Exhibition curators: Peter Pakesch (Maria Lassnig Foundation), Katarina Hergouth (Cankarjev dom)
Exhibition architect: Sara Badovinac Zabret

In commemoration of the 10th anniversary of the death of Maria Lassnig (1919–2014), one of Austria’s most important and internationally renowned artists, Cankarjev dom is presenting the artist's first solo exhibition in Slovenia.

Lassnig is particularly known for the depth of psychological expression in her self-portraits and her concept of body awareness. Throughout her remarkable artistic career she produced a prolific body of paintings and drawings, and also pursued filmmaking (animated film). She engaged in a focused dialogue with her art, which always constituted the pivotal strand of her life. Even though Lassnig’s work gained well deserved public recognition at a relatively late stage in her life, today her works form an important part of the permanent collections of major museums (MoMA in New York City, The Essl Collection, Museum Ludwig in Cologne, the Albertina Museum, etc.). 

The exhibition at Cankarjev dom’s Gallery primarily features Lassnig’s drawings, as well as a selection of oils on canvas and several short animated films.  

Presented in collaboration with: Austrian Cultural Forum, Maria Lassnig Foundation, Neue Galerie Graz, sixpackfilm and others.

Slovenian Punk & Photography is a comprehensive exhibition that connects photography with various aspects of the Slovenian punk movement from 1977 to the mid-1980s, as well as the periods before and after punk. The exhibition also encompasses subcultural and alternative events in Ljubljana during the 1980s, including a focus on the emergence of the LGBT+ community in the 1980s, with groups like Laibach and other bold and subversive activities.

The exhibition provides insight into the important role of photography in documenting and being a vehicle for the expression of the Slovenian punk movement and other subcultural events of that time.

Slovenian punk contributed to the creation of a bold and provocative photographic aesthetic that is still recognizable and influential today. Punk left its mark not only on music but also on art, fashion, and lifestyle. Photography became essential for expressing the punk spirit, conveying messages about social and political issues, and creating visual imagery that reflected the spirit of the time. It became a means through which artists and scene members expressed their dissatisfaction with the political and social situation and brought alternative perspectives to the world. The photographs depict provocation and resistance to conventional norms. In many cases, photographs of the punk subculture focused on events at concerts, street protests, and alternative venues where punks gathered. These photographic images convey energy, chaos, and defiance of traditional values. Punk enthusiasts were captured in wild, eccentric, and challenging poses with distinct fashion stylings that showcased their directness, anarchism, and resistance against social norms.

Photographs of the punk subculture have become an important part of the movement's archive. They spread the messages of punks and shaped the iconography and image of the subculture. They were often published in punk fanzines, on posters, album covers, and other promotional materials. Together with music, fashion, and art, photography in the punk subculture served as a medium for expressing resistance, critiquing society, and building community. Punk induced changes in the photographic practice and encouraged creativity as members of the Slovenian punk and alternative scene self-archived and documented their own movement through photography.

Although Ljubljana occupied a central place in urban punk life, and the photographs record images of venues as legendary as Kavarna Union, Študentsko naselje (student residence halls), Galerija ŠKUC, Disko FV, the railway station, Rio, Filozofska fakulteta (Faculty of Arts), and Fakulteta za družbene vede (Faculty of Social Sciences), the exhibition also presents events on the periphery, in Novo mesto, Idrija, Škofja Loka, and beyond the borders of Slovenia. The Slovenian punk scene was known for its independence and criticism of the political system and social norms of the time. However, it was also a pro-socialist, working-class, youth-oriented, and rebellious attitude in response to social injustice, political apathy, and economic crisis. This energy also became instrumental in transforming Slovenian photography itself.

The exhibition creates a network of visual references and stories that enable a contemporary performative representation of narratives of resistance and rebellion. With this exhibition, we aim to highlight resistance as a political category with a politics of the body that opposes the body of politics. Workers' protests were an important part of the political and social movement of that time. They emerged as a response to the exploitation of the working class, poor working conditions, inequality, and other social problems. Punk bands supported these protests and often accompanied them with their music, lyrics, and performances.

To this day, punk culture and workers' protests intertwine in the fight for justice, equality, and societal change. Punk remains a voice of resistance against injustice, exploitation, and political apathy. Therefore, it is not surprising that punk elements often appear in contemporary workers' protests, which advocate for workers' rights, social security, and systemic changes. This is also evident in the protests in Slovenia during the Covid-19 pandemic from 2020 to 2022.

During this period, numerous protests took place, addressing various aspects of government measures and responses to the pandemic. Photography played a significant role in documenting and preserving the memory of these events, as well as showcasing the diversity and unity of the protesters. Alongside other activists, members of the punk subculture demonstrated their active political engagement and resistance against specific political decisions and measures, thus continuing the tradition of rebellion and expressing dissatisfaction characteristic of the punk subculture.

Marina Gržinić

About the authors
Janez Bogataj has gone down in the history of Slovenian photography as a documentarist of the socio-politically turbulent 1980s.
Božidar Dolenc (1950–2008) was one of the most prominent Slovenian photographers of the second half of the 20th century.
Vojko Flegar is a lawyer, retired journalist, contributor to Radio Študent and Tribuna, correspondent, commentator and editor of Delo and Dnevnik, as well as a freelance journalist and editor of the web portal razgledi.net.
Dušan Gerlica photographed concert scenes of the most important punk positions at the beginning of punk and at the end of Yugoslav social realism.
Siniša Lopojda is one of the central figures of the alternative and subcultural scene in Ljubljana that developed in 1980s around the ŠKUC Gallery and Disco FV.
Elena Pečarič is a philosopher, cultural sociologist and activist.
Matija Praznik, an electrical engineering graduate with a four-year degree in philosophy, was an active supporter of Ljubljana’s alternative scene in the early 1980s.
Bogo Pretnar, the guitarist of the band Pankrti and their indefatigable “archivist,” keeps an extensive documentation of the Pankrti’s history.
Bojan Radovič is a co-founder of the photo gallery Pri Slonu, the Photo Gallery Novo Mesto and founder of Luminus Ltd. and the House of Photography.
RELATIONS / 25 YEARS OF THE LESBIAN GROUP ŠKUC-LL deals with the 25th anniversary of the lesbian group ŠKUC-LL (1987–2012) and with the lesbian movement in the former Yugoslavia.
Mladen Romih regularly accompanied events at the university with his camera in the 1980s, focusing on student life.
Tone Stojko worked for RTV Ljubljana and was a member of Fotogrupa ŠOLT while studying journalism in Ljubljana. In the 1980s he systematically captured the democratisation and formation of the Slovenian state.
Jože Suhadolnik began his photographic journey in 1982 in Disco FV in Rožna dolina. He documented the emerging punk and new wave scene of the 1980s.
Jane Štravs began exhibiting in the early 1980s as one of the most prominent chroniclers and protagonists of Ljubljana’s alternative cultural scene.
Tožibabe, formed in the early 1980s, are one of the first Slovenian hardcore/punk bands and the first Slovenian and Yugoslav all-female band in which women are not only singers but also authors of music, lyrics and arrangements.
Igor Vidmar, known as the godfather of Slovenian punk, was a key figure in the alternative music scene in Slovenia and the former Yugoslavia in the 1980s.

Realisation of the exhibition
Marina Gržinić (curator of the exhibition and realisation of the exhibition project) is a principal research associate at the Institute of Philosophy ZRC SAZU and a full professor at the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna.
Jovita Pristovšek (realisation of the exhibition project) is a research assistant at the Institute of Culture and Memory Studies ZRC SAZU.
Metod Prijatelj (architect of the exhibition) is a conceptual architect and constructor.
 

Admission 

Admission: EUR 6 /person 
Discounted tickets: EUR 4 /person (*visitors aged under 25, over 65 and pensioners)
Free admission: children aged under 12, holders of a EU Disability Card, holders of valid museum cards

We recommend that children under the age of 12 are accompanied by a parent or guardian.

Public guided tours: admission fee, NO extra charge 

School visits (10 persons or more):
Admission: EUR 3 /person

Guided tour of the exhibition: admission + EUR 20 (tour surcharge)
Groups of adults (10 persons or more):
Guided tour of the exhibition: admission + EUR 20 (tour surcharge)

Catalogue: EUR 15 
 

The selected three paintings feature both a suggestive narrative and a retreat – imbued with some latent expression – into a world far removed from reality, but one that can be evoked if the artist is able to form a connection, i.e., establish a correlation, so that it acquires a new, perhaps paradoxical, connotation, a dimension that in the imagination of our painter will achieve a level of self-sufficiency, but of course never finality.

One rarely encounters a painter the likes of Kardelj in Slovenia’s contemporary space: this is not because of his subdued public presence as an exhibiting artist, but simply because the artist lives his active presence also elsewhere, differently. The extremely interesting view that Kardelj put forward at the international symposium Art and Marxist Theory within the Context of Criticism of Political Economy made a lasting impression on me as a critic. A viewpoint that equates two succeeding artistic phenomena – the splendours and miseries of socialist realism and the present-day cap(italist) realism.

Furthermore: under the title Suprarelikvija (City Museum of Ljubljana, 2015) Kardelj devised and created The Shroud from La Higuera – the character of the executed Che Guevara, as a monumental horizontal visionary manifestation.

Kardelj singles out, to quote from his text Beauty Is the Only Criterion, and lives a new, free art: to think, feel and act outside all currently possible contexts. If the painting dating from 2003 reveals an imposed spatial breadth of human post-mortem passages in scorching somatic whiteness of dehumanisation on red verticals, in its forerunner (2002) and in the subsequent work (2004) the painter gave free rein to the effects of, one could almost say tenderness, the fragility of his colourful layering or a prevalence of delicate whiteness. Is the painter, in his zealous use of colour, indulging in the inspirational perceptiveness of barely noticeable feminine contours rather than imaginary outlines?  

However, despite this impression, in constantly reliving anew the omnipresent Cartesian meditations, the painter’s impetus is unflagging.

Janez Kardelj, born 1964 in Ljubljana, where he lives and works. Graduated in painting from the Academy of Fine Arts ALU in Ljubljana. He works in the fields of painting, music and set design, as an educator and adult education teacher, cultural and social critic, organizer and curator. Some of his projects are:
Exhibitions: University of Maribor Library Gallery 1997; the Ljubljana Town Hall Historical Atrium 1999, 2018; Grohar Gallery Škofja Loka 2003; Šoštanj City Gallery 2006; KUD France Prešeren 1991, 1997, 2015; SDK Gallery Tolmin 2009, 2017; Osebno, Kibla Portal Maribor 2018; exhibition of ZDSLU members (Slovenian Association of Fine Arts Societies): ”Umetnost ujeta v prostoru in času”, at the BBK Galerie Nürnberg 2021; international biennial Mednarodni bienale etike(te) Strah in Smeh, Novo mesto 2019 and 2021; the project Sprehajalci slik Ljubljana 2019 and 2021; Gallery of the Kranj Art Society 2013; music and literary projects: Kabaret Ciklomotorik - Učna ura Slovenščine (2002), Soma Arsen - Gluhi cirkus brez posluha (musical cabaret and a CD 2009-2010); organization of projects: Nov dan ali 99% at the KUD France Prešeren 2012; curatorship: Suprarelikvija-Prt iz La Higuere, City Museum of Ljubljana 2015; reviews and articles: a paper titled ”Blišč in beda kap-realizma in soc-realizma”, international symposium Umetnost in marksistična teorija v kontekstu kritike politične ekonomije.             

Aleksander Bassin, critic and publicist was Director of Ljubljana City Art Gallery (1989–2009), Vice-President of the International Association of Art Critics AICA, Secretary of the International Biennial of Small Sculpture in Murska Sobota and curator of the Slovenian Section at numerous national and international exhibitions (Venice Biennale, Sao Paulo Biennale) as well as the Yugoslav Section at the New Delhi Triennale. In addition to scholarly introductions to various catalogues, expert articles in local and foreign magazines and newspapers, he has published several art monographs on Lojze Spacal, Stane Kregar, Janez Boljka, Stojan Batič, Viktor Magyar, Štefan Galič, Janez Knez, Herman Gvardjančič, Stojan Kerbler, Jože Kološa, Hamo Čavrk, Miroslav Šutej and Franc Novinc.

Public guided tours: admission fee, NO surcharge 
Bookings are mandatory due to limited availability. 
Public guided tours in Slovenian, guided tours in English by prior arrangement

To apply (providing your name and surname), please contact stiki@cd-cc.si

Children under 4 enjoy free admission. 
Adult admission EUR 6/person
Discounted tickets EUR 4/person (for visitors aged under 25 and 65+)
Family tickets EUR 13 (max two adults and unlimited number of children)

The exhibition highlights the important laws of nature and the fact that everything in our world is changing. Earth has been changing since the planet formed, and over a history spanning billions of years life on Earth has undergone evolutionary change. On every level, we are witnessing changes occurring between birth and death, the seasons, day and night, between ebb and flow. Living environments are also changing. Massive and alarming changes in nature have recently been caused by mankind. Human over-exploitation of natural resources and pollution have led to global climate change, species are becoming extinct at a significantly faster rate than ever before in the history of life on Earth.

The exhibition In the Vortex of Change takes us through the evolution of Earth and life on our planet, providing an up-close look at the major types of natural environments (mountains, the sea, rivers, forests, the subterranean world, meadows), as well as surprising and unusual changes, changes often hidden from view but occurring constantly in nature. The show offers an opportunity to discover, explore and marvel at the mysteries of nature, as well as to reflect on and find answers to various questions. Perhaps the most difficult of these questions is whether mankind will have the wisdom of foresight to stop the destruction of nature and ensure sustainable development for posterity. And how each one of us can play our part in saving the Earth.

The exhibition highlights the important principles of nature and the fact that everything in our world is changing. Earth has been changing since the planet formed, and over a history spanning billions of years life on Earth has undergone evolutionary change. On every level, we are witnessing changes occurring between birth and death, the seasons, day and night, between ebb and flow. Living environments are also changing. Massive and alarming changes in nature have recently been caused by mankind. Human over-exploitation of natural resources and pollution have led to global climate change, species are becoming extinct at a significantly faster rate than ever before in the history of life on Earth.

The exhibition In the Vortex of Change takes us through the evolution of Earth and life on our planet, providing an up-close look at the major types of natural environments (mountains, the sea, rivers, forests, the subterranean world, meadows), as well as surprising and unusual changes, changes often hidden from view but occurring constantly in nature. The show offers an opportunity to discover, explore and marvel at the mysteries of nature, as well as to reflect on and find answers to various questions. Perhaps the most difficult of these questions is whether mankind will have the wisdom of foresight to stop the destruction of nature and ensure sustainable development for posterity. And how each one of us can play our part in saving the Earth.
 

Admission

Regular ticket prices
Adult ticket: EUR 6 and 4* (*for visitors aged under 25 and 65+)
Children under 4: free admission
Family ticket: EUR 13 (max two adults and children aged under 15)
Children's workshops: admission + surcharge EUR 3 

Public guided tour: admission fee, no surcharge for guided tour
Tour with commentary: admission fee + EUR 2 (guided tour surcharge)

School visits (10 or more persons): 
Admission: EUR 3/person
Guided tour: admission + EUR 20 (surcharge for the tour)
Guided tour with workshop: 6 EUR/person

Adult groups (10 or more persons):
Guided tour: admission + EUR 25 (surcharge for the tour)

Monograph: EUR 20 

Tickets for the In the Vortex of Change exhibition are available at a 20% discount when presenting a ticket for the Slovenian Museum of Natural History.  

Group bookings: kristina.jermancic@cd-c.si


The CD Gallery is open daily from 10.00 to 20.00, Thursdays until 21.00.
Public guided tours: Thursdays at 18.00 (in Slovenian; in English available by prior arrangement)
Tickets are available at the entrance to the CD Gallery (entrance from Prešernova Street, the Council of Europe Park)

Z vstopnico za delavnico iz cikla SPREMINJANJA (Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije) znižana cena za vstop na razstavo V vrtincu sprememb (Cankarjev dom)

Ob razstavi V vrtincu sprememb Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije pripravlja cikel sobotnih delavnic za otroke SPREMINJANJA. Z vstopnico za delavnico iz cikla SPREMINJANJA tisti dan vstop na razstavo V vrtincu sprememb v Galeriji Cankarjevega doma po znižani ceni 3 EUR.   

Author of the exhibition : dr. Asta Vrečko


The Outside the Frame exhibition is dedicated to the Independent Group of Slovenian Artists comprising fourteen major Slovenian artists: Zoran Didek, Boris Kalin, Zdenko Kalin, Stane Kregar, France Mihelič, Zoran Mušič, Nikolaj Omersa, France Pavlovec, Nikolaj Pirnat, Marij Pregelj, Karel Putrih, Maksim Sedej, Frančišek Smerdu and Evgen Sajovic. The Independent artists left a deep imprint on interwar art, and then played a prominent role in post-war art and culture, becoming the first professors at the Ljubljana Academy of Fine Arts. 
The works, some of which are presented to the public for the first time, come from both public and private art collections; Cankarjev dom’s exhibition is the first in-depth public showcase of the collective.

The Independents studied at the academies in Zagreb or Prague. They set out on their professional careers in a time fraught with economic crisis and a strained political situation in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. These young artists formed a group that allowed them to jointly organise exhibitions, fight for artists’ rights, advocate the establishment of the Museum of Modern Art and the Academy of Fine Arts, as well as acquisition of artworks, publish articles in newspapers and magazines, organise art dances and plan study trips. As a collective, they worked most actively between 1937 and 1941, when the war broke out in Yugoslavia. Both the group’s activities and individual artworks stand out prominently from concurrent artistic output. Artistically, the Independents were drawn to the movements of moderate modernism and followed the general shift towards realism within Yugoslav and European art. Their promising careers were cut short by WWII. At that time the problem of national artistic expression was the main objective pursued by art in relation to political and social developments. One of the principal aims in the work of the Independents was the search for an independent (Slovenian) artistic expression. The undeniable fact that several of the works today enjoying cult status were premiered at their exhibitions testifies to the great artistry and continuing relevance of the Independent Artists who today rank among the leading names in 20th-century Slovenian and Yugoslav art. The exhibition includes seventy artworks and extensive documentary materials. Many of the works are on public view for the first time (in about 80 years since their creation). 

In addition to the Božidar Jakac Art Museum collection, artworks and materials were generously loaned by: the National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb, the Museum of Modern Art, the City Museum Ljubljana (MGML), the Art Gallery Maribor, the National Gallery, the Slovene National Theatre Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, the Bela Krajina Museum Metlika, the Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia, the National and University Library, St. Stanislaus Institute, Antikvitete Novak, Lah Contemporary, Galerija in dražbena hiša SLOART and various private collectors. 
The visual identity for the exhibition was created in cooperation with the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, which organized a student competition. The winners (Aja Vogrinčič, Juš Pustoslemšek, Matej Pavšek) created an overall visual identity for the exhibition. All competition entries are on view at Cankarjev dom.

Accompanying programme
As the Independents were greatly involved in the cultural and artistic scene of the time, the main thread of the accompanying programme is an illuminating insight into the era, the cultural, artistic and social backdrop to the work of the Independents, i.e., the 1930s and the first half of the 1940s, with an emphasis on Ljubljana, but in connection with other cultural hubs, e.g., Zagreb, Maribor, Ptuj, Celje, where the artists also worked. As well as the featured topics, several other areas of culture and the arts, including architecture, theatre, music, fashion, media and everyday life in Ljubljana, are examined in connection with fine art. In this context, the work of the Independents is explored also beyond the gallery walls, by highlighting some of the venues in Ljubljana associated with the group.

17 May 2022, CD Club 
International Symposium: Fine Arts in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia 

4 May – 12 June, CD Small Gallery
Plečnik's Ljubljana in Old Photographs
In cooperation with the Museum of Architecture and Design (MAO)
In the year that marks the 150th anniversary of the birth of architect Jože Plečnik, the photography exhibition aims to thematize the metamorphoses of the city.

Short (60-minute) exhibition tours with a workshop are offered to groups of children in kindergartens and the first and second triads of primary school, and guided tours (60-minute) with worksheets are organised for groups of children in the third triad of primary school and secondary school students.
 

For kindergartens and schoolchildren in the first triad of primary school
Drawing Postcards
The children first see the exhibition, stopping at various exhibits and this year's award-winning works. The guide asks questions about illustration (what it is, where it is found, which ones they like...). After the introductory part, the children listen to a fairy tale by Manica K. Musil: Lev Izidor. The reading is followed by a workshop; Children get blank postcards and draw their own illustrations. They send postcards to their grandmothers and grandfathers, or friends.
Admission: EUR 5 
Free of charge for teachers
 

For schoolchildren in the second triad of primary school
A Stroll Among Illustrations
Guided tour of the exhibition with worksheets and a workshop
Children see the exhibition with a guide. They discover the history of the Biennial, devote special attention to illustration (genres, history, etc.) and learn about the award winners. In the end, they complete their worksheets and draw "their own illustrations" on blank postcards. The children send the postcards to their grandmothers and grandfathers, or friends.
Admission: EUR 3 
Surcharge for a guided tour: EUR 20 /group
Free of charge for teachers

For schoolchildren in the third triad of primary school and high school students
It's All Illustration
Guided tour of the exhibition with worksheets
The tour guide gives an outline of the Biennial and its history, as well as the award winners, devotes attention to the history of Slovenian illustration and its role in today’s society. The guide presents different genres of illustration, and talks about the work of contemporary illustrators, the techniques and methods they utilize, etc.
Admission: EUR 3 
Surcharge for a guided tour: EUR 20 /group
Free of charge for teachers

Guided tours by prior arrangement only. For bookings please contact:  kristina.jermancic@cd-cc.si

Cankarjev dom has been organizing the Biennial of Slovenian Illustration together with the Union of Slovenian Fine Arts Associations – ZDSLU since 1993. This comprehensive overview of Slovenian illustration has been bringing together older and younger generations of illustrators for more than a quarter-century. The Hinko Smrekar award, as well as Hinko Smrekar plaques and accolades recognize the achievements of Slovenian illustrations.

Maintaining high standards of creativity and testifying to the excellence of Slovenian illustration, the event showcases new artistic approaches and the latest methods and techniques employed in illustration: re-imagined painting techniques, illustration incorporating elements of film, comic strip, animated film, electronic media and other advanced technologies.

The exhibition thus provides an invaluable platform for recognising the importance of illustration, an artform decisively co-shaping – in its major children’s book segment – the visual perception and understanding of young readers, and having a responsible role in education – as a pictorial language co-creating human consciousness and enhancing the development of artistic sensibility.

Previous winners of the Hinko Smrekar Award – the Biennial’s main prize – are: Marija Lucija Stupica (two-time winner), Dušan Muc, Rudi Skočir, Zvonko Čoh, Jelka Godec Schmidt, Alenka Sottler, Kostja Gatnik, Danijel Demšar, Peter Škerl, Hana Stupica, Damijan Stepančič and Milan Erič.


The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive catalogue featuring all participating artists and the Lifetime Achievement Award laureate. The Biennial’s visual identity is based on an illustration by the last recipient of the Hinko Smrekar Award, this time Milan Erič’s.

Slovenia’s legendary photojournalist Joco Žnidaršič belongs to the country’s oldest generation of photographers. As long-standing photography editor at a major national newspaper, he played a vital role in fostering visual sensibility in journalists, establishing high standards of press photography and encouraging young generations of photographers who worked for the Delo daily. The thirtieth anniversary of Slovenia's declaration of independence is an ideal opportunity to delve into Joco’s extensive oeuvre and display a representative selection of photos made during 1988–91 with a view to presenting how his images served to record the period that ushered the country into an age of great societal change. With his camera, Joco recorded virtually all watershed moments in those breakup years: from the JBTZ affair and massive demonstrations in the Congress Square, the Republic Square rally, Gorbachev in Slovenia and the last Congress of the League of Communists, the rallies for Slovenia, the referendum and the presidential elections, to the Brioni Agreement and the beginning of war. In some cases, when no other photographer was in the field, Žnidaršič had access to exclusive news: these pictures have a special documentary and archival value. In addition to famous historical scenes, the exhibition features a series of photographs that reveal, with exceptional visual eloquence and sensitivity, the photographer’s true humanistic character.

Born on 20 March 1938 in Šoštanj, Joco Žnidaršič graduated from the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana in 1963. He became involved in press and art photography during his studies and later devoted himself entirely to this pursuit. He worked as a photojournalist for the Študentska tribuna, TT and Tovariš, and from 1974 until his retirement, as a picture editor for the newspaper Delo.
In addition to his journalistic/photojournalistic work for newspapers and magazines, his output includes a series of excellent photography monographs that earned him recognition as one of Slovenia’s most prominent art and news photographers. His most notable photography monographs include: Foto Joco Žnidaršič, Ljubljana, Bohinj, Slovenski vinogradi, Pot k očetu (Himalayan travelogue), Dobimo se na tržnici, Golf na Slovenskem, Deset let je Slovenija država, Moja Slovenija, Lipicanci, Najlepša pot zeleni prstan Ljubljane and Ljubljana lepa in prijazna, which received widespread critical praise and favourable reception from the reading audiences.

He co-authored and edited another twenty photography monographs, most notably Zakladi Slovenije, Vojna za Slovenijo, Lepa Slovenija, Planica (Parts I and II) and Slovenija lepotica Evrope.
Joco Žnidaršič holds the title of Master Photographer of EFIAP, the highest distinction of the International Federation of Photographic Art. He has won more than fifty national and foreign awards and distinctions, including the Prešeren Fund Award, the Župančič Prize, the Puhar Lifetime Achievement Plaque, and Consortium Veritatis – the highest Slovenian award for achievements in journalism. He is the first Slovenian recipient of the "World Press Photo" prize. In 2009, the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Danilo Turk, awarded him the "Golden Order of Merit" for lifetime achievements in photography and for his great contribution to the visibility of Slovenia. In 2013, he was awarded the City of Ljubljana Prize, and in 2017 the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, presented him with the "National Order of Merit" in recognition of his services in building national identity as a co-creator of and contributor to the “Slovenia my Homeland” campaign. He works as a freelance photojournalist and is co-owner of Veduta AŽ, d.o.o., which publishes photography monographs.

Soloist: Jaka Mihelač, baritone

Programme
Leon Firšt, Refleksije*
Gustav Mahler, Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen
Jean Sibelius, Symphony No 1 in E minor, Op. 39

* First performance, commissioned by the Slovenian Philharmonic

Thirty-one-year-old Iranian conductor Hossein Pishkar won the German Conductors’ Award (Deutscher Dirigentenpreis) in 2017 as well as the Ernst von Schuch Prize. After studying the piano and composition in Tehran, he moved to Germany in 2012 to study conducting with Rüdiger Bohn, subsequently attending masterclasses with Riccardo Muti, Bernard Haitink and other renowned conductors. He gained experience as an assistant conductor with Hermann Bäumer, Sylvain Cambreling and Daniel Raiskin, performing operatic and symphonic works.

The programme of his debut with the Slovenian Philharmonic Orchestra will open with a new work by young Slovenian composer Leon Firšt. In his composition Refleksije (Reflections), the award-winning composer draws thematic material from the piano preludes by Lucijan Marija Škerjanc, as well as from his own compositions. This will be followed by Gustav Mahler’s four songs Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen (Songs of a Wayfarer), which the famous conductor and late-Romantic composer based on his own texts. Mahler reworked the sonic concept of the songs several times, conducting the premiere performance of the orchestral version in 1897. The concert will be rounded off by Jean Sibelius’s Symphony in E minor, the first of seven symphonies by the most important Finnish composer. It features numerous solo passages within the orchestra, beginning with a long introductory clarinet solo.