International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana

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Mednarodni grafični likovni center
Pod turnom 3, SI-1000 Ljubljana
Phone386 (0) 1 241 3800
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MGLC 2009 Tivoli Mansion Photo Borut Peterlin.jpgThe 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 Biennial of Graphic Arts, 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.

Founded in 1955, the Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts is the world's oldest existing biennial exhibition of contemporary graphic arts. MGLC is among the founding member of the International Biennial Association (IBA), established in 2014.


MGLC 2015 Janez Knez Retrospective Exhibition Of Printmaking Photo Jaka Babnik.jpgJanez Knez Retrospective Exhibition of Printmaking at the International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC), Ljubljana, 2015.

Background

The idea of establishing MGLC dates back to the mid-1970s as a direct consequence of the development of the Ljubljana International Biennial of Graphic Art 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 Biennial of Graphic Arts 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.

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

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 (in 2011 shown in the Lek Gallery), 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.

International Centre of Graphic Arts 2010 Jean Tinguely Meta.jpgJean 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.

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 MGLC her entire print oeuvre, including her matrices and four drawings, as well as a large portion of her library.

Programme

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. Exhibitions present Slovene and international visual artists as well as phenomena that shaped cultural life in Slovenia. Such an exhibition was FV, Alternative Scene of the Eighties (2008) that shed light on the important social and artistic events in the 1980s, 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. 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).

MGLC also stages solo shows and has recently featured Štefan Galič, Regina Pessoa, Gabrijel Stupica, Zora Stančič and Petra Varl, Herman Gvardjančič, Laibach (Gesamtkunst Laibach, Fundamentals 1980–1990, 2010), Danilo Jejčič, Peter Brötzmann, Alenka Pirman and others.

Publishing

MCLC produces in-depth theoretical publications, full-colour illustrated exhibition catalogues, and other books. Most recently they published the extensive retrospective study Mnemosyne: The Time of the Ljubljana Biennial of Graphic Arts.

Education

Besides workshops for professional artists, the MGLC organises workshops of various graphic techniques (silkscreen, lithography, woodcutting, linocutting, dry point, and etching) and other special events for children.

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.

See also

External Links

Gallery