History of the Mala galerija Banke Slovenije

On 1 May 1952 the Society of Slovenian Fine Artists held an exhibition marking the opening of its exhibition salon at Titova cesta 11 in Ljubljana; the space was named Mala Galerija, meaning Little Gallery. After an interior remodelling, which was carried out in 1958/59 under the plans of architects Oton Jugovec and Svetozar Križaj, the Mala Galerija became an auxiliary exhibition space for Ljubljana’s Museum of Modern Art. “This new ‘Mala Galerija’, a department of the Museum of Modern Art, will pursue a programme that strives to offer and convey the highest quality contemporary artists to our artistic milieu throughout the national territory, and in exchanges and agreements with existing private galleries around the world it will create good and solid economic conditions for our Yugoslav exhibitors abroad. In its work it will create a continuity between individual biennial events, and will connect the best Yugoslav fine artists, as stated previously.”

Under the management of the Museum of Modern Art, and along the lines of similar institutions in France, Mala Galerija sought to become an exhibition space principally for smaller-scale yet carefully selected exhibitions of foreign and national contemporary fine artists. The first to exhibit in the renovated space was the Italian sculptor, graphic artist and set designer Marcello Mascherini, on 19 October 1959. The opening of the renovated salon-style gallery was entirely informal, but as was noted in the later years of its operation, through it the Museum of Modern Art acquired not just a few extra square metres, but also an important space for ‘living’ art. Its exhibitions of new, contemporary output served to showcase a host of fine artists who were young and still seeking their identity, and mature artists at the top of their game. The single-room space, with its large glass windows and doors, functions as an open space, a showroom that can even be seen from the street.

At the beginning of 2019 we decided to rekindle the long-standing tradition, and return the premises of the Mala Galerija to their original purpose. In cooperation with the University of Ljubljana we opened the door to young artists.