BAUNET: Černigoj / Theatre and Works from the Marie-Luise Betlheim Collection

Throughout the history of pedagogical processes it is difficult to find a project that would encompass in practice and in more complexity the concepts and educational methods tailored to suit human needs, as it was in the case of the Bauhaus. In just fourteen years from its foundation, the Bauhaus became much more than a school. It became a humanistic model for the future, which is far from being exhausted, even though it will soon be over 100 years since its beginning. Walter Gropius was not only a founder of the Bauhaus, but is also considered by many to be one of the founders of modernist architecture. As the authors from the Bauhaus fall within the same time frame as the pioneers of Slovenian Expressionism, whose art collections are being kept and presented in the Božidar Jakac Art Museum, we are delighted to have the possibility to combine and present in our new exhibition area the exhibition Černigoj / Theatre from Škofja Loka Museum and works from the Marie-Luise Betlheim Collection, which were part of a large exhibition Bauhaus – Networking Ideas and Practice (BauNet) in the frame of international research project BauNet, organized by the Museum of Contemporary Art in Zagreb. In this way the Slovenian artist August Černigoj (1898 Trieste – 1985 Sežana) is put into context of active Bauhaus artists, during the period when he himself had intensive contacts with this influential school.

The international research project BauNet was created in collaboration with four partners: the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb (a project promoter), the Universalmuseum Joanneum from Graz, the Academy of Fine Arts Sarajevo and the Škofja Loka Museum. The aim of the project was to thoroughly research and present the activities and interaction between the artists from the south-eastern region of Europe, who studied at the renowned international school for architecture, design and visual arts – the Bauhaus, their impact and influence on artistic practices in the south-eastern region of Europe in the fifties and on the legacy of avant-garde movements. The BauNet project was supported by the EU Culture Programme 2007–2013.

Photo: Maruša Lapuh, GBJ archive