The exhibition, which is opening tonight under the banner of the European Capital of Culture, was mounted by Pavelhous, the cultural centre in Austria's Laafeld, in a bid to highlight the many bonds between the people on both sides of the border.

"With the border being drawn up after World War I, Styria was suddenly broken into two parts that did not appear to have much in common. However, a closer look at Styria's history will show that aside from what drew those two parts apart, there was a lot they had in common, which has grown stronger still in recent years," Susanne Weitlaner of Pavelhaus says.

The display comprises six topic sections offering an insight into the circumstances of autochthonous ethnic and language minorities in Austria today and in the past, with a focus on the Slovenian community in Styria.

The subjects covered are bilinguality, life on the border, the status of the Slovenian community and the Slovenian heritage of the city Graz, cultural activities, Slovenian language lessons and multi-lingual cultures in Radkersburg/Radgona, Leibnitz/Lipnica and Deutschlandsberg.

The display also notes well-known personalities from the past and present who are associated with Slovenia.

The exhibition "Let's See What They Are Doing - Slovenians in Austrian Styria" will run until 14 September, accompanied by live events, including the presentations of various artists.

It comes after the exhibition about the Germans in Maribor, which attracted many visitors to the Grand Cafe, a magnificent art nouveau building that was a hub of Maribor social life in the 20th century until it was transformed into a casino in the late 1990s, which went bankrupt three years ago.

The building, which reopened for the Culture Capital, will host another exhibition in the autumn, this one focusing on the middle classes on Slovenian lands with an emphasis on Maribor.