Metelkova

AKC Metelkova mesto - an independent cultural center in Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia. The center is located in an area formerly abandoned by the Yugoslav army barracks, occupies seven buildings with a total area of ​​12,500 m². The barracks became squat in 1993. In the center there are art galleries (Galerija Alkatraz), art workshops and handicrafts, bars (Bizzarnica pri Mariči, SOT 24,5), music clubs (Gromka, Menza pri koritu, Jalla Jalla, Gala Hala, Channel 0) and sexual minorities (Tiffany, Monokel), reading room (Škratova čitalnica), offices of cultural institutions (KUD Mreža, Association SCCA - Ljubljana, Stripcore, City of Women, Škuc), Anilist Center of Infoshop, Azil The creators, who stay on Metelkovej. Historia AKC Metelkova town

The buildings on which Metelkova mesto is located were built in the 19th century by the Austro-Hungarian state. By 1932 they were the formal owner of the town of Ljubljana, which rented the barracks of the Austrian army and then the National Treasury of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After World War II, the Yugoslav Ministry of Defense placed Yugoslav troops and prison in this place.

After leaving Slovenia by the Yugoslav army, at the initiative of many groups and non-affiliated persons, dealing with the spread of alternative culture, Network for Metelkovej (Mreža za Metelkovo), an initiative aimed at transforming the barracks space into an alternative cultural center. Although the idea was initially supported by the municipality of Ljubljana, it did not involve any practical consequences. After two years of fruitless conversations and as a result of the deteriorating condition of the buildings (moreover, the city, in spite of its own assurances, proceeded to demolish the barracks), at night from 9 to 10 September 1993 a group of about 200 people occupied the northern part of the Metelkovej area. A week later, the city's occupied buildings disconnected electricity and water. Nevertheless, up to the end of 1993, about 200 cultural events (exhibitions, concerts, literary evenings, theatrical performances, etc.) took place at Metelkovej. In 1995, after the municipal elections and the change of President of Ljubljana, the metropolitan government together with representatives of Metelkovej signed a protocol on regulating the situation in Metelkovej, which was the beginning of regulating the status of organizations and artists having their rooms, which are creative jobs concentrated in this area. The city has also allocated funds to renovate the premises.

In the second half of the nineties, Metelkova functioned in semi-legal conditions. Although the city did not recognize the right to establish and operate an independent cultural center, it began to provide financial support to individual institutions operating within it. For example, it was founded in 1996. The Alkatraz gallery is entirely funded by the City of Ljubljana and by the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sports. AKC Metelkova is gaining the status of a cult place among urban youth, and since its inauguration in the immediate vicinity of the first Celica hostel in Ljubljana, also among foreigners. Despite the real prospect of dismantling (the last demolition of a nice place in 2006, when the city demolished the building Malej šoli) and functioning in almost permanent in the statue nascendi AKC Metelkova over time became one of the most recognizable symbols of the new Ljubljana. Contrary to the promises, the city did not undertake the renovation of the buildings. The most devastated (Hlev and Garaže) have been thoroughly renewed by the forces of artists and activists centered around AKC Metelkova. In this way the tradition of constant renewal and support of artistic interventions within the space of the center began. Many innovations have been made as a result of incorporating into the City Council project: Urban and Plastic Projects, where since 2004 the organizations focused on Metelkovej have received subsidies for urban transformation.

Contrary to popular belief, AKC Metelkova mesto is not a squatt.

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