STA, 15 September 2021 - An exhibition on Alma M. Karlin (1889-1950) will open on Wednesday at the Weltmuseum Wien, shedding light on the life and work of the famed Slovenian author and globetrotter. The show is open until 18 January.
Conceptually, the show mirrors the 2020 monograph Neskončno Potovanje Alme M. Karlin" (Endless Travels of Alma M. Karlin) by Barbara Trnovec, a curator from the Celje Regional Museum who has studied Karlin's life for many years.
She has co-curated the exhibition together with Reinhard Blumauer of the Weltmuseum, the Celje Regional Museum said.
The exhibition showcases objects that Karlin collected during her travels, along with her photographs and her biography. According to Trnovec, the way the exhibits are showcased, "each one comes across as a work of art".
In lieu of a catalogue, the exhibition will be accompanied by the English and German translations of Trnovec's monograph.
Karlin embarked on a world tour in 1919 and travelled alone for eight years. To make money, she wrote articles for a Celje newspaper and occasionally took on various jobs, a remarkable feat for her time.
After finishing her journey, she soon became well known abroad. She held lectures around Europe. In a 1931 calendar, she was presented as one of the most influential women in Germany.
Although she was born in Celje, her mother decided that her mother tongue will be German, but Karlin later showed her devotion to her homeland by becoming a fierce opponent of Nazism and joining the Partisan movement in 1944.
Staying true to her principles, Karlin eventually fought against Communism as well. Both regimes spied on her and both wanted to kill her. She died five years after the end of World War II of typhoid and cancer, in poverty and obscurity.
The show will open with an address by Slovenian Culture Minister Vasko Simoniti.
You can learn more about the exhibition here
