The exhibition The Ljubljanica - A River and its Past will be on view in the atrium of the National Museum of Slovenia from February 26 to October 30, 2009. The Ljubljanica is a veritable treasure of history because of the rich finds that shed light on life at the river from prehistory to the modern age. The exhibition will present the river's heritage with over one thousand finds, graphical images of the river, short films on the underwater world and archaeological research, and illustrated scenes from life in different periods. For the purpose of the exhibition, a medieval warrior has been reconstructed, as well as a replica of a modern-age dugout, illustrating the thousands of years of navigation on the Ljubljanica.

The Ljubljanica was declared a cultural monument of national importance as an exceptionally important archaeological site in 2003. The oldest finds date from the Middle Stone Age and many trace back to the Copper and Bronze ages, when settlements of pile dwellings existed in the Ljubljana Marsh (4th and 3rd millennium BC). In the Bronze and Iron ages, the Ljubljanica was a river of vow offerings, early Roman military gear and utensils witness to the advance of the Romans, and medieval and more recent objects confirm that the Ljubljanica was an important traffic artery until the modern age. It was then that the first industrial works were erected in the environs of Ljubljana, and in the last centuries the river was large turned into an entertainment and park environment, while Plecnik's architectural enhancement of its banks and his Tromostovje bridge made it into a jewel of the town. The National Museum of Slovenia has around 6000 objects from the river. Besides their great quantity and diversity, many objects are exceptionally well preserved. The exhibition wishes to illustrate the global civilisation phenomenon of the relationship between rivers and settlements over thousands of years.


Project concept and management: Timotej Knific
Exhibition curators: Andrej Gaspari, Janka Istenič, Tomaž Nabergoj, Neva Trampuž Orel, Matija Žargi
Design: Roman Hribar, Miran Pflaum
Object conservation and restoration: Zdenka Kramar, Irma Langus Hribar, Gorazd Lemajič, Zoran Milić, Nataša Nemeček, Sonja Perovšek, Janja Slabe, Katja Uršič, Anita Virag
Large illustrations: Igor Rehar
Organisation: Polona Bitenc
Curators of individual sections: Polona Bitenc, Blaženka First, Timotej Knific, Darija Mavrič, Gorazd Lemajič in Peter Turk
Authors of the panel texts: Polona Bitenc, Ivo Božič, Blaženka First, Timotej Knific, Tomaž Lazar, Darija Mavrič, Zoran Milić in Nika Veršnik
Films: Igor Dolinar, Blaženka First, Andrej Gaspari, Darija Mavrič, Ciril Mlinar in Davorin Tome
Picture of the Ljubljanica made with a digital photogrammetric camera: Geodetski zavod Slovenije
Dugout replica made by : Igor Ravbar
Reconstruction of a medieval warrior: Miha Knific in Sonja Murgelj
Warrior's arms and gear made by Tomaž Lazar in Nataša Nemeček, Jože Tavčar, David Francky, Franc Tavčar in Jana Žnidaršič
Cart replica made by Janko Samsa
Language editing and English translation: Henrik Ciglič
Exhibition symbol: Žiga Okorn
The exhibited material is kept by Narodni muzej Slovenije in družina Mück, Muzej in galerije mesta Ljubljane, Nadškofijski arhiv Ljubljana, družina Potočnik, dr. Damjan Prelovšek, Prirodoslovni muzej Slovenije, Vojni muzej Logatec (Janez J. Švajncer), Zmago Tančič, Župnijski urad Trnovo
Funding: Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije
Sponsor: Luka Koper