By: Sara Kovač / Nova24tv
The Museum of Slovenian Independence, which was established by the previous government and has had a director with full powers since March, will no longer exist as an independent institution. The Minister of Culture, Asta Vrečko, has decided to merge it with the National Museum of Contemporary History into a new public institution, Television Slovenia recently reported. As always, the Left party (Levica) is destroying the memory of everything that reminds us of Slovenian independence – as this topic is a nightmare for the fans of the former socialist state.
According to the reports of the Television of Slovenia, the Minister of Culture, Asta Vrečko, apparently believes that this is a political project. Other institutions around Slovenia are already collecting this type of material, which the museum’s director, Žejko Oset, is also aware of, saying in a recent interview with Družina that “this is a new opportunity to exhibit objects already held by existing public institutions.”
The merger of the two museums is expected to happen shortly, according to the Ministry. The staff of the Museum of Slovenian Independence will join the team of the National Museum of Contemporary History, which, at least for the time being, is still headed by Jože Dežman. This will form a new public institution with new leadership.
The renovation of the former barracks located at Poljanska Street 40, where the Archive of the Republic of Slovenia and the Museum of Slovenian Independence were supposed to be located, is continuing, and the Ministry will allocate these premises solely to the Archive of the Republic of Slovenia. The Museum of Slovenian Independence was envisaged by the former government in the draft state budget for 2022, and the decision to establish it was adopted in March 2021. The idea was criticised on the grounds that the existing museum institutions already deal with the topic of Slovenian independence and that this would result in a loss of additional resources for cultural workers. Member of the history department at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana called on the then-Minister of Culture, Vasko Simoniti, to open a public discussion on this topic, while a small group of left-wing activists even protested against the establishment of the new museum in front of the building of the Ministry.