The Matura as a Magic Wand

EXHIBITION CONTENT

The exhibition The Matura as a Magic Wand: 30 Years of the Reintroduction of the Matura Exam in Slovenia symbolically reflects key developmental milestones in thirty thematic strands. The Matura has undergone various changes, from 1850, when the first grammar school graduates took the maturity test, to the abolition of the Matura in the mid-1980s in the era of career-oriented education. The modern Matura was reintroduced in independent Slovenia in 1995. In the exhibition, the story opens up an innovative reflection on the Matura as a test of maturity, drawing parallels with broader social developments, touching on the specific situation of the COVID epidemic and presenting the innovations of both the general and vocational Matura in the new era of digitalisation and technological progress. To the tune of the eternal hymn Gaudeamus, the exhibition takes us back to a time of stress, a time of prom jokes and quadrilles. Since the matura is a special trial and test for every graduating student, reading the reflections takes us back to our own experience of the Matura. The exhibition concludes with statistics, a chronology from 1850 onwards and a look into the future.

SPATIAL CONCEPT AND DESIGN OF THE TRAVELLING EXHIBITION

The conceptual design of the travelling exhibition suggests a world that has moved from the analogue to the digital age. With luminous surfaces that change with the light in the room, encased in light but solid aluminium benches, it invites you to explore the content – like a learning process, like a step towards understanding. Like opening a book, like lifting the curtain from ignorance to understanding, and understanding is the basis for integration into society. The crumpled surfaces speak of the effort of learning – the repetitions, the doubts, the sleepless nights. The exhibition is temporary, a moment that passes, but its memory remains.

The exhibition’s signature – the logo is based on a tight, bold linear typography that conveys determination, precision and academic authority. Its strong verticals symbolise overcoming obstacles along the way and deepening knowledge. The circle, as a symbol of perfection, marks the completed cycle of learning and the decades of the Matura. The successive growth of the three circles – three decades – in the sign emphasises the expansion of knowledge and the progress of the Matura system, while the series of three circles like dots at the end of the text indicates the continuation of the path after the Matura.