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Mit - UVK_Sinfo_2008_02February4 - Index

s o C i e t y
EgyPTIAN CULTURE IN CANKARJEV DOM
This year, Egypt gets its turn at the now-traditional festival of foreign
art, organized for the sixth time in a row by the Cankarjev dom
cultural centre. The festival, called ‘Egypt in Ljubljana’, was opened
at the end of January by a concert of Sheikh Ahmed al-Tuni, one of
the last great ritual and religious singers of Upper Egypt, while on
February 8th, the Slovenian cultural holiday, the percussionist Mahmoud
Fadl and the group Cairosonic gave a concert in Cankarjev
dom. At the beginning of March, Ljubljana will host Omar Kheirat,
one of the most well-known Middle-Eastern composers and pianists,
who combines Arab and African folk motifs with elements of
jazz, pop and blues. But, of course, what has sparked most interest
is the great archaeological exhibition ‘Pharaonic Renaissance:
Archaism and the Sense of History in Ancient Egypt’, mounted by
the Italian Egyptologist, Francesco Tiradritti, which will be held from
March 4th until June 20th. The exhibition was conceived as a general
overview of this ancient civilization. The exhibits are on loan from
the most important Western European museums of Egyptian art:
the British Museum, the Louvre, and by museums in Vienna, Berlin,
Munich and Florence, as well as from collections in neighbouring
Hungary, Croatia and Italy. It promises to be one of the great exhibitions
which have attracted a great deal of public attention and
generated matching attendance numbers in recent decades. Other
examples include the first Egyptian exhibition and an exhibition on
Chinese history. The festival’s diversity will be further enhanced by
a production of Trieste−Alessandria Embarked − a play by the author
and director Neda Bric about “Alexandrines”, women who, a
century ago, travelled to Egypt to seek employment with local rich
people as governesses, maids and cooks − and by Egyptian Film
Days, where 11 films from all periods of Egypt’s 100-year cinematic
history will be screened.
SAINT CANZIAN ALTARPIECE fROM bRITOf,
PRIMORSKA REgION NOW IN LJUbLJANA
At the beginning of February last year we witnessed an event at the
National Gallery in Ljubljana that has intricately linked works of art
by masters of the 16th century with those of today. Thanks to the
knowledge and modern technology at the disposal of the Restoration
Center of Slovenia, we could also see in its full glory the late
Gothic wing altar of Saint Canzian. It consists of a central shrine
cabinet, with the church’s patron saint depicted in the middle with
St Bartholomew and St Gereon. Two folding side wings adorn the
paintings of St Simon and St Jude. The outer sides of the wings that
can be observed when the altar is open bear the motif of the Annunciation.
This work of art, which was estimated by professionals
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to have been created in the year 1530 and is famed to be one of the
most valuable relics of Slovenian cultural heritage from the Gothic
period, expresses different regional influences and is tied to the late
Gothic tradition, containing elements already showing the influence
of the Renaissance. It found its domicile, or as will be seen, had it in
a modest church whose main portal bears a carved inscription from
the year 1505, which tells us the year it was built. It took its name
from the aforementioned saint and stands in the village Britof at the
westernmost edge of Slovenia, where the Goriška Brda Hills end, or
we could say begin. Although modest, it is an intriguing example of
late Gothic architecture because, as opposed to the churches built at
that time in Western Slovenia, it departs from the stylistic characteristics
that can be found in that region.
MARUšA KRESE RECEIVES DNEVNIK
AWARD
The Fabula short story festival, a commendable cultural project of the
Dnevnik daily, held biannually to honour the best collection of short
stories − along with Kresnik, a similar project by the Delo daily, this
is a pleasant indication that newspaper publishing has not forgotten
about literature − was concluded by an award ceremony this year,
following an extensive, high-quality accompanying programme in
various Slovene towns. The judging panel awarded the prize to the
writer and journalist Maruša Krese for her collection Vsi moji božiËi
(All My Christmases). The collection’s 30 short pieces depict Christmas
evenings spent in very different places and with very different
people, summarizing the author’s interesting and rich life. It should
be noted that Krese competed for the award against several extraordinary
writers, such as Milan Dekleva with his collection Izkušnje z
daljavo (Experiences with Distance), Franjo FranËiË with Trkaj, trkaj
na nebeška vrata (Knock, Knock on Heaven’s Door), and Urška Sterle
with her debut Vrsta za kosilo (Lunch Line). Maruša Krese has been
living in Berlin for a long time, but writes in Slovene. Her book was
published last year by Mladinska knjiga.
HIgHEST STATE ART AWARDS gO TO
AUTHOR, DESIgNER
The Prešeren prizes for lifetime achievements went to author and
translator Janez Gradišnik and graphic designer Miljenko Licul. Prešeren
Fund prizes for individual achievements were also conferred
at 7 February ceremony in Maribor. Gradišnik was awarded with the
highest national commendation in the arts, the Prešeren Prize, for
his literary work, literary translation and work in the field of linguistics.
Being too ill to attend the ceremony himself, the speech by the
february 08 sinfo