Slovenian Ethnographic Museum

The Slovenian Ethnographic Museum is located at Metelkova ulica 2 in Ljubljana, Slovenia, on the edge of the Metelkova quarter, a former barracks district that now holds several cultural institutions. The museum was founded in 1923 and moved to its present building in the early 2000s, taking a place beside the museums that make up the Metelkova cultural area. It documents the traditional and everyday culture of Slovenia, from clothing and textiles to farm tools, household objects, beehive panels, religious items and crafts, and it also keeps collections from outside Europe gathered by Slovenian travellers and missionaries. The curatorial approach combines thematic displays on Slovenian life with exhibitions on other cultures, which lets visitors compare local customs with those of other regions of the world. Folk costume is a leading strength, with garments from different parts of Slovenia illustrating regional identity within a small country. Interpretation is in Slovenian and English, and displays are designed to explain how objects were made and used, rather than simply showing them as decoration. The building is a converted former military complex that has been restored for museum use, and its courtyard and surrounding streets give a sense of the layered history of Metelkova, which moved from Habsburg and Yugoslav army use to cultural use after Slovenian independence in 1991. Admission is about EUR 5-6. The museum rewards visitors interested in daily life rather than political history, and it fits easily into a walk with the nearby Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova and the independent arts centre that occupies adjoining barracks.