Talum Art Collection
Background
Under the patronage of the factory's management, local painters gathered for the first time in 1991 for an artist colony at Štatenberg Castle, where they painted for a week in the romantic surrounding of the Baroque castle and its park. The artist colony persevered in the decaying building until 1999, when improvised studios in Ptuj castle were arranged. In 2002 the painters were replaced by photographers who gathered in Ptuj and among the factory objects in Kidričevo. In 2003 the organisers gave up the customary gathering of art colonies and passed over to a repurchase system.
Location and Public Presentation in 2002
More than 450 art works of the Talum Art Collection are exhibited in the main building of Talum Aluminium Company in Kidričevo, which in 2005 was renovated by the architect Janko J. Zadravec, who kept all modernistic elements of the edifice built in the mid-1940s by the architect Danilo Fürst. The main hall of the building is known as the gallery of the Talum Art Collection. Others art works purchased by Talum exceeded the basic intention of the collection – namely to enable the working environment in the Kidričevo administration building.
In 2002, by strict selection and with an accompanying catalogue including a list of all the works gathered to date, the Talum Art cCllection was presented to the public in the Jakopič Gallery in Ljubljana.
Mission and the Character of the Collection
The character of this collection, holding works of over 50 artists, is post-modernistic, wrote Marijeta Ciglenečki on web pages of the collection. Unique features of this collection are the artists connected with Ptuj and its surroundings: Dušan Fišer, Dušan Kirbiš, Tomaž Plavec, Viktor Rebernak and Stojan Kerbler, a great name in Slovene photography who was employed at the aluminium factory up to his retirement in 2000. While in its beginnings the Talum Art Collection was focused on painters, in 2002 photographers gathered in Ptuj and the pictures they took of the factory buildings at Kidričevo were added to the collection. Last acquisition was in 2008, when the factory started to pay greater attention to national artists. Since then the collection has focused on graphics and sculpture. Faced with the recent economic crisis they have temporarily stopped investing in the collection, although they hope to continue with activity soon.
Artists of the Collection
Beside the abovementioned local artists the collection includes artists like Polona Maher, Erik Lovko and sculptors like Mirko Bratuša, Jurij Kalan, Aleksij Kobal, and Silvester Plotajs Sicoe. In 2008 Talum has not added to its collection just sculptors, but graphics as well: Božidar Jakac and Riko Debenjak, further of Irwin, Metka Kraševec, Jožef Muhovič, Janez Bernik, Lojze Logar, Andrej Jemec, etc.