Vodnik Homestead

Vodnik Homestead, 2006

(work in progress)

The Vodnik Homestead is a multi-purpose venue located in the Ljubljana suburb of Šiška. Its basic coordinates are summed up as being the "house of reading, writing and story-telling" and an institution for popularising heritage of Valentin Vodnik, though music, comics art and illustration are also featured in its programme. Set up as a cultural venue back in 1984, it is currently – since 2015 – run by the Divja misel Institute. Alongside its programme, which is also aimed towards children and education, the Vodnik Homestead is also housing a music school.

The place has two rooms on the ground floor, a mezzanine and a spacious attic, as well as a garden that functions along the lines of an old Divja misel Institute, the 'Knjižnica pod krošnjami (Library under the Treetops). a small herb garden.

History and background

Owned by parents of the famed Slovene poet and polyhistor Valentin Vodnik (1758 – 1819), the homestead used to be a tavern until the 1930s. After half a century, it was bought by the Municipality of Ljubljana and used for various purposes – it used to be a dislocirana enota Knjižnice Šiška (until 2008), its avdiovizualni oddelek, later it also an various small performances (puppetry, theatre) and workshops, as well as theatre performances, a visual arts programme, which features the work of local artists, ethnic minorities and marginal groups.

In 2001, it was razglašena for cultural monument of local significance. From 2012 to 2015 the Vodnik Homestead was managed by the Hanna's Atelier for Sonorous Arts, which established there a Centre for Sonorous Arts. The aim of the Centre was to construct the first fully dedicated sonorous theatre, featuring the inventions and advancements developed for this purpose throughout the years by the participants of Hanna’s Atelier for Sonorous Arts. In 2015 the Divja misel Institute, was selected by the Municipality of Ljubljana upon a public call.

Programme

The programme of Vodnik Homestead has a very diverse programme, with some of the typecal events being Sunday children programme, education events on contemporryr vidsual art and comics, regular evening discussions with writers, poets, translators, film-makers, etc. There are also various exhibitions dedicated, one was for example dedicated to the 70th anniversary of Ciciban, Slovene cult magazine for children. Of the protagonists from the literary field, the Vodnik Homestead cooperates or has cooperated with the I.D.I.O.T Group and Slovene Writers’ Association.

Na ogled sta dve stalni zbirki, posvečeni slovenski pisani besedi ter Vodnikovemu življenju in delu.