Zdravljica, a poem written in the 1840s by Slovenia's France Prešeren to celebrate peace, freedom and fraternity, has been awarded the European Heritage Label. The European Commission conferred the honour on Tuesday on ten pieces of heritage which testify about European ideals, values, history and integration.

Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti appointed on Monday Matej Šarc as interim director of the Slovenian Philharmonic. Šarc will take over on 2 April and will preside over one of Slovenia's central cultural institutions until the appointment of the new full-fledged director or for a maximum period of a year.

This week saw the release of a new book by Italian author Paolo Giordano, Nel Contagio or How Contagion Works: Science, Awareness and Community in Times of Global Crises. The first Italian literary work reflecting on the crises in the wake of the coronavirus epidemic has been already translated into Slovenian.

The Slovenian government has formally submitted to the UNESCO Secretariat in Paris the multi-national bid for placing the Lipizzan horse breeding and related practices on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.

Drago Jančar, arguably Slovenia's leading contemporary writer, has been awarded the Austrian State Prize for European Literature 2020. The life-time achievement award, handed out each year, comes with a check of EUR 25,000.

Slovenia's public cultural organisations are trying to work out to what extent the coronavirus outbreak will affect their business if they stay closed for two weeks, a month or more. Some have opted to offer their production online as a gesture of good will for many staying at home, but this will not improve their bottom line.

Actor Peter Musevski, best known for his lead role in Bread and Milk, the 2001 drama that won the Lion of the Future in Venice, has died, aged 54, the Kranj theatre where he worked has confirmed.