To mark its 50th anniversary, Ljubljana City Gallery has prepared a documentary exhibition which is on show until 14 April 2013.

The exhibition celebrates the golden jubilee of Ljubljana’s central institution in the gallery activity field, whose programme image has left an indelible mark on Slovenian cultural history, as well as in the wider international artistic sphere via its extensive internationally-renowned exhibition programme.

The exhibition showcases the gallery’s operations from its inception upon the renaming of the Jakopič Pavilion as the City Gallery to the present day. On 22 November 1962 the Jakopič Pavilion management renamed it the City Gallery in Ljubljana, and after the building’s demolition in early January 1962, it was temporarily housed in multiple locations in the heart of the old town and seamlessly continued with exhibitions in the Yugoslav People’s Army Centre, at Mestni trg 16, in the City Hall atrium and in Nebotičnik and organised touring exhibitions around other Slovenian towns and abroad. New gallery premises in a commercial town building at Mestni trg 5, renovated in line with plans by architect Boris Kobe, had a gala opening on 25 December 1963.

In the last 50 years, the City Gallery has mounted over 830 independent and group exhibitions, of which 91 were taken on tour around Slovenia and abroad. In 1996, via gifts and purchases, a permanent collection of works on paper was formed, which today comprises over 200 works by 73 Slovene and foreign artists. In the permanent exhibition’s premises, 120 exhibitions have been mounted with exhibits predominantly in the paper medium. In 2009 the City Gallery was united with Ljubljana City Museum and now operates under the auspices of the newly-founded institute, the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana (MGML). Following the closure of premises at Cankarjev nabrežje (the Cankar Embankment), in March 2011 alternative premises were acquired for mounting exhibitions and residence programmes in the Tobačna 001 Cultural Centre.

The 50th anniversary exhibition concept follows the contemporary dynamic of the presentation of visual and documentary material; in this, pride of place is given to works of art by artists with multiple appearances at exhibitions in galleries and hosted in other cultural environments. The chronologically designed exhibition comprises over 95 participating artists with one or, exceptionally, with more than one work. Among them, there are also some exhibitors, mainly foreign artists, represented with works from MGML’s permanent collection and from private collections.

The exhibition is accompanied by an extensive collection of key information on the operation of the gallery, accompanying photographic material and texts by various writers who showcase their views on the gallery’s operations in the past fifty years.

The exhibition was opened at 6pm on Wednesday 6 February 2013 by Mayor Zoran Janković.