies and beginning of the eighties there was an energetic avant-garde scene in Ljubljana. But even at this stage I realised that I would not earn big money with these two subjects and so I started to study art history," Zabel says with a broad grin.
After various voluntary service jobs he came to the Moderna Galerija in 1986. He now works there in the position of "senior curator“ and is responsible for commissioning younger curators. In 2003 he worked as curator for the Museum of Modern Art in Vienna and for the Biennale in Venice. His research work concentrates primarily on the areas of post-communist literature and art in Eastern and Central Europe. He has published two collections of essays on art in Slovenia since 1945 as well as numerous articles in catalogues and magazines. Finally, he is the Slovene representative on the advisory board of the international artists' and curators' group tranzit (www.tranzit.org).

Seismograph for current tendencies in art

In the Slovene capital almost everybody knows everybody else. Slovenia has only two million inhabitants, Ljubljana, with around 275,000 inhabitants, is about a third larger than Graz. After a turbulent history and hundreds of years of domination by foreign powers the country achieved its independence in 1991. Provincialism and an awareness of the need for openness towards the world are encountered side by side. It is not by chance that Ljubljana's most prominent philosopher, Slavoj Žižik, sees Slovenia as being torn between the status of a cultural super power and nationalist petty-mindedness.
Above all in the area of modern art socio-political tendencies have become apparent that Igor Zabel, as director of a state institution, attempts to represent adequately. The Moderna Galerija includes a permanent exhibition, in which post-war Slovene art is shown, with the focus on conceptual and contemporary art

As this repertoire by now takes up too much room, different works are introduced on a rotation principle. With extensive activities such as the changing exhibition "ArtEast2000+“ that shows Eastern European art since the sixties the Moderna Galerija functions as a seismograph for current artistic tendencies along the difficult path of a search for identity.

Fears of contact with the country's own national past are out of place here. Thus from autumn onwards the Moderna Galerija will open a branch in Metelkova. After the withdrawal of the People's Army this former military base directly behind the railway station developed into a self-administered enclave for the current production of art. There the Moderna Galerija will directly encounter contemporary art with initiatives such as the SCCA (Institute for Contemporary Art) and the Galerija Alkatraz.
Whereas on Tomšičeva the old rebels have quietened down, the synergetic proximity of Metelkova – Moderna Galerija has unleashed an explosive force for future generations of artists.  Igor Zabel is satisfied: "In the international context Slovenia's only chance lies in opening up. I expect positive new energy to result from the encounter between an established art institution and an alternative youth centre, as two contradictory and yet associated facilities.“

Brief description:
Igor Zabel died in 2005.

Moderna Galerija

The Moderna Galerija consists firstly of a permanent exhibition of Slovene art since the Second World War, It therefore functions as a home for contemporary Slovene art. In addition there are various changing exhibitions in the national and international context, generally focussing on conceptual and post-conceptual art. The Moderna Galerija collaborates closely with other contemporary art galleries such as the SCCA, Galerija Alkatraz, Galerija Kapelica and  Galerija Škuc.
From mid-June to mid-August of this year the retrospective "Slovene Art 1985 – 1995“ will be held in the Moderna Galerija.

Moderna Galerija Ljubljana: Tomšičeva 14, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenija

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