MODERNA GALERIJA’S ARCHIVES DEPARTMENT has systematically collected, processed, preserved, published, and provided access to data on and documentary material related to 20th- and 21st-century visual art since its establishment in 1971. The Archives Department collects data on and material related to exhibitions staged in Slovenia, exhibitions of Slovenian artists abroad, exhibition venues and other spaces for the production and presentation of visual art, 20th- and 21st-century visual artists in Slovenia and Slovenian artists abroad, and writers on 20th- and 21st-century visual art.
In order to make the overview and chronology of the developments in visual art in Slovenia as comprehensive and reliable as possible, we have designed two questionnaires – the Questionnaire – Organizer and the Questionnaire – Artist.
Since the establishment of the Archives Department, special attention has been given to exhibitions in Slovenia and exhibitions of Slovenian artists abroad. The Questionnaire – Organizer allows us to verify and supplement the existing data in the system, and alerts us to exhibitions that may not have been well presented in the media and could have otherwise been overlooked. It further allows us to obtain data that are often insufficiently reported in the media, such as whether an exhibition has traveled/will travel, or data on the purchase of artworks for collections. Most of this information is obtained through this questionnaire. The data provided by the organizers together with the related material used to be published in the magazines Sinteza and M'ARS for a number of years, and are available in the RazUme system. To date, we have received more than 8,900 completed questionnaires.
Questionnaire – Artist was conceived in the mid-1970s during the preparatory stages of the extensive overview exhibition Slovenian Fine Art 1945–1978, which opened at the Rihard Jakopič Art Gallery in Ljubljana in March 1979; the largest number of completed questionnaires was received on that occasion.
The current questionnaire is an updated and expanded version that allows artists to supplement and update their biographical information, and represents an important resource for studying Slovenian art of the 20th and 21st centuries.
The two questionnaires are the result of many years of documenting practice and remain one of the key tools for supplementing the RazUme system. Many of you have been completing them conscientiously for many years, for which we are sincerely grateful. With your cooperation, the system is ever more comprehensive, reliable, and valuable for researchers and the interested public. We therefore urge you to continue to participate in its co-creation in the future.
