Book exhibition celebrates Slovenia-Hungary diplomatic ties
Ljubljana, 19 April - An exhibition marking the 30th anniversary of diplomatic relations between Slovenia and Hungary will open at the National and University Library (NUK) on Wednesday. The show features a selection of Slovenian translations and publications of Hungarian fiction in the past three decades.
Ljubljana
The National and University Library in Ljubljana.
Photo: Tamino Petelinšek/STA
File photo
The exhibition Translation - A Cultural Tie between Nations will open at the Ljubljana library at noon to run until 20 May.
Knowing each other's thoughts, creativity and culture is essential for good relations, and translating fiction and essays is an important part of this process, especially when it comes to two nations with an ethnic minority on both sides of the border, said the library.
The book exhibition will be held in two parts, simultaneously in Ljubljana and Budapest, where an exhibition of book editions of translations of Slovenian fiction into Hungarian will open at the National Szechenyi Library, also today at noon.
President Nataša Pirc Musar, who is currently in Budapest, and her Hungarian counterpart Katalin Novak will cut the ribbon on the show in Hungary's capital. The launch will be attended by the head of both libraries too, David Rozsa from the National Szechenyi Library and the NUK's Viljem Leban, and Slovenian Ambassador to Hungary Marjan Cencen.
The show in Budapest will have a bit longer run than the one in Ljubljana as the exhibition will be on until 31 May.
In Ljubljana, the display will be launched by Biborka Molnar-Gabor, director of the Liszt Institute Ljubljana. It is a result of cooperation between the institute, which promotes Slovenian-Hungarian cultural ties, and the Slovenian embassy in Budapest.
The translated fiction tells the story of the differences between the two cultures, it tells of history, culture, national particularities, the zeitgeist, individual stories and society through different periods and social orders, said Marjanca Mihelič, who authored the exhibition together with Mladen Pavičić.
The most vibrant translation activity, she says, took place in the years before and after Slovenia and Hungary gained independence. The mutual desire to get to know the neighbouring nation made the book market so dynamic that the period could be dubbed the golden age of translation, she added.
Due to limited space, only the most prominent, prestigious award-winning works of fiction are exhibited at the NUK, the library said.