STA, 2 February 2019 - The Alpine Ski World Cup overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin of the US won the slalom part of the Golden Fox on Saturday to complete a double win in Maribor and come even closer to the absolute record in wins in a single World Cup season.

After splitting the win in the giant slalom race on Friday with Petra Vlhova of Slovakia, Shiffrin was too dominant in the slalom, earning a one-second advantage over Vlhova already in the first run to finish in 1:42.60.

Anna Swenn-Larsson of Sweden was second (+0.77) and Wendy Holdener of Switzerland was third (+1.15). Vlhova finished fifth (+1.70) after being second in the fist run.

With another victory, the 23-year-old American has increased her win total in the World Cup this season to 13 to remain in play for beating the absolute record in wins in a single season.

The winner of the last three slalom races in Maribor is on pace to beat Vreni Schneider of Switzerland, who won a record 14 events in 1988-89. It was the win number 56 for Shiffrin in the World Cup.

"It was an amazing weekend! For some people watching it feels like I'm used to this but it's not, it's always a fight, every race is a fight," she told the Slovenian national television after the win.

The only Slovenians in the second run were Meta Hrovat (+2.76), who finished 11th for her best career slalom result in the World Cup, and Ana Bucik, who was 24th (+3.84).

Hrovat was sixth overall at the Golden Fox after finishing 8th in Friday's giant slalom for her best ever result in Maribor.

"I'm very happy with Hrovat's success, she is stepping up her form excellently. She keeps the same quality in the giant slalom and slalom, which is a progress," said Denis Šteharnik, the head coach of the Slovenian women's team for technical disciplines.

The slalom at the 55th Golden Fox was the last event for ladies in the World Cup before the Alpine Ski World Championships in Are, Sweden (5-17 February).

* Results of the World Cup slalom event in Maribor:
 1 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)     1:42.60     50.05 52.55
 2 Anna Swenn-Larsson (SWE)   1:43.37 +00.77 51.14 52.23
 3 Wendy Holdener (SUI)       1:43.75 +01.15 51.95 51.80
 4 Frida Hansdotter (SWE)     1:43.94 +01.34 51.62 52.32
 5 Petra Vlhova (SVK)         1:44.30 +01.70 51.05 53.25
 6 Bernadette Schild (AUT)    1:44.71 +02.11 52.30 52.41
 7 Kristin Lysdahl (NOR)      1:44.97 +02.37 52.03 52.94
 8 Chiara Costazza (ITA)      1:45.25 +02.65 52.52 52.73
 9 Katharina Truppe (AUT)     1:45.27 +02.67 52.80 52.47
10 Christina Geiger (GER)     1:45.32 +02.72 52.28 53.04
11 Meta Hrovat (SLO)          1:45.36 +02.76 53.43 51.93
   Katharina Huber (AUT)      1:45.36 +02.76 53.57 51.79

- Overall standings (after 26 of 37 events):
  1 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)      1,694
  2 Petra Vlhova (SVK)          1,043
  3 Wendy Holdener (SUI)          747
  4 Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT)      617
  5 Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR)      589
  6 Viktoria Rebensburg (GER)     509
  7 Ilka Štuhec (SLO)             507
  8 Federica Brignone (ITA)       500
  9 Frida Hansdotter (SWE)        497
 10 Michelle Gisin (SUI)          442

- Slalom standings (after 9 of 11 events):
 1 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)        860
 2 Petra Vlhova (SVK)            725
 3 Wendy Holdener (SUI)          485
 4 Frida Hansdotter (SWE)        348
 5 Anna Swenn-Larsson (SWE)      336
 6 Katharina Liensberger (AUT)   285
 7 Katharina Truppe (AUT)        255
 8 Bernadette Schild (AUT)       207
 9 Erin Mielzynski (CAN)         185
10 Irene Curtoni (ITA)           175

One focus this week is Friday, February 8^th, which is Prešeren Day, or Slovenian Cultural Day (Prešernov dan, slovenski kulturni praznik). This marks the death of the country’s national poet in 1849 and has been a national holiday since 1991, the year the country declared independence. In addition to being a day off work for many, most public museums and galleries also have free entry, so check out that section below and see what’s available.

If you're not in town for the week of this guide (Feb 4 - 10, 2019)  then you can see all the editions here, and you can enhance your stay in the city and impress or annoy friends and companions by learning some obscure facts about the city here, and the Castle here.

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 at this place in whatever week you're here. Finally, if there's something you want to promote in a future edition of What's on in Ljubljana please get in touch with me at flanner(at)total-slovenia-news.com

Contents

• Cinemas and films
• Clubbing
• Live music
• Opera, theatre and dance
• Harm reduction and drug testing
• Things to do with children
• LGBT+ Ljubljana
• Ljubljana Castle
• Museums and galleries
• Other things to do in Ljubljana
• Daytrips
• Getting around

Cinemas and films

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 if they can't understand Slovene. Parents should also pay attention to Kinobalon, which is Kinodvor's regular weekend series of film screenings and events for children, from babies on up, with special parent/child events, "first time in a cinema" screenings, and babysitting. Learn more about it here, and see the current schedule here.

Kinodvor – The arts cinema not far from the train station is showing, among other features, The Favourite, Women at War, Maria by Callas, The Incredible Story of the Giant Pear (dubbed into Slovene),  Jack bestelt een broertje, Green Book, Climax and Igram, sem

Kinoteka – This revival cinema isn’t far from Kinodvor, at the train station end of Miklošičeva, is showing Eraserhead, Dogville and Douglas Sirk’s Imitation of Life. There’s also von Trier’s Antichrist and the very different Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle.

Kolosej - Recent arrivals at the multiplex out at BTC are Papillion, Taksi bluz, Serenity, a dubbed version of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World, Green Book and Vice. A little older, and perhaps leaving soon, are Mary Queen of Scots, Glass, The Mule, The Favourite, The Upside, Ralph Breaks the Internet: Wreck-It Ralph 2 (dubbed), Asterix: Le secret de la potion magique, Second Act, Južni veter, Aquaman, a dubbed version of Spider Man: Into the Spider-Verse,  The Grinch, A Star is Born and the #1 box office film of 2018 in Slovenia, Bohemian Rhapsody. New this week is Escape Room, opening Tuesday.

 Komuna – The cinema in a basement behind Nama department store is showing Bohemian Rhapsody, Vice and Green Book.

Clubbing

Compared to some European capitals it can seem that nightlife in Ljubljana ends rather early, especially along the river, but there are still bars that stay open late and clubs were you can dance until dawn, and perhaps the best place to stumble across something interesting is the legendary Metelkova. Be aware it's a grungy kind of place and not for all tastes, but also that there's considerable variety to found within the various clubs there, from death metal to electropop, gay cabaret to art noise. You can read "the rules" of the place here.

Channel Zero – Thursday it’s Everything GOES, from 23:00 to 06:00, with party music from DJs Rope, Jerry, Sunneh, Fogy, and Stojc. Friday it’s the turn of Elektroliza: SYNC 24 (Cultivated Electronics), with dance music from Sync 24, Le Chocolat Noir, Ocular, And Nulla, and RGB on video. Saturday the third all-nighter of the week will be shaking the room with an event called Frag::ments w. HYDRO (Commercial Suicide / UK), where the music will be drum’n’bass, techstep, and neurofunk, which Wikipedia claims “emerged between 1997 and 1998 in London, England as a progression of techstep”.

Gala Hala – There seems to be no Dub Lab this week, but on Thursday there’s SOUL REBEL VII ★ Inna Soundsystem Style with a playlist that’ll include roots, dub, rocksteady, reggae, ska, drum’n’bass, jungle, hiphop, dubstep, and more. Friday thing move up in tempo with Wave Riders! This will bring the sounds of electroclash/leftfield and house/techno to clubbers, with the mixes coming from Torulsson and Kobayashii.

Klub Cirkus – Three all-nighters at the end of the week, starting on Thursday with Ice Cold pres. Zonderling (Tomorrowland, Spinnin, Hexagon). Friday it’s an RnB Explosion with fresh anthems and classics cuts with DJ Dej and DJ Martee. Things come to a head on Saturday with Tutti Frutti - Slovenska edicija, playing Slovenian dance hits from the hands of Matthew Z and Matteo Kunst.

Klub K4 – Thursday night it’s Just Us x Spaced, headlined by  Joe Delon. Two events on Friday – 18:00 to 21:00 there’s an Ableton Live workshop, then an all-nighter from 23:00 on called Gibanica, with the electronic music provided by Deconstructor Live (Destruktura), Urban Jeram (REMM), Herman K (Machine City), Thomas L (Sw:idr) and Izza. Saturday the fun continues with a night of electronic dance and hip hop called KROM w/ Traples, Tikach, and YNG Firefly.

Live music

Cankerjev dom – Monday evening Dani De Morón - '21' will be bringing flamenco guitar accompanied by voices and dance. Tuesday it’s then Drago Ivanuša “Dviganje Glasu” and Leïla Martial “Baa Box”.

Kino Šiška – Wednesday, 20:00, the Igor Matković Quintet will be playing jazz to celebrate the release of a new album. Same time, next day, the stage will be occupied by the Austrian group Elektro Guzzi playing live techno, followed by a DJ set from Alleged Witches.

Klub Gromka – Thursday evening there’s Bernays Propaganda, Xaxaxa, 21 Vek, My Tear, and Vasko Atanasoski.

Ljubljana Castle – Friday, 21:00, Jazz at the Castle has The Dukes of Prunes playing the music of Frank Zappa.

Orto Bar – Wednesday night it’s Riffeater #7 w/ Jucifer, Asheraah, and TSO. Guitars and the heavy side of things return to the stage on Thursday, with Kadilnica of Death presenting Grob, Britof, and Smrt. And that’s that not all. Friday is Prešeren Day, in honour of Slovenia’s national poet, and Orto Bar is marking the 170^th anniversary of the man’s death with two stages and a line-up of Eruption , Penitenziagite , Seul Océan , Vigilance , China_traffic , and Malorshiga. Saturday things then calm down a little, with Arstiđir (Iceland/Season of Mist). The video they’re promoting the show with is quite surprising – it’s the fourth one below. The same night you can enjoy Pence, a Queen tribute band. You can see them below, too.

Slovenska filharmonija – Friday, Prešeren Day, there are two family concerts taking place here, at 10:00 and 13:00.

Opera, theatre and dance

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.

Grand Hotel Union – The fancy hotel on Miklošičeva will have an evening of romantic arias on Monday, starting at 19:00, as performed by José Cura, Elvira Hasanagić and Monika Bohinec, with support from the SNG Maribor Symphony Orchestra. Then on the 6^th, a Wednesday, the same venue is hosting The Queen’s Six vocal group.

Mini Teater Ljubljana – The English schedule of varied performances for the month is here.

Orto Bar – Tuesday night there’s stand-up with Antivalentinova StandUp predigra - BREZ censure. You have been warned

SNG Opera and Ballet – Stravinsky’s ballet Orphic Hymn is on here Wednesday and Thursday, 19:30, while opera fans should consider attending Smetana’s Bartered Bride, to be performed at 11:00 Monday and 18:00 Saturday.

Harm reduction and drug testing

Drogart is an organization that aims to minimise harm on the party scene, and offers drug-testing services and reports on their webpage. It’s in Slovene, but you can Google translate it or work things out yourself, and our story on the group is here. They recently published a story warning about three pills with very high contents of MDMA, with details (in Slovene) here. Also be aware that all the usual drugs are illegal in Slovenia, although CBD is allowed (here's a look at a store on Trubarjeva cesta).

Photo: JL Flanner

Things to do with children

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, pizza and ice cream. With regard to the latter, take a look at our guide to six places that serve good ice cream in winter. 

Mini Teater Ljubljana – The season sees a lot of puppet performances for children, in Slovene, at this theatre not far from Križanke. The English schedule for the month is here.

Ljubljana Puppet Theatre - The puppet theatre near the Central Market and next to the Castle funicular has a full programme or shows, for children and adults, with the schedule here. A sample of some of the shows from several years ago is below.

LGBT+ Ljubljana

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, while our stories about the community can be found here.

Klub Monokel – This lesbian bar in Metelkova is open every Friday, and this week on Thursday there's also Druga redna skupščina, while on Saturday night it's open as a bar again.

Klub Tiffany – And the gay bar next door is also open on Fridays, while every Monday until June 2019 there's tango at 18:00. On Thursday, 20:00, there's Kavarniški večer: Rave.

Pritličje – This seems to be the only "always open" LGBT-friendly cafe / bar / events space in town, and perhaps the country, so it's a good thing it's such a good one, open from morning to night, and with fliers and posters letting you know what's happening outside the narrow confines of, say, a general interest online what's on... guide.

Screenshot from Google Maps, showing the location of the Castle vineyard

Ljubljana Castle

The city’s main attraction is said to be the top tourist draw in the country overall, and to my mind it earns a spot near the top just for the history and views. But beyond that the current owners, the City of Ljubljana, have laid out a varied, interesting and enjoyable programme of events, one that rewards regular revisits.

I try and get up there every Saturday morning to clear my head and move my feet on the trails, and never tire of that end of the hill. At the other end, where the Castle sits, there’s a lot more than fresh air on offer. There are guided tours, restaurants, a café, Castle museum, puppet museum, a Watchtower you can climb to the highest point in the city, art shows, dances, live music, movies under the stars, festival days and more – enough to reward multiple trips up the hill through the year. All of these activities and events can be found on the Castle website, while on TSN you can see “25 things to know about Ljubljana Castle” here, and “Ten Ways to Enjoy Ljubljana Castle” here.

Museums & Galleries

Most public galleries and museums are closed on Mondays, although not the National Museum, and - as noted at the start

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.

Cankerjev dom – On until February 28 is the exhibition Ivan Cankar and Europe, Between Shakespeare and Kafka, while until March 10 there’s a photographic show on the Ljubljanica, with images of the city’s river captured by Bojan Velikonja. Showing until the end of March is a selection of specimens from The Newspaper Museum.

City Museum – The Museum in French Revolution Square also 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 visit here. Until March 2019 there's a show highlighting the work Elza Kastl Obereigner (1884-1973), a pioneer Slovenian sculptress, with an example of her work shown below.

Photo: M Paternoster

The Faces of Ljubljana in the City Museum. Photo: JL Flanner

Galerija Jakopič – On until March 3 is Over My Eyes (Na moje oči), an exhibition of photographs from Iraq taken by Iraqi photographers.

International Centre of Graphic Arts – Running from Friday until March 3 2019 there will be a show of posters from Milton Glaser, while paintings, drawings, prints and from Nathalie Du Pasquier in a show called Fair Game.  The latter is being promoted with the following image.

MAO – The Museum of Architecture and Design has much of what you'd expect, and until March 25, 2019, has a show on Ljubljana and it's relation with water. Until February 24 visitors can enjoy Toasted Furniture, which presents some experiments with the reuse of plastic waste, and until February 28 there's a show on Oskar Kogoj and his chairs.

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. Running until March 31 is a major show on young Slovenian painters, Time Without Innocence – Recent Painting in Slovenia, where you’ll see works like the following. You can read about my visit here (I loved it).

Iva Tratnik, Mating Season Totalitarianism, 2014, oil on canvas, 210 x 194 cm

Tina Dobrajc, The Balkan Saga II, 2017, acrylic on canvas, 200 x 150 cm

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 sacred 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 Dynasty China, as reported here, and with an example below. This runs until February 15th.

Photo: Wang Wei Chang

Meanwhile, the museum's Metelkova branch, located between one branch of the Moderna galerija and the Ethnographic Museum has some rooms on Church art, furniture 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 items.

Natural History Museum – On until the end of June 2019 is Our Little Big Sea, which takes a look at the oceans.

Ravnikar Gallery Space – Tina Konec has a show here until February 8, v megli (In the Fog).

Slovene Ethnographic Museum – The museum currently has a temporary show on Bees and Beekeeping, on until June 16 2019, 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.

Union is "the Ljubljana beer", but now both it and Laško are owned by Heineken. There are many local brews on offer around town, though, if you want to explore IPAs, stouts, wheatbeers, sours and so on 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.

Photo: JL Flanner

Other things to do in Ljubljana

If you'd like to spend an evening painting with others, then take a look at Design with Wine, which organises painting parties on Trubarjeva cesta,

If you want to see some antiques, then check out the wonderful Antika Carniola, as discussed here. The man behind it, Jaka Prijatelj, has a fine eye for life on this street, as you can see on his Facebook account.

Photo: JL Flanner

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

maxpixel.net, public domain

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.

There are some golf courses near Ljubljana, but even ones further away are not far, as seen in our list of all the golf courses in Slovenia. Note that these close when the snow starts, if it ever does this year, in which case you might be interested in what's new at Slovenia's ski resorts for 2019, as reported here.

Photo: maxpixel.net, public domain

Daytrips

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 from that bench in Bled, then you can learn how to get there here. If you’re looking for something more ambitious, then check out our recent guide to the 17 members of the Association of Historical Towns of Slovenia

Photo: Google Image Search

Getting around

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. Manual wheelchair users can also borrow, for free, an attachment that will motorise their equipment, as reported here.

Screenshot from a Twitter video

If you’re driving into town and don’t know where to part, our guide to how to park in Ljubljana is here.

There aren't many places to eat after midnight, and most of them are by the train station, as reported 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.

STA, 1 February 2018 - Fresh off his first World Cup podium finish, 18-year-old ski jumper Timi Zajc posted his first victory as he surged to the top spot in a ski-flying event in Oberstdorf on Friday with a new personal record.

With jumps of 220 and 233.5 metres, Zajc beat the Pole Dawid Kubacki and the German Markus Eisenbichler for his second podium finish in a week.

The young competitor made his World Cup debut last season and has been the only outstanding performer in the otherwise lacklustre Slovenian team this year.

The remaining Slovenian competitors placed between 19th and 24th places today.

Zajc is currently 8th in the overall World Cup rankings with 554 points.

Speaking to FIS, Zajc said after the win “This was a crazy day today with my Ski Flying debut, my personal best distance, and the win. What a great experience. The second place in Sapporo last weekend gave me additional motivation. In my opinion, the conditions today were difficult for everybody."

The Moderna Galerijia’s main branch, the one by Tivoli and not Metelkova, has a major new show that opened 31 January and runs until 31 March. Called Time Without Innocence. Recent Painting in Slovenia (Čas brez nedolžnosti. Novejše slikarstvo v Sloveniji), the exhibition brings together 23 artists who were born in the 1970s and 80s, and thus came of age after the Neue Slowenische Kunst (NSK) generation.

Arjan Pregl, from the Carnival series, oil on canvas (6 paintings 120 x 100 cm; 3 paintings 80 x 60 cm), 2018. www.mg-lj.si

Katja Felle, No. 10, 2015, acrylic on canvas, 170 cm x 220 cm. www.mg-lj.si

Photo: JL Flanner

We visited on opening night expecting a good party, and were delighted to find that in addition to the beautiful people smoking outside and free wine in the basement the paintings themselves were really good, so much so that we took them in twice before heading down for something to drink.

Iva Tratnik, Mating Season Totalitarianism, 2014, oil on canvas, 210 x 194 cm. www.mg-lj.si

Staš Kleindienst, The triumph of darkness, 2017, oil on canvas, 120 x 130 cm. www.mg-lj.si

Photo: JL Flanner

The Moderna’s website has more high quality pictures of the works on display, but I’m also adding some from the opening so you get an idea of the scale of things. It was this size that impressed, as well as the real craft on display, but what got me raving about it the rest of the evening were the colours, the humour and beauty, how much pleasure was to be had there. These were nice pictures that I enjoyed looking at, and which I’ll come back and look at again.

Miha Štrukelj, Shopping District, 2016, acrylic, ink, charcoal, pencil, crêpe paper on canvas, 300 x 225 cm. www.mg-lj.si

Mitja Ficko, Midnight school, 2012-2016, oil on canvas, 200 x 160 cm. www.mg-lj.si

Photo: JL Flanner

Curated by Martina Vovk, the show is a mix of varied delights with multiple works from Viktor Bernik, Suzana Brborović, Gašper Capuder, Ksenija Čerče, Nina Čelhar, Tina Dobrajc, Katja Felle, Mitja Ficko, Mito Gegič, Žiga Kariž, Staš Kleindienst, Vladimir Leben z Ercigoj Art, Uroš Potočnik, Adrijan Praznik, Arjan Pregl, Ana Sluga, Miha Štrukelj, Maruša Šuštar, Iva Tratnik, Sašo Vrabič, Joni Zakonjšek, Marko Zorović and Uroš Weinberger.

You can find the Moderna Galerija at Cankarjeva 15, 1000 Ljubljana, and it’s open from 10:00 to 18: 00, Tuesday to Sunday, and closed Mondays. If you’re in the neighbourhood then be aware that the National Gallery (Narodna galerijaI) and National Museum (Narodna Muzej) are nearby, while if you venture into Tivoli Park you can find the International Centre of Graphic Arts (Mednarodni grafični likovni center).

STA, 1 February 2019 - One of Slovenia's foremost media experts has called for far-reaching reform of media legislation and state subsidies for media outlets struggling in the current business climate, arguing that Slovenian journalism needs strong support from the state.

"The media pluralisation fund, which has EUR 2m available and spends EUR 1.3m on radio stations of special importance, is not enough. It was not enough years ago and is even less so now: journalism globally faces existential problems and is struggling to survive," Faculty of Social Sciences professor Marko Milosavljević told the latest edition of Mladina.

He said a range of measures should be employed, from tax subsidies for media outlets to incentives for hiring young reporters, preserving the networks of foreign and local correspondents.

The government should increase funding for the media to at least EUR 20m per year, he said, arguing that this was still low compared to what some other countries are spending to prop up their media.

Professor Marko Milosavljević. Photo: www.fdv.uni-lj.si

"And don't forget, just one of the major Slovenian owners, who also owns many media outlets, received EUR 7m in subsidies for his non-media companies last year.

"If we can spend that amount of money on certain sectors of the economy, we can easily earmark EUR 20m for the entire Slovenian media industry," Milosavljević said.

As for the legislative side of things, Milosavljević is in favour of an in-depth reform of all media-related laws, including the act on AV services and legislation governing the public broadcaster and the STA.

The view puts him at odds with the government's stated plan to implement minor tweaks of the media law, but Milosavljević says the government has enough time for true reform given that it has just started its term.

"What's required is a strategic meeting by the prime minister and key departments that affect media in any way, at which those responsible would clearly determine that they must cooperate and come up with comprehensive solutions."

Only this way can pressing issues such as the prevalence of hate speech and intolerance, poor media literacy and digitisation be addressed. "It is essential that they start looking for and proposing solutions, technologies and markets are changing radically," he said.

STA, 1 February 2019 - Gorenje, the Velenje-based household appliances group which was taken over by China's Hisense last year, is cutting 325 temporary-basis jobs, according to information from the in-house trade union.

Gorenje confirmed that fixed-term contracts of 190 workers had elapsed, but the head of the in-house trade union Žan Zeba insisted that 325 jobs were being slashed, including agency workers.

Speaking with the STA, the head of the in-house trade union Žan Zeba said the news came as a negative surprise after the company's plans about expansion of production and extra hiring.

Zeba said the Gorenje management had promised the workers who are now being laid off full time jobs. He also said that it would be hard to meet the output goals given the current labour dynamics.

"After the very good test results of our new generation appliances we definitely expect production to increase and the capacities to be filled; we will welcome all new investments once they happen."

Zeba also hopes that the employees' wishes be taken into consideration in the company's reorganisation.

He said the management was planning to launch a new dishwasher production line in mid-year, but the trade union did not have any information about it.

Production of build-in freezers and fridges is to be moved to the subsidiary in Valjevo in Serbia in the coming months.

Denis Oštir, director of corporate communication at Gorenje, told the STA that the mentioned workers were on temporary job contracts. "These contracts have now run out."

"Gorenje denies in the strongest terms the information that we will lay off 325 workers. We will not give notice to a single worker employed on fixed or non-fixed terms," Oštir said.

After receiving official information from the staffing department, Oštir also denied that employment contracts of 325 workers had run out, saying the correct figure was 190 workers.

He added though that it "is true that the fixed-term contracts of a number of workers have elapsed at this time. This is a matter of seasonal change, which is common in a company's operations".

Oštir said the company was adapting to the clients' demands and seasonal trends in demand. At the end of 2018, demand for labour force in production was bigger because the company created stocks because of the move to Valjevo.

Asked about the plans for a new TV plant announced by the Chinese owners, Oštir said the project was in the phase of acquiring the necessary documents.

The plant is to be built by the existing warehouse in Velenje and is to create 300 to 400 jobs.

Gorenje is currently being transformed from a joint stock company into a limited responsibility company. The company delisted from the Ljubljana Stock Exchange last year.

STA, 1 February 2019 - 

The Alpine Ski World Cup overall leader Mikaela Shiffrin of the US and Petra Vlhova of Slovakia split the win at the giant slalom part of the Golden Fox event in Maribor on Friday as they finished the two runs with the same total time.

The 23-year-old American was almost half a second ahead of the Slovakian after the first run, but made some mistakes in the second to squander the advantage, with both finishing in 2:31.31.

Third place went to Ragnhild Mowinckel of Norway, who finished 0.93 seconds behind the winners.

It was a win number five for Shiffrin at the Golden Fox and the third giant slalom win this season and second in a row.

With another victory, Shiffrin has increased her win total to twelve to remain in play for beating the absolute record in wins in a single season.

She is on pace to beat Vreni Schneider of Switzerland, who won a record 14 events in the 1988-89 season.

Shiffrin defended her win in last year's giant slalom event of the Golden Fox, which was hosted by the Kranjska Gora ski resort, and has the chance of repeating her double win from 2018 as she will also appear in Saturday's slalom.

"It was a fight in the second (run) and I almost lost it at the bottom, so it's always nice when you have this luck," Shiffrin was quoted by the French agency AFP.

Vlhova added that "we are always very close and today we can share first place, so it's good for everyone and I'm just happy."

The only Slovenians to make it to the second run were Meta Hrovat, who finished eighth (+2.39) for her best career result in Maribor, and the best Slovenian skier, the downhill specialist Ilka Štuhec, who was 20th (+3.75).

Hrovat, who earned her third top-10 career finish, while Štuhec was also relatively good given that it was her first giant slalom appearance in more than 22 months.

* Results of the World Cup giant slalom event in Maribor:
 1 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)        2:31.31        1:14.28 1:17.03
   Petra Vlhova (SVK)            2:31.31        1:14.76 1:16.55
 3 Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR)      2:32.24 +00.93 1:15.48 1:16.76
 4 Wendy Holdener (SUI)          2:32.60 +01.29 1:15.89 1:16.71
 5 Sara Hector (SWE)             2:32.81 +01.50 1:15.37 1:17.44
 6 Frida Hansdotter (SWE)        2:32.97 +01.66 1:15.74 1:17.23
 7 Marta Bassino (ITA)           2:33.02 +01.71 1:15.38 1:17.64
 8 Meta Hrovat (SLO)             2:33.70 +02.39 1:15.87 1:17.83
 9 Tessa Worley (FRA)            2:33.71 +02.40 1:14.86 1:18.85
10 Kristin Lysdahl (NOR)         2:33.93 +02.62 1:16.70 1:17.23
...
20 Ilka Štuhec (SLO)             2:35.06 +03.75 1:17.90 1:17.16

- Overall standings (after 25 of 37 events):
  1 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)      1594
  2 Petra Vlhova (SVK)           998
  3 Wendy Holdener (SWI)         687
  4 Nicole Schmidhofer (AUT)     617
  5 Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR)     589
  6 Viktoria Rebensburg (GER)    509
  7 Ilka Štuhec (SLO)            507
  8 Federica Brignone (ITA)      500
  9 Frida Hansdotter (SWE)       447
 10 Michelle Gisin (SWI)         442

- Giant slalom standings (after 6 events):
 1 Mikaela Shiffrin (USA)        455
 2 Tessa Worley (FRA)            374
 3 Petra Vlhova (SVK)            318
 4 Federica Brignone (ITA)       310
 5 Ragnhild Mowinckel (NOR)      259
 6 Viktoria Rebensburg (GER)     255
 7 Stephanie Brunner (AUT)       195
 8 Wendy Holdener (SUI)          194
 9 Marta Bassino (ITA)           164
10 Frida Hansdotter (SWE)        149

The website Ex-Yu Aviation reports that Adria Airways is planning a reduced schedule for summer 2019, with at least nine fewer routes than 2018. In addition to the recently suspended Moscow and Dusseldorf services, the carrier currently has no plans to reintroduce connections to Warsaw, Kiev, Brač, Bucharest, Dubrovnik, Geneva or Hamburg, cutting at least 32 flights per week. Adria also announced that this summer will see just one weekly flight to Paris and Copenhagen, while as yet there’s no news as to whether the two weekly flights to Tel Aviv that were on the books for 2018 will return

However, in a move that some see as making Ljubljana a feeder airport for German hubs the carrier is set to increase the number of summer flights to Munich and Frankfurt. There will also be more seasonal flights to Pristina and Zurich.

The news comes a week after the Civil Aviation Agency stated that Adria Airways current plans mean that it will be able to meet it’s financial liabilities and remain solvent, and thus keep its operating licence.

All our stories about air travel and Slovenia can be found here

STA, 31 January 2019 - About 40% of employers in Slovenia have a problem finding qualified work force, according to a survey conducted by temping group ManpowerGroup. The figure is, however, 5% lower than the average of the survey conducted in 43 countries.

Compared to a similar survey conducted in 2017, the share of companies that have a tough job finding skilled work force has increased by 40%.

The needs of employers are changing and they are often looking for work force with very specific know-how, skills and experience, Nebojša Biškup, the head of ManpowerGroup Slovenia and Croatia said on Thursday.

Related: Foreigners now hold 10% of jobs in Slovenia

 Modern jobs do not always demand a university degree, but they do depend on continuous development of skills because even the most traditional work places will require modern technology skills, Biškup added.

The survey included more than 39,000 employers from six industries, finding that more than half of them have started investing in educational platforms and the development of tools to train the right work force. A survey in 2014 showed that only 20% of employers made such investments.

All our stories about employment in Slovenia are here

STA, 31 January 2019 - Representatives of prison guards and of the Trade Union of State Bodies called on Thursday for the resignation of Prison Administration director Jože Podržaj. The call comes amid a continuing crisis that is now seeing an all-out clash between Podržaj and chief unionist Frančišek Verk.

Addressing the press in the wake of a much publicised escape from Koper prison, the Prison Administration trade union and the Union of State Bodies also demanded a meeting with PM Marjan Šarec and Justice Minister Andrej Katič, threatening to step up strike activities if ignored.

Verk, the head of the Union of State Bodies, said Podržaj had ordered prison directors to have their employees report to management about any contacts with the union leader.

Verk, whom Podržaj in turn accused before today's press conference of undermining social dialogue, said such orders prevented normal union work, were illegal and verged on a criminal act.

While acknowledging mounting problems in the prison system, Podržaj told the STA that Verk was actively avoiding any direct communication with the Prison Administration and thus undermining the search for solutions.

Podržaj thus asked the leadership of the Union of State Bodies to discuss the actions of their president.

While disagreements also exist with the Prison Administration trade union, there is at least continuing dialogue aimed at finding solutions, the official said.

Podržaj said problems in the prison system had been accumulating for 15 years and were being highlighted persistently by those in charge.

While the Koper prison escape was an unfortunate affair, it will perhaps speed up an active search for solutions, he suggested.

Staff shortages, low pay and heavy workloads causing problems

Podržaj said that the work of a judicial police officer used to be respected in the past, but that this had changed. Prisons are understaffed, wages are too low and the workload is no longer manageable.

"This leads to burnout and also affects the welfare of prisoners. Be it a prison or a bank, the attitude to clients will suffer if the employee is unhappy. And when problems drag on, we get to the present result," Podržaj said.

The administration understands this and is engaged in dialogue, but the problem is that "such situations are also being abused for some other needs that have nothing to do with the care for the well-being of the workers".

The staff shortages were highlighted today as the main issue by union leaders from several prisons in the country and the issue is also expected to dominate the requested meeting with Šarec and Katič.

Kamil Fras from the prison in Maribor said the union would demand a collective bargaining agreement for prison workers, a staffing plan compliant with official standards, and the tackling of systemic anomalies.

He said that according to existing standards, Slovenian prions needed an additional 138 guards and 29 expert staff.

While on a go-slow strike, prison guards pulled out of the December government pay deal with the public sector, giving the government three months to meet their demands. They have now threatened to step up the strike on 8 February.

Katič expressed surprise today by the all-out clash between Podržaj and Verk, saying that the problems of Slovenian prisons should be tackled as a joint effort. The government is ready for talks, she said.

Katič said she had thought the pair had already solved their dispute, as all stakeholders met in mid-January to agree how the social dialogue would be conducted. She said she had presented government plans about additional hiring of prison guards at the meeting.

The minister is willing to meet trade unionists before 5 February, when they have a joint meeting scheduled. She is also hopeful of the debate which will be held at the parliamentary Justice Committee next week.

The prison system was affected by austerity measures during the crisis, but investments picked up recently, she said, announcing more funds for boosting security.

She said that police were still investigating the Koper prison escape and the attack on the Dob prison guard. If any irregularities are found, the government will act.