Ljubljana - The 27th City of Women, a festival of contemporary art, will focus on community art projects, celebration of women's accomplishments and a reflection on the school system. The festival open on Saturday with a performance by Dr Xenia.

The festival focusing on women performers and collectives and running until 18 October will present 130 artists across three programme sections.

The opening section, Hand in Hand, will present community art projects and the strengthening of social ties during the pandemic and the tense political situation.

The opening event will be held at the Alkatraz Gallery and feature a performance by Dr Xenia, a collective entity, entitled The Fourth Corner: Rights for Our Fights.

Another highlight in this section will be the Atlas Collective, which brings together fifteen artists, critical thinkers and cultural workers from Belgium, who will present their exploration of participative practices in Slovenia.

As part of a European project Be Part, an international debate will be held at the Stara Elektrarna (Old Power Station) venue about fair relations and working conditions in the art world.

Dutch platform for dialogue art Building Conversations will be presented, accompanied by several workshops.

The second section, Collective Memory, will celebrate woman's achievements.

In collaboration with the Ljubljana Academy of Theatre, Radio, Film and Television, an event entitled I Want to Conquer the World 2.1 - Actress on the Crossroads of Cultures, will pay tribute to Barbara Sušec Michieli, a professor at the academy who died ten years ago.

The Kindovor cinema will offer a rich programme, including a poetic migrant odyssey by Italian director Loredana Bianconi Of Gates and of Deserts, and Glory to the Queen! by Tatia Skhirtladze, a film about four Georgian chess grandmasters.

The third section, The School We Whant, will offer a reflectioon on the curriculum and a shadow curriculum, the festival organisers say.

Annette Kraus will present her Hidden Curriculum project at the Škuc Gallery, showing how secondary school students perceive and explore the hidden curriculum.

The concept of school will also be explored in a project in which the Ljubljana Puppet Theatre cooperated with secondary school students in staging a play entitled Everything Is Alright.

The show will be followed by a discussion with its makers and accompanied by a debate on school and kindergarten.

Several other different shows will be held outside the three sections.

Aleksandra Bajde will present her scenic musical work Self-Portraits in Imaginary Places and Fabrice Murgia a pop opera Sylvia, presenting the story of famous American author Sylvia Plath at the Cankarjev Dom arts centre.

Among the Slovenian performances the organisers highlighted Us Witches by Simona Semenič and the Slovenian premiere of Castration by Glass Illka.