The History of Metelkova 22

Article 3 of the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia 360-04/93-3/19-8, of 28 July 1994, states: "The complex of the former barracks on Metelkova Street is allocated in its entirety to the Ministry of Culture and not to the Ministry of Interior Affairs" (taken from the 1995 brochure METELKOVA).

In early 1995, an agreement on the use of the property was signed between the Ministry of Culture and public institutions/users (the Moderna galerija, the Slovene Ethnographic Museum, the National Museum).

In April 2002 the director of Moderna galerija, Zdenka Badovinac, and the curator Igor Zabel, acting on the instructions of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, drew up the program "mo(nu)ment Museum of Contemporary Art - Metelkova 22."

On 30 January 2004, the Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia 8/04 published the Resolution of the Government of the Republic of Slovenia founding the public institution Moderna galerija/the Museum of Modern Art, which consists of two program/organizational units - one for modern art and the other for contemporary art.

At its 27 February 2004 session, the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia unanimously adopted the Resolution on the National Program for Culture. One of the priority measures in the program is the founding of a Museum of Contemporary Art at 22 Metelkova Street, with the proviso that the number of public institutions for the visual arts does not grow.

On 7 April 2006, the Minister of Culture, Vasko Simoniti PhD, called a meeting at which two opposing proposals for Metelkova 22 were confronted: that of the Museum of Contemporary Art and that of an exhibition space for contemporary art. The representative of Moderna galerija, Zdenka Badovinac, presented the proposal for the Museum of Contemporary Art; Jure Mikuž PhD presented the proposal for a joint exhibition space for contemporary art (with several galleries providing the program, which would be merely coordinated by Moderna galerija).

In a letter of 26 October 2006, addressed to the director of Moderna galerija Zdenka Badovinac, Jelka Pirkovič PhD put forward the standpoints of the Ministry of Culture concerning the renovation of Moderna galerija and Metelkova 22: "the Moderna galerija storage facilities should be housed predominantly in the building at Metelkova, as well as only those offices and work areas that are necessary for the functioning of a separate unit of the institution or for the presentation of contemporary art."

In an article in Delo, entitled "Metelkova 22 bo! Upravljanje Moderni galeriji," on 10 November 2006, the Minister of Culture, Vasko Simoniti PhD, was quoted saying: "As provided in the Resolution on the National Program for Culture for 2004 - 2007, and in accordance with the negotiations with the management of Moderna galerija, the renovated building at Metelkova 22 will serve as an exhibition space for contemporary visual art. The exhibition space will be managed by Moderna galerija ... "

In an article in Delo on 30 May 2007, a representative of the Ministry of Culture said, in reply to a question concerning the realization of the Museum of Contemporary Art, that "the reconstruction works on the building are proceeding as planned, while the work program to be carried out there is still under discussion. It is already clear that curators will take turns working at that museum and that the Arteast Collection 2000+ will not be displayed there in the way planned by Moderna galerija."

Exhibitions That Promoted The Nascent Museum of Contemporary Art

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