April 8, 2018
It feels like the summer’s already here, as the chairs and tables outside the cafés and bars fill up with well-dressed people in sunglasses staring at the same. So whether you prefer coffee or craft beer, ice cream or cake, salads or fat gourmet burgers, there are reasons galore to put on some lighter clothes and spend some time and money in the capital this week, never mind all the culture on offer.
What follows is thus a small selection of the events on around town, with even more remaining unlisted hidden gems, for you to discover as you take a walk through the streets and get lost in the scene.
As ever, clicking on the venue name will get you more details with regard to the time, price and location, and if you want to get a Ljubljana Tourist Card, which gives you travel on the city buses and entry to a lot of attractions, then you can read more about that here.
CINEMA
You can read about all the cinemas in town here, while a selection of what’s playing this week is below. (And if you like to study Slovene by watching trailers, we have a round-up of some of the best from first three months of the year, just click this and learn something new.)
Kinodvor – This week the arts theatre is hosting the 2nd International Conference on Film Education, with details here.
Kinoteka – The revival house is showing, among other old movies. The Royal Tennenbaums, John Carpenter's The Thing, The Last Emperor, and A Bug's Life.
Kolosej – The multiplex out at BTC City Mall is playing Gringo, Player Number One, Blockers, Red Sparrow and Black Panther, among others.
Komuna - The theatre behind the Nama department store is showing Three Billboards... and Red Sparrow, plus a dubbed version of Peter Rabbit.
CLUBS
Channel Zero – Monday night is Dub Lab, as usual, and this week there are sets from MaRu (DuBud), Rootical-T (Dubzilla), Mokito (Area Zero), Dj SqZ (DuBud) + MC Takka, playing reggae, dub, electro, grime, dubstep and jungle. Then on Friday there’s an event called Mami's Magic & MoDem Festival with Southwild - Wildthings Records, offering a night of trance.
Gala Hala – Perhaps the biggest name in town this week appears here on Tuesday, with a reggae and dub show by Lee "Scratch" Perry & Mad Professor. Friday night the same venue offers beats, chops & samples courtesy of B. Visible (+ live band), Sushi, Woo-D and Zhe. A set from B. Visible is below, but not before you learn that on Saturday two DJs go back-to-back, Reister and Shekuza, offering techno and electro for the heart of the weekend.
Klub Cirkus – Friday the 13th there's SMASH with Kosta Radman, playing EDM, future house, dance, and house, whjile the next night there's an event titled XO - Let’s Play House with Oliver Dollar aka Oliver $ (Defected), with a set from the latter to be hear below.
Klub K4 - Friday night there's Dirty Sprite V : DJ Smokey 666 (Canada), with a short set from Mr 666 above. On Saturday there's Just a Dance with Ichisan, as heard below, along with support from Den7el, Elovetric, and 5237.
Koncertna Dvorana Rog – As this venue faces imminent closure, there’ll be an all-nighter called the Last Supper (Zadnja Večerja) on Friday, hosted by Formaviva, so expect some techno like the following set.
EXHIBITIONS
Aksioma – This small and vibrant space not far from Dragon Bridge (just walk up the hill, away from the Castle, on the corner at Komenskega 18, open noon to 18:00, Tue–Fri). There’s a show called cellout.me by Jeroen van Loon, a man who sold his DNA data, and this runs until April 20
The Balassi Institute – (The Cultural Centre of the Embassy of Hungary) – This is at Barvarska steza 8, Ljubljana, not far from Dragon Bridge, and from March 6 until April 30 will be hosting a show by László Herman, a Hungarian painter living in Slovenia, with an example shown below.
Cankerjev dom – Running until May 6 is a free exhbition of photographs from the Dnevnik daily newspaper. The show Ivan Meštrović: Corporeality and Eroticism in Sculpture continues until May 20, with an example shown below, while a show linking Meštrović and the architect Jože Plečnik is on until May 20.
Ivan Meštrović: Physicality and eroticism in sculpture
International Centre of Graphic Arts – Opening Friday the 13th and running until July 29 is David Lynch: Fire on Stage, presenting seventy lithographs from the director, as promoted with the following image.
City Museum – An extensive exhibition on Medieval Ljubljana is showing until May 2, 2018.
Galerija Jakopič – Running until May 13 is a show by the photographer Mario Magajna.
Galerija Kresija – On until April 12 there’s Millennial Journey of Anatolian Civilizations: “Mosaic Breeze” Paintings from Turkey, exhibition of Turkish artists Sedef Yavuzalp and Önder Aydın, with an example shown below. Note that this show actually takes place in City Hall (Mestni trg 1), just behind the Robba Fountain.
Sedef Yavuzalp - The Dragon Mosaic Byzantine Imperial Mosaic
MAO – a show called Stanko Kristl: Poetry and Humanity in Architecture continues until May 27.
Moderna galerija – The Marij Pregelj retrospective is on at the Moderna’s main branch, near Tivoli. Well worth the entrance fee, this occupies several large rooms, with the works from the last decade of the painter’s life being especially impressive. Highly recommended and showing until May, with an example shown below.
The Moderna’s Metelkova branch has a retrospective on the work of Milenko Matanovič, which you can read about here.
Museum of Contemporary History – Renovation work means that the permanent Exhibition “Slovenians in the 20th Century” will temporarily lack the period from 1945-1990, but there are still interesting things to see about the recent past in this museum, set in Tivoli Park. For example, showing until May 1 is Temporary Border: Life and Longing in Zone A (1945- 1947). As per the website: “The exhibition marks the 70th anniversary of the creation of the western Slovenian border. It is devoted to an outline of existential relations in the area of the Julian March before 1947 anpirnatd, through the memories of the inhabitants, reveals the complex relations in the region during the Allied Military Government (1945-1947).” The same venue is also showing a selection of graphic works from the German expressionist master Otto Dix entitled “Der Krieg”, on until May 6.
Kino Šiška – The new artist of the month is Maja Poljanc, with a show called Encyclopedia Mythologica Slovenica.
National Gallery – Art for the Brave New World: Sculptures from the Government Art Collection runs until April 21, including the following work by Janez Pirnat.
Janez Pirnat
National Museum of Slovenia – The Past Under the Microscope. Scientific Analyses in Museums is on until the end of April.
Photon Centre of Contemporary Photography – Running from March 30th to May 18th there’s a group exhibition called Beyond Myself: Self-portrait in the time of social media, including the following image from Paula Muhr, titled Etat Normal (2009).
Slovene Ethnographic Museum – Until May 6 there’s the show Africa and Slovenia. A web of people and objects.
FAMILIES & KIDS
You can find our Top 10 list of things to do with kids in Ljubljana here.
LGBTQI+
If you want to learn more about Ljubljana Pride, then take a look at our interview with its president here.
Klub Monokel – No events seem to be scheduled for this predominantly lesbian bar, but that’s no reason not to go there.
Klub Tiffany – There’s also nothing scheduled at the gay bar next door.
LIVE MUSIC
Klub Gromka – Friday there’s live music from Kataxnia, CC and Đornata from 20:00 to 23:00, and this is then followed by a DJ playing a “whole lotta ska, punk, soul and rock'n'roll”.
Kino Šiška – Tuesday there’s music from Supersuckers and EightBomb, while the next night there’s the rather different Högni and II/III.
Ljubljana CastleFriday night is jazz night at the castle, and this week sees a show by the Jazzoleptics featuring Nikola Marjanović, playing jazz, soul, RnB and hip hop.
Orto Bar – Orto Fest continues at this venue, with Monday seeing the Stardog Champion Tribute Party, which, according to the promotional material: “…is a dedication to all the Grunge fans and Seattle bands from the 90's. This party holds and supports all Seattle tribute bands from Slovenia.”
OPERA, THEATRE, DANCE
SNG Opera & Ballet – Thursday, Friday and Saturday there are special shows to mark 100 years of ballet in Ljubljana, although few details are available.
Spanski borci – Monday sees three solo performances by the members of the Hungarian dance company Hodwork.
MISC.
Arena Stožice – Thursday night the Masters of Dirt will be thrilling the stadium with death-defying acts that should not tried at home. On Saturday there’ll be a much more sedate event, with Olimpija NK playing Domzale in a football game, although there was considerable police action before the last big name in town (as reported here).
Every Friday through the warmer months there’s the Open Kitchen in Ljubljana Market, where you can try food and drink from some the biggest names in town, and you can read more about it here. This week, on Saturday and Sunday, there’s also the craft beer and burger festival.
Breg Embankment, just opposite the Old Town and by the river, has a small flea market open every Sunday morning. Learn more about it here, (or just take a look at all the Yugostalgia on view at Verba while on your way to the Castle).
If you’re in town and want to go jogging or walking in nature, why not take another look at the Castle, with a brief guide to the trails here. If you want something bigger, head to Tivoli Park.
Dvorana Tivoli – The current iteration of the unbeatable Harlem Globetrotters will be jumping and dunking at 18:00 on Wednesday.
Ziferblat – On Monday at 20:00 there’s Let’s Talk Slovene, while at 16:00 Thursday there’s Lotus Yoga, followed by board games at 19:00, and you can read more about this pay-by-the-minute café here.
TRIPS
Most of Slovenia is only a few hours from Ljubljana, and you can easily visit Lake Bled, Lipica Stud Farm, Postojna Cave, and Predjama Castle, other locations.
