Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station

Protected as a cultural, industrial, and historical monument, Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station has become one of the most important contemporary performing arts venues in Ljubljana. Owned by Elektro Ljubljana (Enterprise for Distribution of Electric Energy, Co.), the brick building of the Old Power Station was the first electricity plant in Ljubljana (opened in 1898 and closed in the 1960s). In 2004, Ljubljana Urban Municipality and the Ministry of Culture decided to hire the space and make it available to the independent performing arts scene. Following an open call for NGOs to run the space, the contract went to Bunker Institute and was renewed in 2008.

Programme

As shown in a study on contemporary performing arts venues, Ljubljana lacks performing arts rehearsal spaces. Stara Elektrarna was originally planned as a space for rehearsals, but is now being developed as a venue for interdisciplinary dialogue and various artistic practices. The Old Power Station hosts various educational programmes, including different workshops (ranging from cultural management to dance techniques), seminars, lectures, round tables, and panels, it regularly offers space for pre-production of contemporary performing arts performances (rehearsals, residencies), and presents performances and other multimedia events by home-based and foreign artists. Further, Stara Elektrarna hosts numerous Slovene festivals, such as the City of Women International Festival of Contemporary Arts, Gibanica (Moving Cake) Festival of Slovene Dance, Exodos International Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, etc.

Venue

Type of venue: black-box theatre; main use: contemporary theatre, dance, music, multimedia events, rehearsal space and space for workshops; seating: 300 seats total; performing area: 25m W x 15m D x 3.5m H to grid, floor suitable for dance; suspension equipment: overhead pipe grid for suspension of masking and lighting; forestage: dance floor; lighting: details on request; sound: details on request; stage equipment: details on request; backstage: 2 dressing rooms accommodating 15 persons total; climate control: air-conditioned.

External links

Old Power Station web page (in English)
Plans of Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station (in English)
Bunker Institute website (in Slovenian and English)
Stara Elektrarna architecture - the history of the building from the Theatre Architecture in Central Europe web database

Gallery

Performance Trans-Plant by Luka Martin Škof and Nika Švab at Old Power Station, 2020. Author: Nada Žgank

AnimatekaPRO, Breakfast with authors at Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station, 2019.

Audiovisual Concert: Katalena Animated (Avdio-vizualni koncert: Animirana Katalena), Katalena concert at Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station, Animateka Festival, 2009.

The Sleep (Cinema Fury 01), Caden Manson & Big Art Group, Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station during Exodos International Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, 2009

Bare Naked Souls, by Dave St-Pierre at Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station during Exodos International Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, 2010

Press image for Bare Naked Souls, by Dave St-Pierre. Performed at Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station during Exodos International Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, 2010

Marcipan ali pleksi [Marzipan or plexi], contemporary dance production choreographed by Boulogne Marijs, premièring at Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station, produced by Emanat Institute 2009

Dark Matter by Kate Mcintosh, performed at Exodos International Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts, Stara Elektrarna - Old Power Station, 2013

Lea Kukovič's project FORSALE, a conceptual artwork radicalizing the economics of theatre and providing an answer to the question of the value of theatre performances today, Old Power Station, 2021. Author: Nada Žgank