The Župančič awards ceremony, the highest award granted by the City of Ljubljana for outstanding creation in the field of art, was held at the Ljubljana City Theatre on 8 June 2016. This year a lifetime achievement award was received by Veno Taufer.

Župančič awards are granted by the City of Ljubljana to reward cutting-edge creations in the field of art, which permanently enrich the cultural treasury of the nation's capital and through their exceptional character resonate in the wider international arena.
Župančič Lifetime Achievement Award was won by poet, playwright, essayist, translator, editor, theatre actor and engaged public figure
Veno Taufer

for his vast pioneering artistic opus, which paved the way for the Slovenian poetic modernism with the self-published collection of poems Lead Stars (Svinčene zvezde) and remained true to this artistic attitude until his final collection A Letter in the Bottle (Pismo v steklenici), while expanding the overview of the world modern poetry on the Slovenian grounds by his translations, especially the translation of the most influential poet of modern European poetry, T. S. Eliot. His poetic creativity, used to master the original poetic language procedures, as well as his translation works, was rewarded with all the highest poetry prizes. During his artistic creation, Veno Taufer has been since his study years one of the most prominent public figures in Slovenia, whose poetic status is also an ethical imperative for the artist's presence to be committed as a messenger of his time on the widest field of Slovenian and world's art and culture, as an initiator of Slovenian opening to the world through the establishment of the international Vilenica poetry festival and his 13-year leadership as the editor of Magazine 57 (Revija 57), the head of Stage 57 (Oder 57), a member of the editorial of Perspectives (Perspektive), Chair of Peace Committee of the international PEN, President of the Slovenian Writers' Association, a fighter for democratisation of Slovenia, a full member of the European Poetry College (Académieeuropéenne de poésie), a personality using its public voice to confer dignity and cosmopolitanism on the Slovenian nation, worldwide fame on the Slovenian capital, and an artist who also raised his generation in the generous continuation of the Taufer artistic dynasty.

Župančič Awards for the year 2016 were granted to:
drama and film actress and director Nataša Barbara Gračner,
visual artist and art teacher doc. Zora Stančič and
poet, translator and socially-critical intellectual Nataša Velikonja.

This year's winners were decided by the Committee for granting Župančič Awards, chaired by prof. dr. Milček Komelj, and members Assoc. prof. dr. Andrej Blatnik, Matevž Čelik, Varja Močnik, Assoc. prof. dr. Gregor Pompe, doc. dr. Tomaž Toporišič and Vojko Vidmar.