Museum network, structure and collections
The network of the
Association of Slovene Museums currently comprises 64 museums, which in turn manage a very large number of branches (there follows a directory of contacts of these 64 museums, while the online version of the Slovenia Cultural Profile features also an extensive directory of more than 100 branch museums, galleries and collections).
According to new regulations enacted in 1997, Slovene museums are classified into the following categories: national, provincial, municipal, local/intercommunal and specialised. Those regulations enabled the existence and establishment of private museums, which have developed eminent collections and programming; perhaps most notable are the
Slovene Coal Mining Museum, Velenje and the
Kobarid Museum.
One characteristic of the Slovene museums sector is the large number of branch museums and collections (eg the Idrija and Radovljica City Museums,
Ptuj Regional Museum and many others) that not only indicate a wide-ranging concern for preservation of the national heritage but also reflect an overall strategy to keep heritage on-site as much as possible. The majority of Slovene museums are housed in old buildings which are under preservation (castles, palaces). A few recent investments were the Glass Hall at the
National Gallery of Slovenia in Ljubljana, which connected two separate sections of the museum, a complete renovation of the
City Museum of Ljubljana and the creation of the
Slovene Ethnographic Museum. The renovation of the
Museum of Modern Art Ljubljana is the current priority.
The following nine institutions are classified as regional museums: the
Celje Regional Museum, the
Dolenjska Museum, Novo mesto, the
Gorenjska Museum, Kranj, the
Goriška Museum, the
Koper Regional Museum, the
Koroška Regional Museum, Slovenj Gradec, the
City Museum of Ljubljana, the
Maribor Regional Museum and the
Murska Sobota Regional Museum.
Regional museums are classified as general museums, responsible for conducting public services in the field of archaeology, ethnology, fine arts, technology, arts and crafts and history. They also carry out restoration works. There are also 17 intercommunal and municipal museums that conduct public services for specific professional areas in collaboration with competent countries and provincial museums, the largest being
Ptuj Regional Museum.
In the field of fine arts, six galleries conduct public services:
Božidar Jakac Gallery, Kostanjevica na Krki,
Obalne galerije - Coastal Galleries,
City Gallery, Ljubljana,
Maribor Art Gallery,
Murska Sobota Gallery and
Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts, Slovenj Gradec, while public services for specific professional or geographical regions are conducted by a further five special museum institutions: the
International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, the
Architecture Museum of Ljubljana, the
Celje Museum of Contemporary History, the
Maribor National Liberation Museum and the
Sergej Mašera Maritime Museum, Piran.
In the 1980s the number of museum employees increased considerably; art historians and archaeologists, as the dominant expert force, were joined by large numbers of historians and ethnologists, and since that time Slovene museum management in some cases has reached a remarkably high standard. Each museum has its own mission and a clearly-defined collections policy. An interesting collection is that of the
Museum of Salt Making, Sečovlje, housed in the former two-storey dwelling of a salt-making family in the Secovlje salt pan region (first mentioned in the 13th century). Another example of international significance is provided by the exhibits of the
Ptuj Regional Museum, especially the Brussels (scenes from the Odyssey) and French (Verdure) tapestries of the early and late 17th century respectively and the famous ‘Turqueries’ paintings commissioned by Johann Josef Herberstein after his return from a diplomatic mission to Constantinople in 1666. Finally the
Technical Museum of Slovenia incorporates a transportation section which includes a rich collection of Slovene road vehicles, the oldest from the pre-war period, the limousines used by Yugoslav President Tito and a collection of automobiles on long-term loan from the German Technical Museum in Berlin.
Some museums with particularly interesting collections have won important awards. The
Kobarid Museum's exhibition on the Soča Front in the First World War won the highest award from the Council of Europe in Strasbourg in 1993, while
Idrija Municipal Museum took the prestigious Luigi Michelletti Award for best European museum of industrial and technological heritage in 1997.
