9 City of Arts and Culture
Wedding Halls at Ljubljana Castle in New Splendour It seems as if the mighty medieval walls of Ljubljana Castle support the wing where two halls on the upper floor and a café at the level of the courtyard are located. The interior of the halls opens up to the courtyard and intertwines with the historical environment. A terrace located a level higher
boasts a unique view over the courtyard and perfectly complements the multipurpose halls used for various business and protocol events, and especially weddings. Better known as White and Blue Halls, the halls shine in all their glory when the bride and groom enter them. After this year’s complete renovation one can even more strongly feel the historical architecture in them, which makes the weddings there truly castle-like. www.ljubljanskigrad.si
White and Blue Halls, Ljubljana Castle; Photo: AoutPhoto
Biennial of Design (BIO) with New Tourism Concepts The 24th Biennial of Design, which was marked by an experimental initiative at its 50th anniversary, brought together more than 100 international designers and multidisciplinary agents in search for potential future design. For six months, a group of artists studied everyday life topics and created projects for the exhibition. One of these is nanotourism, which seeks alternatives to the existing tourism industry and explores new possibilities of experiencing tourism at micro level. A number of projects was
created – from initiatives to revive forgotten traditional crafts in the street of Zagreb (Croatia), research of collective memory neighbourhoods in Krakow (Poland), Rajzerfiber Biro Nanotourism Agency in Maribor (Slovenia), development incentives of nanotourism in Vitanje (Slovenia), where the
Biennial of Design (BIO); Photo: A. Kovač
Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT) is located, to special accommodation opportunities in the BIO50} Hotel, housed in Ljubljana Museum of Architecture and Design. In exchange for a free night, nanotourists can contribute to the exhibition in their very own way –
apart from sleeping there, they can move the exhibits and thus change the exhibition area. Until 7 December 2014, BIO is put on display at the Museum of Architecture and Design, the Museum of Modern Art and Jakopič Gallery in Ljubljana. www.bio.si Pika Domenis
Happy Birthday, LGBT Film Festival! Ljubljana LGBT Film Festival, the oldest festival of its kind in Europe, this year marks its venerable thirtieth anniversary. Between 29 November and 7 December 2014, the LGBT Film Festival, which displays films by gay and lesbian artists as well as films about homosexuality already since 1984, takes place. The major part of the programme this year takes place at Slovenska kinoteka
(Slovenian Cinematheque), with replays in Celje, Ptuj, Maribor and Koper. This festival of noncompetitive nature brings more than twenty mostly awardwinning feature and short films of recent productions from around the world. The choice is
enormous, from documentaries to animation and even experimental films. In Ljubljana, a rich accompanying programme at various locations (K4 Club, Kinoteka, Škuc Gallery and Škuc Cultural Centre Q) is organised. www.ljudmila.org/siqrd/fglf Tjaša Janovljak
Ljubljana’s LGBT Film Festval is Europe’s Oldest of its Kind
Ljubljana International Film Festival (LIFFe)
LIFFe brings an overview of the best European and world film production. Already for the 25th time in a row, this year’s LIFFe takes place between 12 and 23 November. You can choose between several festival sets. Perspectives are the official competitive section of young directors for the Kingfisher Award by Telekom Slovenia. Avant-premieres bring film highlights purchased for Slovenian distribution. Kings and Queens section includes the films by award-winning and renowned masters of modern cinema. World Film Panorama represents the front-runners from five continent festivals. Extravaganza is the so-
called late-night cinema of daring idiosyncratic artists addressing sensual topics. Retro Big Screen will be dedicated to the films that boast special audio-visual qualities and the connoisseurs of cinema want to see only on the big screen (e. g. The Red Shoes, Lawrence of Arabia, The Wizard of Oz, etc.). This will be followed by two sets dedicated to renowned authors. The Retrospective represents Alexey German, recently deceased giant of Soviet
and Russian film, an iconoclast, whose last film Hard to be a God pushes the boundaries of the film language, while Homage, a short, concentrated presentation of the festival and the media exposed author, this year represents the young Swedish director, Ruben Östlund. In cooperation with Kinodvor, Kinobalon brings films to younger audience, aged from 7 to 14 years. Kino-Integral section is intended to review experimental film.
Europe in short, the last set, is a short film competition programme, with the accompanying programme including conversations with festival guests and filmmakers, round tables, seminars and exhibitions. Festival venues are Cankarjev dom Cultural and Congress Centre, Kinodvor Cinema, Kino Šiška Cinema, Kino Komuna, Slovenian Cinematheque and Kolosej Maribor. www.liffe.si Janina Pintar