A museum dedicated to the punk subculture in Slovenia and the former Yugoslavia is due to open in Ljubljana next spring aiming to become a vibrant space of interaction, education and creative expression.

As an introduction to the opening, the Museum of Punk Culture (PANK) is holding a special event dedicated to the Slovenian punk scene of the 1980s at the National Museum of Modern Art in the Croatian capital of Zagreb on 8 October.

The new museum is to be located in Kodeljevo, a Ljubljana borough where the cult Slovenian punk rock band Pankrti created their first hits in 1978, including their album Dolgcajt (Boredom).

The Croatian newspaper Jutarnji List reports that the museum will have its home at the Barque chapel attached to the Kodeljevo Mansion that was painted by Franc Jelovšek.

Kodeljevo and Šiška made up the heart of the Ljubljana 1980s punk scene, one of the most important in the former Yugoslavia. The punk movement made a major mark in the urban culture across the former federation.

The museum will feature a permanent exhibition, temporary displays and multimedia presentations to showcase various aspects of punk art, including music, visual arts, poetry and literature.

It will celebrate the legacy of the punk subculture, not only in Slovenia, but across the former Yugoslavia, revealing how this subculture, originating in London, has found its unique expression in Ljubljana, Zagreb, Rijeka, Belgrade, Skopje and other cities.

The visitors will get to experience the atmosphere of the time with the help of the exhibits such as musical instruments, original outfits, concert posters and fanzines, as well as interactive displays and punk workshops.

The museum will also provide educational content to shed light on the social, political and artistic impact of the punk movement, and serve as a meeting point between different generations of fans of this subculture.

As an announcement of the museum's opening, the event in Zagreb will feature poet Esad Babačić, the frontman of the band Via Ofenziva, who will read from an anthology of Slovenian punk poetry, which he published in 2023 under the title Zamenite mi glavo (Replace My Head). The recital will be accompanied by the music collective Revolucija Volkov (Revolution of Wolves).

The anthology contains the most significant poems from that period, demonstrating the rebellious spirit and the socio-political criticism typical of the punk scene.

Visitors will also get a chance to see the essence of the Slovenian punk movement as captured in a dozen portraits by Jože Suhadolnik, one of the most important Slovenian photographers and chroniclers of the punk scene.

As a photo exhibition on the Slovenian punk rock movement opened at Cankarjev Dom in Ljubljana in December 2023, curator Marina Gržinić explained that punk rock in Slovenia differed from that in the West, because it emerged in socialism.

"The context was different in terms of history, in terms of the body, in terms of public exposure and in terms of the social system," and the contexts determined this subculture in a completely different way than in the West, she said.