List of exhibitions

They Never Had It Better? in Ljubljana

11.10-30.12.2016

The exhibition They Never Had It Better? The modernization of everyday life in socialist Yugoslavia, by the author Ana Panić, a senior curator at the Museum of Yugoslav History, is opened on October 11, 2016, in the Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia in Ljubljana. The exhibition is opened by Anton Peršak, Minister of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia.

The exhibition tells a story about the modernization of everyday life in socialist Yugoslavia, focusing on the Yugoslav step forward in modernization after the Second World War, and changes in the quality of life that occurred in the Yugoslav socialist society. It premiered at the Museum of Yugoslav History in December 2014, and in 2015 it guested in the Historical Museum of Bosnia and Herzegovina in Sarajevo. Collaborators on the project and authors of texts are Dr. Igor Duda, professor of history at the History Department of the Juraj Dobrila University in Pula and co-founder of the Centre for cultural and historical research of socialism, and Dr. Ivana Dobrivojević, a research associate at the Institute for Contemporary History in Belgrade.

They Never Had It Better? seeks answers to the questions: whether the Yugoslavs found prosperity; when and why they lost it; what the system of education and socio-cultural life were like; and which areas of life showed a modernization leap. The target groups at which the exhibition is directed are wide, but particular importance is given to the younger generation because it doesn’t have personal memories of Yugoslavia, but perceives the past through family stories and impressions often acquired through the media, films, literature, computer games and social networks.

From the beginning, the exhibition was conceived as a traveling partner exhibition, with a desire for the museums that would host it to actively participate in the creation of content, so that they, with the addition of new items and other material, contribute to the already set framework the local context of everyday life in different parts of Yugoslavia. In the same way also was the exhibition in the Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia created, whose curators, Nataša Strlič and Katarina Jurjavčič, collected items in the action launched in May this year at the event Museum Night. Some of the items are: a brigadier shirt from the work action on the building of New Belgrade in 1969, a children’s ski ELAN, a TV ISKRA Minirama (black and white from the 1970s), various home appliances, kitchen utensils and toys. The exhibition in Ljubljana will include items from the Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia: JNA uniforms and skis used by the Army’s mountain units, school bags, records, toys MEHANOTEHNA Izola, Pony bicycle, motorcycle Tomos Kolibri, and clothes of the brand Mura. Also, a Marles kitchen from the 1970s, a part of a living room, and a reconstruction of a working corner of a secretary employed in a social enterprise will be displayed at the exhibition.

The Origins: The Background for Understanding the Museum of Yugoslavia

Creation of a European type of museum was affected by a number of practices and concepts of collecting, storing and usage of items.

New Mappings of Europe

Museum Laboratory

Starting from the Museum collection as the main source for researching social phenomena and historical moments important for understanding the experience of life in Yugoslavia, the exhibition examines the Yugoslav heritage and the institution of the Museum

A BRIEF FAMILY HISTORY