Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Rome

The Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Rome was opened in 1992 as an official representative body of the Slovene Government to the Republic of Italy. It provides consular assistance and promotes bilateral political, economic, and cultural relations between Slovenia and neighbouring Italy. The Embassy in Rome is also in charge of San Marino, Malta, Tunisia, and Libya.

Other diplomatic representatives of the Republic of Slovenia in Italy include consulates in Trst/Trieste and Milano. The embassy and consulates also represent the interests of the relatively large Slovene minority in Italy, particularly in the north-eastern region.

Cultural cooperation

The legal basis for cooperation in the field of culture is the Yugoslav Agreement on Cooperation in Culture signed in 1960 and ratified in 1992 by the Government of the Republic of Slovenia. The executive programmes of cultural cooperation between the Italian Republic and the Republic of Slovenia are signed for multiannual periods, the one for the period 2004–2007 is a basis of cultural exchange, stipends and activities in the field of culture and education. A number of agreements related to the Slovene minority in Italy and the Italian minority in Slovenia have also been signed. The Italy – Slovenia Cross-border Cooperation Operational Programme that is co-funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) includes also some cultural programmes.

Film

Slovenian cinematography is frequently represented at the MedFilm Festival, a Rome venue devoted to presentation of the Mediterranean cinema. In 2012 the Embassy in Rome and the Slovenian Film Centre were one of the partners of the festival's 18th edition and Slovenia one of the focus countries with films by Metod Pevec (Aleksandrinke [The Alexandrinians], a documentary about Slovene women immigrants in Egypt, which gained Pevec the Prešeren Foundation Award), Jan Cvitkovič (Archeo), Damjan Kozole (Dolge počitnice [The Long Vacation]), Nejc Gazvoda (Izlet [A Trip]), Igor Šterk (9:06), Klemen Dvornik (Kruha in iger [Bread & Circuses]). At the MedFilm 2012 an award for the opus was bestowed to Damjan Kozole who attended the festival together with Jan Cvitkovič.

In the framework of the FrancoFilm 2013 at Institut français – Centre Saint-Louis in Rome, Slovenia was represented by Nejc Gazvoda's award-winning film Izlet [A Trip], a portrait of the so-called lost generation. The film's trademark is also its soundtrack, composed by the band New Wave Syria.

Literature and arts

The Embassy in Rome supports and helps to present works of Slovene authors translated into Italian. In 2008 the embassy co-financed the translation of a book on Janez Vajkard Valvasor, a Slovene polymath from the 17th-century and a fellow of the Royal Society in London, into Italian language.

In October 2012 the ECampus University Rome hosted Renata Salecl, Slovene philosopher, sociologist and legal theorist, a senior researcher at the Institute of Criminology, Faculty of Law at the University of Ljubljana on the occasion of the presentation of her internationally acknowledged book Izbira [Choice]. The edition in Italian was published by Laterza Publishing House.

In 2010 the Embassy collaborated with the Gallery Via Giulia 95 in Rome on a conference, where Tadej Pogačar, a winner of the Rihard Jakopič Award, participated with his opus.

In the framework of Maribor, European Capital of Culture 2012 the presentation and potentials of the cultural capital were promoted, one of most prominent events was the exhibition 100 Year City within Venice Architecture Biennale at the A+A Gallery.

In 2012 the theatre play Medea's Scream by Jurcer, Inner World Theatre Production Company was presented at the Vassello Theater in Rome.

Heritage and education

The Embassy in Rome promotes Slovene-Italian cooperation also in the field of humanities: a group of researchers from Slovenia, Italy, and Germany conducted a project Campi Fascisti with the aim of archiving common heritage of the World War II concentration camps.

In March 2013 the embassy coorganised a study excursion programme for a group of students from the Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana. The programme included a visit to the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Italian Society for International Organizations (SIOI).

The Slovenian Language Section at the Sapienza University in Rome cooperates with the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia on numerous small-scale projects and presentations of Slovenian language and culture (Days of Slovenian Documentary Film in 2012).

The embassy occasionally disseminates information about scholarships and research grants for study in Slovenia or Italy. The Government Office for Slovenians Abroad offers an award for student work on the topic of the Slovene diaspora, including that in Italy.

External links