WORDS & PICTURES: Abi Prowse
There’s something unsettling in the air that morning. Stepping into Metelkova Art Centre – located just steps from Ljubljana’s central train station – feels something like a fever dream. It’s not just the colours, at once vivid and muted, splattered across every available surface; it’s not solely the statues, warped and tortured into gawping faces and bulging eyes; there’s an aura of creativity spiked with something vaguely sinister, a circus tent-come-open-air haunted house. It is strikingly clear that Metelkova has a story to tell to those who are brave enough to listen.
Here, history has been wallpapered over but not forgotten. Housed within the ex-military base which served first the Austro-Hungarian empire and then as Slovenia’s headquarters of the Yugoslav army, the political significance of Metelkova’s drastic makeover does not go unnoticed. Now an autonomous social centre for Ljubljana’s liberal youth, the buildings which make up this alternative neighbourhood are squats, inhabited by artists, activists and students since the early nineties.
Metelkova Art Centre today is a place of peace, where those from all corners of society can come together in a celebration of diversity; and celebrate they do. The housing complex hosts a range of concerts, DJ sets, art exhibitions and more, paying homage to Ljubljana’s creative community. In fact, ateliers and studios of these local artists can be found within the brazenly decorated walls of the barracks, as well as the offices of LGBTQIA+ associations. The concerts, raves, and club nights are said to make up almost half of Ljubljana’s music scene.
Finding Peace Among the Mountains of Slovenia
The art itself is conflicting, expressive, invoking a sort of awestruck disquiet in visitors; doubtlessly, this is deliberate. Although the controversy of Metelkova has, in recent years, faded greatly thanks to the centre’s indisputable contribution to Ljubljana’s tourism and cultural income, something about this corner of Slovenia remains stubbornly rebellious. Metelkova is a safe haven for the under-represented, a place of freedom and liberation for those who long to express their true selves. In part, this is achieved – and protected – by inflicting a certain discomfort on passing visitors, forcing them to face their own prejudices and check their judgment at the door.
