September 23, 2018
September 21 marked the autumnal equinox, the official end of summer, although the leaves have been turning brown for some days now in the nation’s capital, and more serious jackets being dug out of closets. So if the sun shines this week, and it’s warm, then make the most of it, because the winters are long and dark in this part of the world.
One festival to note the next seven days is Sonica, which presents a programme of contemporary electronic music and transitory art, with more details here, as well as in the various related sections below.
A painting partyin action. Photo: JL Flanner
Two other things we’ll draw attention to in this introduction are Design with Wine, which organises painting parties on Trubarjeva cesta, and the two-year anniversary offer of free use of the pool for Ljubljana residents in the Sense Wellness Spa. The latter becomes even more attractive when you realise the location – in the penthouse of the Grand Union Hotel. The offer runs until the end of the month, and you can learn more about it here.
The pools at Sense Wellness Spa. Photo: Sense Wellness
As ever, clicking on the venue names in the list below should get you more details with regard to the time, price and location, as well as other events on this week in the same place. Finally, if there's something you want to promote in a future edition of What's on... please get in touch with me at flanner(at)total-slovenia-news.com
GENERAL
If you want to get a Ljubljana Tourist Card, which gives you travel on the city buses and entry to a lot of attractions, then you can read more about that here, and if you want to use the bike share system, as useful for visitors as it is for residents, then you can learn more by clicking this. Visitors with reduced mobility will be pleased to find that downtown Ljubljana is generally rated as good with regard to accessibility, and that there’s a free, city-sponsored app called Ljubljana by Wheelchair highlighting cafés, attractions and so on with ramps, disabled bathrooms and Eurokey facilities, which you can read about and download here.
Want / need cigarettes but the stores have closed? Here's an incomplete list of bars downtown that will satisfy your craving for the demon weed. While if you’re having trouble with the ATMs then here’s a guide to the Slovene you’ll see on screen. If you get a hangover then find out where to get paracetamol (and prescription drugs) in Ljubljana here, while details on emergency birth control can be found here.
Ljubljana is a small and relatively safe city, but if need to contact the police then there’s a special number for foreigners, and that’s 113.
CINEMA
You can read about all the cinemas in town here, while a selection of what’s playing this week is below, and note that kid’s movies tend to be shown in dubbed versions, so do check before driving out to a multiplex and dropping off the young ones. (And if you like watching trailers with subtitles as a way of learning Slovene, then catch up on some from earlier this year here and here).
Kinodvor – The arts cinema not far from the train station, but still rather tucked away, showing, among other features, Slovene language Codelli, the English, Spanish and Catalonian Todos lo saben (Everybody Knows), On Chesil Beach, and Bergman: A Year in a Life. There’s also the regular Saturday morning movies for younger children, at Kinobalon – see here for details.
Kinoteka – The revival house at one end of Miklošičeva has a Bergman season, in Swedish with Slovene subs, featuring Smultronstället, Tystnaden, Jungfrukällan, Persona, Skammen, En passion and Fanny och Alexander.
Kolosej – The multiplex out at BTC City Mall is playing all the big movies, which this week include Mission Impossible: Fallout, dubbed versions of Hotel Transylvania 3: A Monster Vacation, The Incredibles 2, and The Meg, The Spy Who Dumped Me, Equalizer 2, BlacKkKlansman, The Nun, A Simple Favour, The Predator, Todos lo saben, Christopher Robin, Patrick, On Chesil Beach, An Actor Prepares, and Slender Man. Staring Wednesday there’s Night School
Komuna – The cinema in a basement behind Nama department store is showing Mamma Mia 2: Here We Go Again, On Chesil Beach and Todos lo saben.
CLUBS
Drogart, an organization that aims to minimise harm on the party scene, has a useful page analysing the contents of various pills being sold as MDMA. It’s in Slovene, but you can Google translate it or work things out yourself. One thing they recently warned of were pink Pharaoh pills with around twice the normal MDMA content (measured at 261 mg). See pictures and learn more here, but do remember that all the usual drugs remain illegal in Slovenia. We've also heard increasing reports - albeit anecdotal - of women's drinks being spiked in the city, so take care and let friends know where you're going.
All that said, It seems to be a fairly quiet week in clubland, but check out the Sonica Festival of electronic music for more you might enjoy.
Klub Cirkus – The more commercial end of club end has Crazy Cirkus x Avadox playing Summer Anthems & Party Hits on Friday, and Best of RnB on Saturday
Klub K4 – The klub that (by some accounts) started it all in Ljubljana has SOLVD Opening w/ Alex.Do (Dystopian, Innervisions) on Friday, playing techno and house, with support from DJs Evident, Alex Ranerro and Mornik b2b Trulson, while the VJ is 5237. Then on Saturday there’s a night called Just a Dance, with DJs Elovetric, Von Meister, Maša and Den7el, and VJ 5237, playing italo, disco, synthwave, and retro electro.
Koncertna Dvorana Rog – The alternative to Metelkova, which should be closing down ‘soon’, has a Sonica show on Friday with DJ sets from Actress, Lee Gamble, NinaBelle, and Alleged Witches.
Most public galleries and museums are closed on Mondays, although not the National Museum.
Ljubljana Castle has an exhibition on the history of dragons that runs until November 11, and there's plenty more to see and do when up there, including some nice walks in nature. Note that the bathroom is in the basement and rather difficult to find.
Plečnik's desk. Photo: JL Flanner
Plečnik’s House is worth a visit if you want to learn more about the architect who gave Ljubljana much of its character. Read about our guided tour here.
The Balassi Institute (The Cultural Centre of the Embassy of Hungary) – This is at Barvarska steza 8, Ljubljana, not far from Dragon Bridge, and until November you can see a show with works from Igor Andjelic (1961) from Slovenia, Dénesa Farkasa (1974) from Estonia and Hungary and Pétra Mátyásija (1982) from Hungary.
Jakopič Gallery– Fans of Magnum and photography in general will wish to check out the Marc Riboud show here, as detailed in an earlier story, and on until October.
Marc Riboud Beijing, 1965. Da Sha La street in old Bejing, as seen through an antique dealer’s window. Private citizens come here to sell family jewels or other objects. The prices are fixed by the government. ©Marc Riboud – all rights reserved.
Cankerjev dom – Running until the end of February 2019 is an exhibition titled Ivan Cankar and Europe: Between Shakespeare and Kafka. This is “An examination of Cankar’s art through an analysis of influences and interpretations, and juxtaposition with contemporary European writers. The visually elaborate architectural and graphic layout, supported by audio-visual media, installation art and diverse visual highlights, offers a vivid account of Cankar’s excellence, his comprehensively exquisite aesthetic and artistic vision.”
City Museum – The Museum in French Revolution Square has an exhibition on the writer Ivan Cankar that’s on until the end of February 2019, with pictures, books and manuscripts, all presented in Slovene and English. It also has a very interesting permanent exhibition on the history of Ljubljana, from prehistoric times to the present day, with many artefacts, models and so on that bring the story alive.You can read about my recent visit here.
The Faces of Ljubljana in the City Museum. Photo: JL Flanner
Galerija Kresija – The gallery between Triple Bridge and Robba Fountain, opposite the little Mercator, has an installation by Andrea Zabric called Experience 48700, on until October 3. “The exhibition brings an insight into the author's painting production of the last year, in which she deals with pigment as an independent material.”
International Centre of Graphic Arts – Running until November 11 is an exhibition of works by Riko Debenjak, including prints, drawings, paintings and illustrations.
MAO – The Museum of Architecture and Design is showcasing Slovenian designers in a show called Made in Slovenia, lasting until the end of 2018: “The selling exhibition aims to present good practices of Slovenian designers and companies in the creative sector.” The same venue has an exhibition based on Slovenia’s Pavilion at the 16th International Architecture Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, called “Living with Water”, and on until November 25.
Something by Drago Tršar
Moderna galerija – The main branch of this gallery, to be found near the entrance to Tivoli Park, has a good collection of modern art, as well a nice café in the basement, and, until September 30th, a retrospective on the monumental sculptures of Drago Tršar, which you’ll recognise from around town (see more here). For even more contemporary work you can take a trip to the Metelkova branch, where there’s currently a show on the relationship between humans and animals.
Photo: JL Flanner
Museum of Contemporary History – The museum in Tivoli Park has two new shows. One is called Museum's (R)evolution 1948-2018, marking the place's 70th anniversary with an exhibition tracing its evolution through artefacts, photographs and personal stories and running until January 6 2019 (details here). There's also In Search of Freedom: 1968-2018, looking at the 1968 student protests.
National Gallery – The country’s main gallery has “the best” of what’s on offer from the Middle Ages to non-contemporary modern visual arts, and is in a great location for exploring other areas, just by Tivoli Park and opposite the main branch of the Moderna galerija. Running until February 10 2019 is a show called Ivana Kobilca (1861-1926): But Of Course, Painting Is Something Beautiful!, featuring works like the one below. You can read about our visit to the room containing scared art from the Middle Ages here, and see a picture from our trip after the two girls.
JL Flanner
National Museum of Slovenia – There’s plenty to see in the permanent collection here, from Roman times, Egypt and more, with the big draw this season being the exhibition of over 140 items of gold from Ming Dyntasy China, as reported here, and with an example below.
Photo: Wang Wei Chang
Meanwhile, at the museum's Metelkova branch, located between one branch of the Moderna galerija and the Ethnographic Museum is the International Ceramic Triennial UNICUM 2018, which runs until September 30. It's being promoted with the following image. This branch also has some rooms on Church art, funiture and weapons, with the latter including more guns than you'll see anywhere else in town, and quite a thrill if coming from a nation where such objects are not household objects.
Photon Centre of Contemporary Photography – A show called Forbidden Whispers – Laibach in North Korea is on here until October 19.
Ravnikar Gallery – Showing until October 1 is Ana Popescu: Fictional Homes. “Her artworks fundamentally derive from the heritage of Bauhaus aesthetics, which, to the author, is a nostalgic reminiscence of native Romania, having been influenced by the German architectural style after World War I, and also from modernist houses known for their large geometric shapes.”
Ana Popescu with two of her works. Ravnikar’s Facebook
Slovene Ethnographic Museum – The museum currently has a temporary show on Bees and Beekeeping, as well two permanent exhibitions. One of these is called Between Nature and Culture, and has a great collection of objects from Slovenia and around the world, well worth the trip up to the third floor to see it (as recounted here). This place is located near the newer branch of the Moderna galerija and Metelkova.
Photo: JL Flanner
Union Experience – The Ljubljana-based brewer has a museum showing the history of the company, with the ticket also including access to part of the factory and a few samples of the product. You can read about our visit here.
It's not a formal museum, but if you're interested in "Yugo-stalgia" then you'll enjoy a trip to Verba, a small, privately run space that's crammed with objects and pop culture items from the era, and is conveniently located at the start of one of the short walks to the castle. It's also a great place to take pictures, if you leave a donation, and you can read more about it here.
Verba. Photo: JL Flanner
Alternative Ljubljana isn't a museum or gallery, as such, but instead turns the city streets into a museum and gallery. Learn more about their tours of street art, history and LGBT Ljubljana here.
FAMILIES & KIDS
You can find our Top 12 list of things to do with kids in Ljubljana here. If want to read more about the philosophy behind the wonderful House of Experiments look here, while our trip to the Museum of Illusions is documented here, and there’s always riverside walks, ice cream and pizza.
Photo: JL Flanner
LGBTQ+
If you want to learn more about Ljubljana Pride, then take a look at our interview with its president here. If you're looking for more general links on "gay Slovenia", including a history of the scene and various projects, then you can find that here. We recently also published an interview with the LGBT activist and writer Suzana Tratnik, talking about - among other things - the occupation of Metelkova.
Klub Monokel – Thursday Sonica comes here for an all-nighter with Sarah Farina, Mika Oki and cl_tr.
Klub Tiffany – Nothing seems to be planned at the gay bar in Metelkova this week, but it’ll still be open on Friday.
Pritličje – This is the closest Ljubljana comes to a "gay bar" so it's a good thing this LGBT-friendly cafe / bar / events space is such a good one, and open from morning to night. You can read more about it here. With regard to events, on Monday there’s Pre-StopTrik: Best of 2017, showing short animated movies. Tuesday evening sees a vegan workshop, while Wednesday to Friday Sonica comes here with various kinds of music and art – the details are here.
Photo: Alternative Ljubljana
LIVE MUSIC
For the third time this week, we’ll remind you of the Sonica Festival of electronic music.
Cankerjev dom – Lots from Sonica here this week. Monday there’s music from Yair Elazar Glotman and Mats Erlandsson, as performed by Žiga Murko, trombone; Katarina Kozjek, cello; Anastazija Krenn, viola, described as “imaginary, dislocated folk music catering for these hard times”.
Thursday there’s a show by the RTV Symphony Orchestra, with the conductor En Shao and violinist Dan Zhu, playing Lajovic, Bernstein, Bartok and Shao,
Friday there’s Sote and Tarik Barri with Sacred Horror in Design, being promoted as “a ‘Persian techno apocalypse’ blends electronics with early acoustic instruments. It preserves the beauty of tradition by bending classical models, thus forming future expressions of folkloric art.”
Saturday there’s then William Basinski.
Channel Zero – On Wednesday you can enjoy La Jungle and Schnellertollermeier.
Gala Hala – Live music and DJs will be here Friday and Saturday courtesy of Rapetek, which is celebrating its 15th anniversary. On day 1 the live acts are Vojko Vrućina and Krešo Bengalka while the DJs are YNGFirefly, Cookie and White AF, while on day 2 there are the MCs Zlatko, Emkej, Klemen Klemen, N'toko, RecycleMan, Samo Boris, Mrigo, Ghet, Mirko Grozny, Doša, FIDŽI, VALTERAP, and Beatboxer Zhiga, with DJs Ninja, K'Pow, Borka, Zhe, Dado, and Pero Wustyle.
Klub Gromka – Friday there’s Riistetyt, Culto del Cargo, and Warfare. Saturday then has another night of fairly hardcore music, with First Brawl and Panikk.
Kino Šiška – Wednesday night there’s an indie folk show with Damien Rice, but it already seems to be sold out. Thursday there’s then a techno, noisy kind of party affair, with Aïsha Devi, Giant Swan, Lifecutter and Bine. The weekend then comes, and on Saturday you can see the Marko Hatlak Band.
Ljubljana Castle – Friday night is music night at the castle, and this week sees a show by Zlatko and Optimisti.
Orto Bar – Friday there’s a show from Samuel Blues & Miha Erič, while on Saturday you can enjoy Crazy Neighbours.
How to behave in Metelkova. Photo: JL Flanner
Gledališče IGLU - IGLU Theatre – Saturday night this group is usually putting on an English improv show somewhere in town, but it’s generally promoted after this is written, so check the Facebook before putting on your shoes.
Pocket Teater Studio – Friday night there’s another of the (usually sold out) flamenco nights, Noche de Tablao: ¡Caña! The seats are limited, and so you must make a reservation: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 070 325 522. The price of a ticket is 20€, 15€ for the students, and includes a glass of wine and tapas.
MISC.
Every Friday through the warmer months (and still now) there’s the Open Kitchen in Ljubljana Market, where you can try food and drink from some the biggest names in town, and you can read more about it here. This weekend, Saturday the 29th, there’s also a Pivo and Burger Festival here (with pivo meaning beer, in case you’re just visiting, so there'll be wide selection of local craft brews to enjoy, with that scene exploding in recent years in many exciting directions).
Breg Embankment, just opposite the Old Town and by the river, has a small flea market open every Sunday morning. Learn more about it here.
If you’re in town and want to go jogging or walking in nature, why not take another look at the Castle, with a brief guide to the trails here. If you want something bigger, head to Tivoli Park.
And if you're bored with the Old Town, why not take a walk, cycle or boat ride to nearby Špica and enjoy the riverside life. Learn more about that here.
visitljubjana.si
Flickr - Dave Rosenbaum CC by 2.0
Want to stretch and breath? Then check out our list of drop-in yoga classes for tourists, visitors and the uncommitted. If you're heading to the coast, check out our interview with a yoga teacher who offers breakfast sessions there, while if you're staying in town (or nearby) and want to try some "family yoga" then you can learn more about that here and maybe get your kids to calm down a moment or two.
TRIPS
Most of Slovenia is only a few hours from Ljubljana, and you can easily visit Lake Bled, Lipica Stud Farm, Postojna Cave, Predjama Castle, the coast and other locations, while if you'd like to take a photo of the road that's shaped like a heart, then you can learn how to get there here.
Photo: Google Image Search
FINALLY…
One of the best photo spots in town is a small bridge that does its job so well it's easy to overlook how good the design is. Learn more about the quietly charming Fishmarket Footbridge here.
JL Flanner
While if the weather is rainy and grey then consider a visit to Republike trg, where you can take some nice shots of some austere architecture, like the one below and as described here.
JL Flanner
