Peter Štih, a 59-year-old medieval history professor, has been elected new president of the Slovenian Academy of Sciences and Arts (SAZU) to succeed Tadej Bajd, who has headed the academy since 2014.

Artist collective Beton Ltd., featuring Katarina Stegnar, Primož Bezjak and Branko Jordan, marks its 10th anniversary this year. In an interview with the STA the group highlighted the role of live theatre and spoke about the issues exposed by the corona crisis, urging resistance to attacks on social life, including culture.

Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti met UK Ambassador to Slovenia Sophie Honey on Wednesday, with the pair sharing the view that Brexit should not become an obstacle for cooperation of artists in the two countries, the Culture Ministry said in a press release.

Now is the time when state officials should show their good judgement and present their vision for the culture sector, the sector besides tourism hardest hit by the corona crisis. Measures should offer comfort and aid to the most vulnerable cultural proletariat, the newspaper Delo says in Wednesday's front-page commentary.

The 25th Slovenian Book Days, a five-day festival promoting books and reading, will start on Wednesday with outdoor book fairs in Ljubljana, Koper, Celje and Novo Mesto. Most of the events will, however, take place online, at www.dneviknjige.si.

Culture workers covered the front of the building housing the Ministry of Culture with hundreds of pieces of paper with appeals for action to help the sector hammered hard by the coronavirus pandemic on Tuesday as part of a protest targeting what the organisers described as the ministry's silence and inaction.

Slovenian cinemas belonging to the Art Cinema Network are reopening in the wake of a major easing of anti-Covid-19 restrictions. On Friday, the first screening after lockdown took place in Radovljica, while film buffs could head for Nova Gorica on Tuesday to enjoy a cinema experience. In Ljubljana, the Kinodvor cinema will reopen on 1 June.