Ministry of Foreign Affairs puts international reach of culture in the spotlight on Day of Culture

8. 2. 2021

Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Due to the epidemiological situation, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs celebrates this year’s Day of Culture in virtual format. In the year of Slovenia’s Presidency of the Council of the European Union, in Trio with Germany and Portugal, this day is dedicated to Slovenian culture in the wider European area. On the 30th anniversary of Slovenia’s gaining independence, special attention is drawn to the role culture played in the formation of our state, its international engagement and recognition.

In his opening address, State Secretary Stanislav Raščan emphasised that international cultural relations have been a traditional pillar of Slovenia's foreign policy and one of the priorities of our EU Council Presidency. “Slovenia recognizes culture as a key social driving force, both at national and international levels. Culture is a source of innovative ideas, sustainable solutions, new jobs, critical thinking, social cohesion, and inter-cultural dialogue.”

The virtual celebration was joined by both 2021 Prešeren Prize Laureates, writer Feri Lainšček and architect Marko Mušič. “Today, the inter-cultural dialogue is ever more important,” stressed Feri Lainšček. “Deep cultural ties and the flow of artistically conceived information are extremely important and useful to bridge several gaps between cultures.”

Marko Mušič advocated “a renaissance of spatial art so that it can be proudly added to our national identity.” In his view, a major challenge of the architecture of the future will be “how to strike a balance between engineering and the humanistic mission of architecture, and how to create good architecture that is humanistic, human, and will merge the past with the moment of its creation.”

The celebration was accompanied by the No Borders Trio composed of musicians from the current trio countries holding the EU Council presidencies, Barbara Tanze (Germany), Eduard Raon (Portugal) and Špela Pirnat (Slovenia). Their arrangement of Robežnik’s composition Mlade Oči is a symbolic demonstration of the richness of European cultural diversity and the importance of culture for European development and stability.

The virtual event can be viewed on the social media of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and its entire diplomatic network. On this occasion, the Ministry expresses special thanks to Slovenian artists for their international reach, and to Slovenians around the world for preserving our culture and language.

In celebration of National Day of Culture, a series of mainly virtual events has also been organised by Slovenian diplomatic and consular representations.