Intl Museum Day celebrated with open doors as Valvasor winners are declared

The aim is to raise awareness that museums are an important means of cultural exchange, cultural enrichment and the development of mutual understanding, as well as cooperation and peace, Mateja Kos Zabel, director of the National Museum of Slovenia, told the STA in an interview this week.

Museums are no longer just places of exhibitions but also dynamic education centres, Jana Babšek, ICOM Slovenia head, said at a news conference on Friday.

They regularly join forces with various communities to promote democracy, peace, equality, inclusion and, in recent times, also sustainable development goals.

Earlier this week, the Culture Ministry presented a national strategy for museums and galleries for 2024-2028, the first document of its kind for museums.

Museums now took the opportunity of International Museum Day to urge the government to also adopt a special law governing museums only.

Alenka Černelič Krošelj, head of the Slovenian Museum Union, said that "our mission is to be vigilant about legislative changes and the development of our sector".

In recent years, museums have seen an incredible development by becoming more active in society and doing new things, including annual International Museum Day events.

She also highlighted the Summer Museum Night in June, the biggest annual museum event in the country, and their increasing online presence.

In Slovenia, Museum Day is organised by the Slovenian committee of the International Museum Council (ICOM Slovenia).

Its head Babšek said that last year the day brought together 37,000 museums in 158 countries, "which is considerable power which can bring certain changes in society".

Today, the National Museum, one of the leading museums in the country, expects to be visited by 750 to 800 visitors, which is ten times the daily figure.

On the eve of this year's Museum Day, the Slovenian Museum Association declared the winners of the Valvasor awards on Friday.

The lifetime achievement award will go to archaeologist and museology expert Verena Perko and to art historian Andrej Smrekar.

The curators of three different exhibitions will receive the award for individual projects, Tina Fortič Jakopič and Marko Ličina for the exhibition Bread and Games about the paintings Tone Kralj made during WWII at the Museum of Contemporary History in Ljubljana.

The same award will go to the team behind the exhibition on architect Jože Plečnik at the Museum of Architecture and Design in Ljubljana, entitled Universum Plečnik: Between Workshop and Myth.

The third such award was won by Janko Boštjančič, director of the Museum of Military History in Pivka, and archaeologist Andrej Gaspari for their exhibition on the Nazi cipher device Enigma.

Another five honorary mentions and the Valvasor Carnation will also be given out, with the awards ceremony scheduled for Tuesday at the National Gallery.

International Museum Day has been celebrated since 1977 upon initiative of ICOM, which is part of UNESCO.