Cultural Venues Holding Open Day on Prešeren Anniversary
The Merry Day of Culture has in recent years become a traditional way for Slovenian cultural institutions to celebrate the poet who was born 213 years ago. It has evolved into a day when people who would otherwise not make the visit to cultural venues to see on what they have been missing out.
Among the highlights of this year's events, which are due to be held in 60 towns and villages around the country, will be the showcasing of the 5200-year-old wooden wheel, the oldest in the world, in the Ljubljana City Museum.
An exhibition on Slovenian space pioneer Herman Potočnik Noordung will be opened at the National and University Library, while the work of Emerik Zelinka, who invented the Slovenian cola drink Cockta 60 years ago, will be showcased at the Museum of Slovenian Cultural Heritage.
The public museum operator in Ljubljana, MGML, said the open day attracts around 2,000 people to its centres, which is around double that for a normal day. Turnout at cultural venues is usually only higher for the 8 February Culture Day holiday and the summer museum night.
The Culture Ministry, which coordinates all the events, said a total of 15,000 people visited 112 venues around the country last year. With the number of scheduled events almost doubling for this year, it is expected that the turnout will be higher.
In addition to exhibitions, dozens of shows will be staged free of charge at theatres and cinemas around the country, while numerous debates and lectures are also scheduled to be held.
The open day was launched by the Culture Ministry in 2000 as part of celebrations of the 200th anniversary of Prešeren's birth.
Born on this day, Preseren (1800-1849), a poet of the Romantic era, is merited with connecting Slovenian national identity with the Western European cultural group, thus enabling full national blossoming.
Preseren's cultural and political mission is best expressed in the verses of the poem "Zdravljica" (Toast), which calls for the brotherhood and freedom of all peoples. The poem gave the lyrics to the Slovenian anthem after the country gained independence from Yugoslavia in 1991.
The day of Preseren's death, 8 February, is officially marked as Slovenia's cultural day.