Maribor, European Capital of Culture 2012

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Maribor, Evropska prestolnica kulture 2012 (EPK Maribor 2012)
Vetrinjska 30, SI-2000 Maribor
Suzana Žilič Fišer, General Director
Past Events
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French Cultural Institute Charles Nodier 01.jpgThe Way of the Rider, a grand equestrian theatre spectacle by Bartabas, founder of Académie du Spectacle Équestre de Versailles at the Hippodrome Kamnica, Maribor, European Capital of Culture 2012

The city of Maribor won the prestigious European Capital of Culture title in 2008 with an ambitious regional proposal that mobilised 5 partner cities in Slovenia (Murska Sobota, Ptuj, Slovenj Gradec, Novo mesto and Velenje). Some of the programme was co-organised with the Portuguese town of Guimarães, another European Capital of Culture in 2012.



Programme

The programme of the Cultural Capital of Europe 2012 was opened with Marij Kogoj's opera Black Masks (written in 1924–1927), directed by Janez Burger and performed by the joint ensembles of the Maribor and Ljubljana National Theatres.

The Cultural Capital's programme highlights also the performances by the so-called Maribor Directing School (Tomaž Pandur, Jernej Lorenci, Matjaž Latin, and Sebastijan Horvat). It has also included inventive urban projects such as "social ecology" or "militant research" in the suburbs and a new installation of the Maribor Regional Museum's permanent collection.

The programme has been divided into four strands: Terminal 12 (led by Aleš Šteger), Town Keys (led by Boris Cizej), Urban Furrows (led by Marta Gregorič), and LifeTouch (led by Aleš Čar), the latter featuring also Perspectives & Reflections blogs by international authors.

Featured international artists

Within the Terminal 12 programme strand each month in 2012 Maribor hosts one of the prominent international guests, among them Charles Simic, Boris Groys, Jan Fabre, Jean-Claude Carrière, Rebecca Horn, Vikas Swarup, Tzvetan Todorov, Gari Kasparov and Hans Magnus Enzensberger. Ulay (Uwe Laysiepen) has conceived the new site-specific work during his residence in Maribor.

The MariborGuestRoom residency hosted several international artists.

Planned infrastructural investments

The seat of the Maribor 2012 Public Institute was situated in the recently renovated Vetrinje Mansion (Naskov dvorec) in the very heart of the city. The architects Maruša Zorec and Matjaž Bolčina won the 2010 Piranesi Award for its renovation.

At first the City of Maribor gave the leading position to the new Maribor Cultural Centre (MAKS), which is to be erected on the grounds of the former knitting factory in the Studenci area. The plans for this edifice with its 2-multi-purpose halls for 650 visitors each were made by SADAR + VUGA Architects. According to the current plans the cultural centre should comprise also the new premises fo the Maribor Art Gallery. The realisation of the project was dropped due to financial issues.

Partner cities

Each of the partner cities had some highlights in their programmes. In February 2012 the city of Ptuj organised a world mardi-gras EtnoFest and the Ptuj Regional Museum prepared the 4th World Congress of Archaeologists. Ptuj hosted also the traditional Days of Poetry and Wine Festival.

Slovenj Gradec renovated the Birthplace of Hugo Wolf, Slovenj Gradec into an international museum and documentation centre of the Austrian composer. A performance based on Wolf's lieder was accompanied by the first international workshop on classical solo singing.

Murska Sobota featured dance through the enhanced international Front@ Contemporary Dance Festival, the mining town of Velenje, however, produced an underground spectacle featuring Laibach music group.

Cultural Embassies

The international programming in 2012 has been supported also by the embassies and cultural centres located in Slovenia: Cultural Embassies programme strand comprises more than hundred events that feature arts and heritage of 24 countries.

Some of the programme was co-organised with the Portuguese town of Guimarães, another European Capital of Culture in 2012. A documentary about the Guimares was shot by the LifeTouch video team (Smehomat Association).

See also

External links

ECoC Maribor online content

ECoc ex-post evaluation

Critical reviews

ECoC references

ECoC MB 2012 in media

Gallery

Maribor, Evropska prestolnica kulture 2012 (EPK Maribor 2012) +
Suzana Žilič Fišer +
Maribor, Evropska prestolnica kulture 2012 (EPK Maribor 2012) +
SI-2000 Maribor +
General Director +
Vetrinjska 30 +
The city of Maribor won the prestigious European Capital of CultureThe city of Maribor won the prestigious European Capital of Culture title in 2008 with an ambitious regional proposal that mobilised 5 partner cities in Slovenia (Murska Sobota, Ptuj, Slovenj Gradec, Novo mesto and Velenje).Velenje). +
The city of Maribor won the prestigious European Capital of Culture title in 2008 with an ambitious regional proposal that mobilised 5 partner cities in Slovenia (Murska Sobota, Ptuj, Slovenj Gradec, Novo mesto and Velenje). +
Maribor +
SI-2000 +
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