International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana

The International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC) is located in Tivoli Mansion, Ljubljana.

Established in 1986, the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC) is housed in the Tivoli Mansion. It runs the Ljubljana International Biennial of Graphic Art, maintains an international collection of graphic arts and artists' books, and organises personal and thematic contemporary arts exhibitions, often reflecting political or social atmospheres of the chosen periods.

Background

The idea of establishing MGLC dates back to the mid-1970s as a direct consequence of the development of the International Graphic Art Biennial and the enormous growth of contemporary graphic art production in Slovenia during that period, especially represented by the "Ljubljana Graphic Art School".

This idea was advanced by the secretary of the Ljubljana International Biennial of Graphic Art Zoran Kržišnik, the then-director of the Museum of Modern Art. In 1981 the MGLC Foundation commenced its first activities and began to adapt the Tivoli Mansion. In 1987 the MGLC moved from the Museum of Modern Art to the renovated mansion positioned majestically at the end of the Plečnik "promenade" in Ljubljana's Tivoli Park.

Mission

Besides the organisation of the Ljubljana International Biennial of Graphic Art and the organisation of other contemporary art exhibitions MGLC also maintains a collection of Slovene and international prints, artists' books, art projects in magazines and on billboards, and other printed art materials. It also edits limited print editions in the techniques of lithography, silkscreen, and intaglio and offers workshops about printing techniques.

Collection of art prints and artists' books

The MGLC collection contains more than 4,500 items created since 1945. Since 2000, the collection has grown by approximately 4,000 items of artist-created printed matter by international and Slovene artists. These works include artist’s books, posters, newspapers, magazines, postcards, printed invitations, greeting cards, fanzines, and artists’ archives.

The collection is also composed of art prints of some representatives of the École de Paris such as Zadkine and Picasso, works of international established artists as Robert Rauschenberg, Victor Vasarely, Emilio Vedova, Maria Bonomi and also representatives of the "Ljubljana Graphics School". The collection also includes artists' books of international and Slovene artists such as OHO Group, West East Publications edited by Franci Zagoričnik, Damien Hirst and further great names of art history such as Boltansky, Lewitt, Opalka, Buren, Roth, Reiner, and Yves Klein.

Each year MGLC acquires some works. Beside the works of 4 Slovene artists (Vesna Črnivec, Janez Knez, Tanja Lažetić, and Petra Varl) in 2008 the MGLC also acquired 4 works of foreign artists including White Cube Book of James Lee Byars from 1986 and 54 publications of Bernard Villers entitled Publishing House Remorqueur and Nouveau Remorqueur Archives.

In 2010 the Slovene painter and printmaker Tinca Stegovec donated to the Centre her entire print oeuvre, including her matrices and four drawings, as well as a large portion of her library.

Programme

In addition to the organisation of the Ljubljana International Biennial of Graphic Art the MGLC organises regular contemporary arts exhibitions, including surveys of national artistic creativity and exhibitions by individual artists, often in collaboration with international institutions such as the British Council Slovenia, French Cultural Institute Charles Nodier, Ljubljana or private collection such as Rene Block Edition from Berlin. In non-biennial years MGLC prepares 4 to 8 exhibitions.

In 2010 the We Want to be Free as the Fathers Were exhibition featured 18 Slovene painters of the younger generation. The parallel exhibitions juxtaposed Sol LeWitt's The Book: A Machine That Makes Art with Ivo Mršnik's Reflections of Consciousness series of prints and drawings. The Quartet–Four Biennials Reflected in Prints exhibition presented print portfolios from four biennials (Hamburg 1985, Sydney 1990, Istanbul 1995, and Cetinje 2005).

In 2009 MGLC featured May ’68 in Paris and the Student Movement in Ljubljana, 1968–1972. Posters, Film, and Photographs – an exhibition presenting around 80 posters, loaned from the Centre de la Gravure et de l’Image imprimée in La Louvière (Belgium). Created for the events in Paris, these images have become synonymous with urban struggle. The protests which changed the traditional values of society soon spread across the world, encompassed Yugoslavia as well, including Ljubljana. The student movement in Ljubljana, from 1968 to 1972 was presented through a documentary film by Majda Širca, the student newspapers Tribuna and SP (standing for slovensko podzemlje – "the Slovene underground"), leaflets and announcements, and photographs of Tone Stojko, Edi Šelhaus, and Žare Veselič.

In 2009 for the very first time in Slovenia MGLC featured and exhibition inspired in and mirroring the phenomenon of computer games entitled Screenshots: I Was Disappointed by Lara Croft prepared by an external group of Slovene curators Milan Kleč, Lev Menaše, Helena Pivec, Barbara Novakovič, and Boštjan Borič.

In 2008 the MGLC also featured an exhibition conveying the tumultuous times of the 1980s in Slovenia entitled FV, Alternative Scene of the Eighties shedding light on the important social and artistic events of a period in which significant shifts were happening on the margins of the socialist society that also made possible the appearance of the first gay and lesbian clubs, independent publishing houses, multimedia groups, and other forms of counterculture creativity. On this occasion Neven Korda, a video artist and one of the protagonists, donated his entire archive to the MGLC collection.

MGLC also stages solo presentations of Slovene and foreign artists. Recently projects have been featured by Štefan Galič, Regina Pessoa, Gabrijel Stupica, Zora Stančič and Petra Varl, Herman Gvardjančič, Laibach (Gesamtkunst Laibach, Fundamentals 1980–1990, 2010), and others.

Education

Besides workshops for professional artists, the MGLC organises workshops of various graphic techniques (linocut, lithography or silkscreen) and other special events for children, including a graffiti art workshop.

Occasionally the MGLC organises also symposia, lectures and public discussions with invited artists, publishers, curators and experts from abroad and guided visits to accompany exhibitions.

External Links

International Centre of Graphic Arts website (in English and Slovenian)

Gallery

Špela Čadež's exhibition Mali Svetovi (Small Worlds), a glimpse into the making of animated films, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Animateka International Animated Film Festival, 2009.

Installation of Andy Warhol's Mao wallpaper (1972) and Silver Clouds, in Fundamina, Zoran Mušič, Andy Warhol, and Mimmo Paladino, 24th Biennial of Graphic Arts, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, 2001.

Landmark: Footprint, 2001–2002, by Allora and Calzadilla: an artistic collaboration between Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla (Puerto Rico). Part of the Trienal Poli/Gráfica de San Juan: América Latina y el Caribe, Puerto Rico, the Grand Prix winner of the 26th Biennial of Graphic Arts, 2005.

Marcello Maloberti's Die Schmetterlinge essen die Bananen, a performance in front of Moderna galerija (MG) at the 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts curated by Beti Žerovc under the title The Event, 2011.

Serkan Özkaya's Proletarier aller Länder installation at Moderna galerija (MG), 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts, 2011.

wall Nr_27.psd(THEM) (installation detail), by Son:DA for the 27th Biennial of Graphic Arts, installed in the staircase of MGLC, 2007–2013.

A view of an exhibition at the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, which organises the Biennial of Graphic Arts as well as other contemporary art exhibitions and maintains a collection of Slovenian and international prints, 2007.

Jean Tinguely: Meta (Signed Drawing) by K.G. Pontus Hulten and Jean Tinguely, Paris, 1973. An artist's book object bound as a suitcase with lock closure and handle, MGLC collection.

Museums on a Summer Night at the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), In 1987, MGLC moved to the renovated Tivoli Mansion positioned majestically at the end of the Plečnik "promenade" in Ljubljana's Tivoli Park.

The Ultimate Word (The Ninth Coromandia) project presented at the exhibition Alenka Pirman – Collected Works, International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, 2014.

The print studio at the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana.

The International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC) is located in Tivoli Mansion, Ljubljana.

Production 2010–2012, installation view. The MGLC Print Studios production presented at the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, 2013.

Andrej Jemec's Geometry And Handwriting, International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, 2014.

Mina Žabnikar's (alias Mina Fina) solo exhibition This Mess We're In at the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, 2014.

Janez Knez Retrospective Exhibition of Printmaking at the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, 2015.

The renovated exterior of Švicarija Art Centre, a new residency and exhibition venue for visual arts reopened in 2017.

Interior of the Švicarija Art Centre, located in Tivoli Park in Ljubljana, 2017.

The Švicarija Art Centre, a former hotel located in Tivoli Park in Ljubljana, reopened its doors in 2017 as a new residency and exhibition venue for visual arts.

International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana

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