Möderndorfer Theatre, opening of the exhibition in Nova Gorica

Travelling exhibition Möderndorfer Theatre

From 6 December 2023 to 13 February 2024 at the SNT Nova Gorica.

Opening: 6 December 2023 at 19.30, Foyer of the SNT Nova Gorica (Trg Edvarda Kardelja 5, Nova Gorica).

The exhibition will be opened by Matjaž Rakovec, Mayor of the Municipality of Kranj

The monograph Möderndorfer Theatre, published in 2022, is unique in Slovenian theatre publishing, both in its scope (1216 pages) and in its content. In it, Vinko Möderndorfer focuses on 106 productions he directed over four decades, from his first staging in 1980 at the Experimental Theatre Glej to the premiere of his opera The Unicorn in 2021.

On the occasion of the work's publication, the author wrote: "In all probability, this monograph would not exist if it were not for the excellent theatre photographers. /.../ Already in the early 1980s, and even later, it seemed to me that it would be fine to see the theatre through the sensitive eye of a photographer. That theatre photography could be an art in its own right. Even today we have some excellent artist photographers who are very serious about theatre photography. That's why I first wanted to compose this book with only short notes about theatre productions, with the main body being photographs. The only things that remain of a theatre performance are the photographs and the impressions that the audience takes away with them. After the last performance, everything else turns to dust."

The author's writings are thus "illustrated" by a wealth of pictures - the monograph contains nearly 1500 items of pictorial material.

The entire exhibition, prepared by the Slovenian Theatre Institute and Forum Ljubljana - it was inaugurated in June at this year's Borštnikovo srečanje Festival, and was recently on display at the Slovenian People's Theatre in Celje - includes a selection of 46 photographs from various periods of the director's career, and has been supplemented with an introductory information "billboard" and notes by Vink Möderndorfer. It takes us to the "scenes of the crime", that is to say, to the cities and theatres where the productions were created.

This is a photographic exhibition, so the selection of photographs was based primarily on aesthetic criteria or artistic perfection. We have not bypassed the fact that Vinko Möderndorfer worked in almost all Slovenian repertory theatres, so we have included productions by various theatre companies - so that the artists and spectators of the Celje Slovenian People's Theatre will be able to recognise and reminisce about their performances, The audience of SNG Drama Maribor, SNG Drama Ljubljana, Slovenian Youth Theatre, Ljubljana City Theatre, Ljubljana Puppet Theatre, Prešeren Theatre Kranj, SNG Nova Gorica, Slovene Permanent Theatre Trieste and Glej Theatre will also be able to "find their own place", as well as the audience of SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana.

The exhibition is designed to be "travelling", that is to say, it can be adapted to different spaces, from the foyer to the exhibition gallery, and to be different in each theatre - its Celje installation is thus enriched by the costumes from the local performances, which are depicted in the photographs.

The exhibition is bilingual, with all texts available in Slovene and English.

We are confident that theatre-makers and audiences alike will feel the energy and magic of the productions and, above all, will be able to recall their own theatrical experiences.

You are cordially invited!

Möderndorfer Theatre Travelling Exhibition
Author: Vinko Mőderndorfer
Curator: Tea Rogelj
Designer: Nina Šturm
English translator: Nataša Jelič Proofreader: Andraž Polončič Ruparčič  English proofreader: Jana Renée Wilcoxen
Produced by: Slovenian Theatre Institute (represented by: Dr. Gašper Troha) and Forum Ljubljana (represented by: Eva Rohrman), 2023