KUD France Prešeren Arts and Culture Association

KUD France Prešeren

Established in 1919, KUD France Prešeren Arts and Culture Association, usually called "KUD", is a not-for-profit cultural producer and a multi-disciplinary cultural venue in the Ljubljana neighbourhood Trnovo, presenting a variety of daily programmes, ranging from rock, rap, or world music concerts, theatre and puppetry performances, photography and comics exhibitions, to poetry readings and regular programmes for children. Housing a music/theatre hall, a gallery, and a café/bar, KUD has remained a colourful meeting point for the local community while it also attracts – especially during August with its open-air stage – crowds of international visitors.

Overview

The tradition of KUD goes back to 1919, when a local cultural and educational society was formed. After 1987, KUD and its activities extended beyond the old, local framework and began supporting quality alternative or not yet established culture, devoting special attention to underprivileged groups. KUD is nowadays a place where individuals and groups pursue their artistic, cultural, educational, societal, humanitarian, technical, and informational interests, while with its open social space policy, KUD promotes interaction between its visitors and the people who create and produce its various programmes, which is reflected in the planning and shaping of activities. Contributing to its recent history and image are some individuals and groups working permanently from KUD, such as Ana Monró Theatre, Roza's Theatre, Fru Fru Puppet Theatre, Narobov, Jani Kovačič with his Akkustik teArter, etc. as well as festivals, organised by KUD France Prešeren (see Projects). KUD also hosts Ljudmila - Ljubljana Digital Media Lab.

Programme

The programme of KUD France Prešeren Arts and Cultural Association includes a theatre and puppetry programme for children and adults, different performance art events, a music programme (offering concerts of different genres), exhibitions, lectures, literary readings, seminars, round table discussions, workshops, as well as a smaller publishing programme. The auditorium and the gallery offer a pleasant location and infrastructure for visits by domestic and foreign artists or groups.

Theatre

Besides acting as a base for numerous established theatre institutions (Roza's Theatre, Narobov, etc.), KUD also produces or co-produces small-scale productions of not-yet established authors. Recently, KUD produced Elfriede Jelinek's monodrama Jackie, directed by Snježana Martinović, Bernard-Marie Koltès' The Night Just Before the Forests [Noč čisto na robu gozdov], directed by Scott Fielding, post-produced Eča Dvornik's project Alps! Alps! [Alpe! Alpe!].

Music

KUD organises a monthly concert series (Reverse Engineering) of young, non-established DJs and VJs (also collectives), offering to the most innovative group the opportunity to release a CD and appear at the Trnfest Festival. Further, it regularly organises concerts of ethno and world music by home and international artists (Ferus Mustafov, Boban Marković Orchestra, Amala, Katalena, etc.), jazz, as well as hosts different music/theatre events (such as Jani Kovačič's Akkustik teAter). KUD acts as a base for musicians and groups, such as Dertum, Lolita, Jani Kovačič, and others, and has also released several CDs (by Lolita, Tone Škrjanec and Jani Mujič, etc.).

Literature

Evenings of poetry, known as Poetry Cabarets, take place throughout the year at KUD France Prešeren. Each event is centred on a particular theme and features one or more authors presenting their work alongside other art forms. The most acclaimed literary event is the festival Trnovo Tercets. KUD also runs a publishing programme: in the poetry series, 29 titles have been published thus far, including translations of Allan Ginsberg, Tom Waits, Charles Bukowski, etc., while other titles also follow the programmatic orientation of KUD to support alternative culture.

Exhibitions

See KUD France Prešeren Gallery.

Children's programme

KUD organises a weekly series of events for children, ranging from theatre, dance, and puppetry performances, music concerts, and various workshops which run under the title The Sabotages of the Dragon France. This programme hosts a number of national productions intended for children, such as productions by Konj Puppet Theatre, Zapik Theatre, and Jože Pengov Puppet Theatre. KUD France Prešeren is also the base of the Fru Fru Puppet Theatre.

Festivals

The annual international Trnfest Festival is the most popular event organised by KUD France Prešeren. Taking place in August, Trnfest offers a colourful and unconventional programme of musical, theatre, dance, literature, film, and visual arts events, as well as organises different creative workshops.

KUD's off-site project includes the Emona Promenade International Street Festival, which also takes place in August, thus complementing the Trnfest Festival, offering street art performances for children and adults and a number of creative workshops.

Since 2002, together with the Improvisation Society of Slovenia, KUD organises the Naked Stage International Improvisational Theatre Festival.

KUD's most acclaimed literary event is the annual literary festival Trnovo Tercets, presenting home and international poets. Each year, KUD organises the Day of Poetry, an open marathon of poetry readings, where usually over 80 poets present their work to a wider audience. The event is held on World Poetry Day.

Venues

KUD's premises incorporate an auditorium where theatre performances, concerts and children's shows are presented, and the KUD France Prešeren Gallery.