International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana

Contact info

Mednarodni grafični likovni center
http://www.mglc-lj.si
info@mglc-lj.si
Pod turnom 3, SI-1000 Ljubljana
Phone	386 (0) 1 241 3800
Fax	386 (0) 1 241 3821
Region	SI-1
Founded by	Municipality of Ljubljana
Nevenka Šivavec, Director
nevenka.sivavec@mglc-lj.si
Karla Železnik, Public Relations
karla.zeleznik@mglc-lj.si
Phone	386 (0) 1 241 3809
Online accounts:
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EU funded projects (Culture, MEDIA)

• The Perennial Biennial, 2018
  Project summary
• Password: Printmaking – travelling exhibition and art residencies, 2012
  Project summary
• Leisure, Discipline and Punishment, 2012
  Project summary
• Artists’ Books on Tour - Artists Competition and Mobile Museum, 2010
  Project summary
• Living Memory Artists’ Publications in Europe – A Network for Indexing, Presentation and Communication, 2008
  Project summary
• 25th International Biennial of Graphic Arts, 2003
  Project summary

Events abroad

Past Events

• 8 May 2018 to 22 May 2016
  The exhibition of paintings, drawings and prints by Jože Ciuha, curated by Barbara Savenc and Marija Skočir (International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana), supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Skopje, at Osten Gallery in Skopje, Macedonia more
• 20 September to 1 October 2016
  Simple, Fun and Dangerous, an exhibition featuring works by Mladen Stropnik and Small But Dangers (Mateja Rojc and Simon Hudolin) from the collection of the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, at Center for Graphic Arts in Belgrade, Serbia
  programme
• 12 May to 21 August 2016
  Repetition, an exhibition featuring works by Ištvan Išt Huzjan as well as works by Danilo Jejčič, Lojze Logar, Tinca Stegovec, Edvard Zajec and others from the collection of the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, at Villa Empain in Brussels, Belgium
  programme
• 14 January 2015
  A talk with artist Janez Janša at the launch of his book Life II [in Progress] (Maska Institute, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana) at Stoke Newington in London, United Kingdom
  programme
• 18 December 2013 to 7 January 2014
  Black on White, an exhibition of artists’ magazines and newspapers in Slovenia, organised by the P.A.R.A.S.I.T.E. Institute, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, and Maribor Art Gallery, at Academia Moderna in Zagreb, Croatia
  programme
• 3 October to 17 November 2013
  +386 Impressions, an exhibition of Slovene contemporary graphic art curated by Breda Škrjanec (International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana), featuring works by Stripburger (Strip Core), Katja Skušek and Nataša Skušek (Zlato stegno), Vesna Drnovšek, Tanja Lažetić, Tomaž Tomažin, Sašo Sedlaček, Marija Mojca Pungerčar, Svetlana Jakimovska Rodić, and Varl Petra, supported by the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia Madrid at Real Academia de Bellas Artes de San Fernando in Madrid, Spain
  programme
• 25 September to 8 December 2012
  Change the Colour! exhibition by BridA (Tom Kerševan, Sendi Mango, Jurij Pavlica), produced by International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana at Traffic Gallery in Bergamo, Italy
  programme

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. As of 2017 MGLC is also running the Švicarija Art Centre, a nearby residency and exhibition venue.

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.

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.

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), Mina Fina, 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

• Biennial of Graphic Arts
• Švicarija Art Centre
• Tivoli Mansion
• Annual Museums on a Summer Night event

External links

• International Centre of Graphic Arts website

Gallery

Špela Čadež's exhibition Mali Svetovi [Small Worlds], a glimpse into the making of animated films. International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Animateka International Animated Film Festival, 2009

Installation of Andy Warhol's Mao wallpaper (1972) and Silver Clouds, in Fundamina, Zoran Mušič, Andy Warhol, and Mimmo Paladino, 24th Biennial of Graphic Arts, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, 2001

Marcello Maloberti's Die Schmetterlinge essen die Bananen, a performance in front of the Moderna galerija (MG) at the 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts curated by Beti Žerovc under the title The Event. 2011.

Serkan Özkaya's Proletarier aller Länder installation, at the Moderna galerija (MG), 29th Biennial of Graphic Arts, 2011.

Thomas Kilpper's installation at Švicarija, a huge woodcut and etching, Biennial of Graphic Arts, 2013

Landmark: Footprint, 2001–2002, by Allora and Calzadilla: artistic collaboration between Jennifer Allora and Guillermo Calzadilla (Puerto Rico). The Grand Prize winners of the 26th Biennial of Graphic Arts

wall Nr_27.psd(THEM) (installation detail), by son:DA for the 27th Biennial of Graphic Arts, installed in the staircase MGLC, 2007–2013.

A view into an exhibition at the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, which organises the Biennial of Graphic Arts as well as other contemporary art exhibitions, and maintains a collection of Slovene and international prints, 2007.

Jean Tinguely: Meta (Signed Drawing) by K.G. Pontus Hulten and Jean Tinguely, Paris, 1973. A book object bound as suitcase with lock closure and handle, MGLC collection

International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Museums on a Summer Night. In 1987 the MGLC moved to the renovated mansion positioned majestically at the end of the Plečnik "promenade" in Ljubljana's Tivoli Park.

Print studio at International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana

International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana [MGLC - Mednarodni grafični likovni center], in Tivoli Mansion in Ljubljana

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

The Ultimate Word (The Ninth Coromandia) project presented at the Alenka Pirman – Collected Works exhibition, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, 2014.

Andrej Jemec's Geometry And Handwriting, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, 2014.

Mina Žabnikar alias Mina Fina's This Mess We´re In solo exhibition at the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, 2014.

Janez Knez Retrospective Exhibition of Printmaking at the International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, 2015.

The renovated exterior of Švicarija Art Centre, a new residency and exhibition venue for visual arts reopened in 2017

The Švicarija Art Centre, a former hotel located in Tivoli Park in Ljubljana, reopened its doors in 2017 as a new residency and exhibition venue for visual arts.

Interior of the Švicarija Art Centre, located in Tivoli Park in Ljubljana, 2017.

The renovated interior of the Švicarija Art Centre, a former hotel from the early 20th century. Renovation led by Arrea Architecture, 2017.