Murska Sobota Gallery
History of the Institution, its Mission and Location
With exact such name is Murska Sobota Gallery designated since 1992, but arts activities began in Murska Sobota already in 1965, with the opening of the exhibition pavilion of architect Franc Novak, forerunner of today's Murska Sobota gallery, what has to be understood as the year of the Gallery establishing. Early exhibitions of regional art activities were dominated by the work of artists from the immediate area, but the programme was later expanded to include exhibitions of work from the rest of Slovenia and from abroad.
- Exhibition pavilion was so the venue for the realisation of Pannonian International Art Exhibition that was for the first time organised in 1967 and entitled The Pannonian Landscape and People. It presented works by artists from Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia. Until 1971 Murska Sobota was the principal organiser of this exhibition, but it later continued in Hungary (at the Savaria Museum, Szombathely in 1973) and Austria (at the Landesgalerie Schloss Esterhazy, Eisenstadt in 1975). The exhibition is now a triennial event in which Austria, Croatia, Hungary and Slovenia participate.
- In 1973 the pavilion also launched the first Yugoslav Biennial of Small Sculptures, which in 1999 developed into the European Triennial of Small Sculpture, Murska Sobota.
Between 1965 and 1992 were visual arts activites in Murska Sobota managed under different regional structures: before 1971 the exhibition pavilion operated within the Murska Sobota Regional Museum, and was then taken over by the Workers' University of Murska Sobota until 1978, when it was merged with Murska Sobota Regional and Study Library, Murska Sobota Regional Museum and the Park Cinema to form the Miško Kranjec Cultural Centre (as the centre, one of the first in Slovenia, was called until 1983).
In 1980 the exhibition pavilion moved into a purpose-built gallery space in Kocljeva ulica, and in 1992 Murska Sobota Urban Municipality made it an independent public cultural institution under the name Murska Sobota Gallery.
Exhibitions
Permanent Collection
Today the permanent collection of Murska Sobota Gallery comprises more than 550 art works by Slovene artists (mainly from the local artists) plus donations and purchases from past Biennials of Small Sculptures. Since the gallery's premises are intended for temporary exhibitions and there is not enough space for the permanent collection to be presented, the gallery exhibit selected works periodically, but almoste as a rule there is one exhibition term per year dedicated to collection art works, presented by different curated combinations.
In 2005, the gallery presented paintings, in 2006 sculptures, in 2008 they exhibited works on paper (drawings, graphics and artistic photography), including the newest acquisitions of the year by following artists: Mirko Rajnar, Bogić Risimović Risim, Anton Cetin, Franc Mesarič, Sandi Červek, Tatiana Antošina (Russia), Peter Niemann (Germany), Julie Six (France), Christian Tinkhauser-Thurner (Österreich), Gerlod Tusch (Österreich), Martina Bohar, Dare Birsa, Ferenc Kiraly, Dubravko Baumgartner, Žarko Vrezec.
In 2009 the collection was enriched again by acquisitions of mostly regional and national artists like Natalija Šeruga, Martina Bohar, Žarko Vrezec, Zdenko Huzjan, Drago Tršar, Robert Černelč and Vesna Drnovšek. The only foreign artist was Russian Tatiana Antošina.
The selection of other artists of the collection: Apollonio Zvest, Nikolaj Beer, Mirsad Begić, Franc Bencak, Darko Birsa, Mirko Bratuša, Irena Brunec, Man Calin, Sandi Červek, Štefan Galič, Maria Geszler, Endre Gönter, Marjan Gumilar, Štefan Hauko, Norwey Hebler - Herbert, Jože Horvat - Jaki, Lzsl Horvth, Zdenko Huzjan, Andrej Jemec, Ferenc Kiraly, Suzanne Kiraly Moss, Jože Kološa - Kološ, Silvester Komel, Janez Lenassi, Lojze Logar, Albin Lugarič, Ignac Meden, Roman Makše, Franc Mesarič, Branko Miljuš, Mirko Rajnar, Mojca Smerdu, Jože Šubic, Slavko Tihec, Dušan Tršar, Vinko Tušek, Nande Vidmar, Borut Vild, Boris Zaplatil and others.