The Long 19th Century in the Škofja Loka Area

Exhibitions, Collection of Papers, Symposium, Accompanying Programme

Team: Biljana Ristić, Mojca Šifrer Bulovec, Sara Šifrar Krajnik, Anja Zver, Dr Simona Žvanut

 

The “long” 19th century – the period from the French Revolution (1789) to the outbreak of World War I (1914) – has been researched and illuminated from the perspective of several research fields in order to give the best possible presentation of an era that left an indelible imprint on people’s lives and progress not only on a global scale, but also within the local community of Škofja Loka. It represents the longest period that has previously not been systematically researched and presented in a comprehensive way in the Škofja Loka area. For this reason, The Long 19th Century in the Škofja Loka Area project consists of two major interdisciplinary exhibitions, a symposium and a collection of papers, four exhibitions in the Škofja Loka Museum's Fokus showcase, and content prepared specifically for the museum’s website, social networking sites and the Newsletter (Novičnik).

The interdisciplinary exhibition titled The Long 19th Century: The Škofja Loka Area from 1789 to 1914 was on view at the Castle Gallery between 29 November 2023 and 26 May 2024. It presented the life and development of Škofja Loka, the Selca and Poljane valleys with Žiri from 1803, when the Škofja Loka seigniory was nationalised, to the beginning of World War I in 1914.

The next major interdisciplinary exhibition 19th Century Arts in the Škofja Loka Area will be opened on 18 December 2024. It will be dedicated to folk, ecclesiastical and secular arts. The exhibition will provide a comprehensive overview of everything that went on on the lively art scene and all the art-related developments and changes that took place in the Škofja Loka area during the long 19th century. The artworks from the museum’s collection will be showcased through an art-historical, historical and ethnological analysis and an interpretation of their contextual and stylistic characteristics.

The exhibition opening will be accompanied by the publication of a collection of papers titled The Long 19th Century: The Škofja Loka Area Within the European Context, as well as an identically titled symposium with invited experts.

The Long 19th Century in the Škofja Loka Area is part of a larger research project carried out as part of a comprehensive overhaul of the Škofja Loka Museum’s historical collections, which has been underway since 2016. We started with exhibitions and a collection of papers titled World War I in the Škofja Loka Area: Hostile Wars Can’t Do Us No Harm in 2018, continuing three years later, in 2021, with the exhibition and collection of papers titled From Liberation to Independence: The Škofja Loka Area from 1945 to 1991.