International Centre of Graphic Arts and Breakfast with Art

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The playfully colourful foliage of trees in September possesses an irresistible charm for anyone walking through Ljubljana’s largest and most beautiful park Tivoli. And when you walk up the picturesque Jakopič Promenade, designed by the architect Jože Plečnik, the path leads us up to Tivoli Castle which is home to the International Centre of Graphic Arts.

The International Centre of Graphic Arts is both a museum containing a collection of prints from the 20th century onwards, a gallery that hosts exhibitions of contemporary graphic art by Slovenian and foreign artists, a publisher of prints produced in graphic workshops and the producer of the International Biennial of Graphic Arts that takes place in Ljubljana every other year and is considered to be the oldest running event devoted to graphic arts in the world.

The Biennial was first held in 1955, in the middle of the Cold War, and has in the more than sixty years of its existence constantly responded to the continuously changing socio-political context while at the same time transforming its own identity and strategies. Its existence has placed Ljubljana and Slovenian fine art on the world map. The Biennial has been internationally acknowledged as a high-quality event and has helped Slovenian art also gain recognition abroad.

Photo: Suzan Gabrijan

This year’s 34th Biennial of Graphic Arts in Ljubljana is taking place between 10 September and 21 November. Meanwhile, the people behind the Biennial have taken a look forward this time: They have brought Iskra Delta, a technological conglomerate, back from the future so it can present its secret production. Against the backdrop of social and environmental unrest, deep in the pandemic which has riveted our bodies to the spot and our eyes to the screens, the story of Iskra Delta and the spirits of a “lost future”, which they chase away, ignites a spark for deliberation and the construction of possible alternative presents.

Tip

Before visiting and experiencing the Biennial let’s enjoy an Artistic Breakfast in the Graphic Arts Centre’s cafe which is served on the terrace with a picturesque view of the promenade. Concrete and engaged art calls for a good and hearty first meal of the day. And the Centre’s experience combines the culinary basis for the day with a cultural experience of the Biennial that has no equal.

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