Slovenia on Saturday joined the European Heritage Days, a traditional event sponsored by the Council of Europe and the EU, with a series of events focusing on its legendary architect Joze Plecnik (1872-1957).
The country's contribution to the European Heritage Days was officially launched with an exhibition of photos of Plecnik's works by Barbara Jakse Jersic and Stane Jersic in front of Tivoli Mansion in Ljubljana.
Ljubljana is architect Plecnik's city just as Italy's Vicenza is the city of architect Andrea Palladio, so we have to preserve it for future generations. At the same time, Plecnik is Slovenia's proof of identity for the EU, said the head of the Heritage Directorate at the Culture Ministry Damjan Prelovsek, as he opened the show.
According to Prelovsek, only a handful of Plecnik's works in Ljubljana are properly protected, which is a reason why the ministry has drafted a special programme to protect them. The document will be send to the government.
The director of the Ljubljana Architecture Museum Peter Krecic, an authority on Plecnik, was happy to note that the general public has showed an interest "beyond expectations" in a number of events put on in 2007 to mark the 135th anniversary of Plecnik's birth and 50th anniversary of his death.
Robert Peskar of the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage, which organised the Slovenian Heritage Days together with the Architecture Museum and the city of Ljubljana, praised Plecnik's rich forms and the spirituality of his work. He labelled him a classic architect of world renown.
This year's European Heritage Days officially opened on Friday in Belgrade, and will run in 49 European countries until Sunday.
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