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from 17. 8. until 18. 9. 2023, Krakovski nasip Ljubljana

Sports Museum: Safeguarding Sports Heritage

In a panel exhibition on the Krakovo embankment on the Ljubljanica river, the Sports Museum presents its work, its collection policy and the breadth of Slovenia's sporting heritage. Through a selection of the museum's objects, it encourages visitors to preserve the sports heritage and emphasises the importance of donating materials and objects to the museum, their protection and the role of the Sports Museum in preserving the memory of sporting achievements.

In Slovenia, the interest in sports heritage reaches almost as far back as the emergence of organised sport. Therefore, it is no wonder that collecting, preserving, interpreting, and exhibiting objects from the sporting past began very early on. A significant milestone in this respect was the year 1922 when the first Sokol showcase was put on display in Ljubljana, laying the foundation stone for further work. The development was halted by World War II but afterwards continued in amateur and semi-amateur form, and also as fully organised collecting and exhibiting of sports heritage or sports-related heritage. This was demonstrated by increasingly numerous exhibitions and collection campaigns organised by sports organisations and other official institutions, which grew almost exponentially from decade to decade. With the growing diversity and number of exhibitions, the idea to establish an official Sports Museum was born in the mid-1980s. Despite the efforts of various individuals and groups both within and outside sports, the idea was left unrealised for a long time. Eventually, the Sports Museum Public Institute was established in April 2000 and became operational in November 2001 in the premises at Kopitarjeva 4, Ljubljana, where it still has its offices today. Nevertheless, the museum and, with it, also the efforts in sports heritage were still facing uncertain and occasionally turbulent times. In 2013, the museum as an independent institute was closed and removed from the museum register. It was transformed into a department of the Institute of Sports of the Republic of Slovenia Planica, a status it retained until 2022 when it was made a unit of the Slovenian School Museum.

Exhibition authors

Project manager: dr. Aleš Šafarič
Authors: dr. Aleš Šafarič, dr. Tadej Curk, Maja Hakl Saje
Design by: Franci Virant
Photos by: Franci Virant
Copy-editing and translations by: Alenka Ropret

Exhibition was produced by Sports Museum (operates as a unit of Slovenian Scool Museum).
Exhibition was made possible by: Turizem Ljubljana, Ministrstvo za vzgojo in izobraževanje in Ministrstvo za gospodarstvo, turizem in šport.