Who organises the Cultural Bazaar?
The project’s initiators and organisers are the Ministry of Culture, the Ministry of Education, and the National Education Institute of Slovenia. The executive producer is Cankarjev dom Ljubljana. The project is implemented in cooperation with more than 300 professional cultural institutions and cultural workers active in all areas of culture.
Each year, the project is joined by partners from other sectors: in 2024, our partners are CPI – Institute of the RS for Vocational Education and Training, the Ministry of Natural Resources and Spatial Planning, as well as the Ministry of Health.
What does the Cultural Bazaar offer?
Main national professional training
Each year, Cankarjev dom Ljubljana provides the venue for the Cultural Bazaar, a one-day national professional training initiative aimed at teachers and other education staff and cultural workers, the wider specialised public – professionals who can incorporate arts and cultural education subjects in their work (health, environment and spatial planning, sport, agriculture and nutrition, …), as well as students. Moreover, we invite parents and everyone aiming to foster children’s and young people’s appreciation of quality culture, to provide them with creative ways of spending their leisure time or to promote quality cultural literacy.
Cankarjev dom’s conference rooms and halls host numerous lectures, presentations, workshops, performances, film screenings and guided tours of exhibitions, while almost 300 cultural institutions and various independent cultural workers from all over Slovenia present their wide-ranging programmes in the exhibition areas extending across CD’s three foyers.
Photo © Nada Žgank
Cultural Bazaar in a region
Since 2017, the Cultural Bazaar national professional training projects have been held biennially in one of Slovenia’s regions (2017 and 2021 – Maribor, in cooperation with the Slovene National Theatre SNG Maribor, 2019 – Nova Gorica, in cooperation with the Slovene National Theatre SNG Nova Gorica, 2023 – Koper, in cooperation with the Koper Theatre). The regional Cultural Bazaars host both regional and Slovenia-wide cultural institutions, presenting their programmes within the context of the project scheme.
National network of arts and cultural education coordinators
Since 2014, the project has also focused on developing a National Network of Arts and Cultural Education Coordinators that connects educational institutions, cultural institutions, and local communities. Arts and cultural education coordinators enjoy the option of registering on the Cultural Bazaar’s web portal. A monthly newsletter is circulated among registered coordinators featuring updates and the latest developments in arts and cultural education. The registered coordinators have exclusive access to the portal’s restricted pages containing additional free content.
Photo © Nada Žgank
Cultural Bazaar’s web portal
Cultural Bazaar’s web portal serves as an information point for the entire national project. It includes an online catalogue of arts and cultural education programmes and provides updates on arts and cultural education, as well as information on related portals and projects. An important part of the portal is the ‘Literature’ section containing national and international strategy documents and national and international specialist publications concerning all areas of arts and cultural education.
Online catalogue of arts and cultural education programmes
Every school year the Cultural Bazaar produces an e-catalogue of current arts and cultural education programmes, issued in the form of an online directory of Slovenian cultural institutions in this field. The catalogue’s design enables information to be obtained according to a specific arts and culture area, children’s and young people’s age group, as well as according to region. It includes direct contacts and links to arts and cultural education coordinators in cultural institutions, etc. It also provides information on specialised training programmes for education staff and cultural workers (authors, artists, educators from museums, theatres, libraries, …).
Aims of the Cultural Bazaar
Raising and spreading awareness of the importance of arts and cultural education in educational institutions and society at large;
Presenting quality professional cultural education projects and programmes;
Presenting and encouraging collaborations between cultural institutions and educational institutions – creative partnerships;
Encouraging creative partnerships among various sectors that recognise arts and cultural education as an important component of projects in their fields;
Encouraging creativity of children, young people and adults, and highlighting the opportunities offered by art/culture in the educational process (lifelong learning dimension), with a view to both assisting their professional development and promoting quality and creative ways of spending leisure time;
Strengthening cooperation among cultural institutions in a particular field and among different fields of culture and the arts.
Why attend
For teachers and other education staff
The Cultural Bazaar is aimed at everyone wishing to:
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Receive interesting professional in-service training – you choose from the programme of events according to your needs and preferences;
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Save time, trouble and energy – you’ll discover Slovenia’s entire cultural output for children and young people in a single day and in one place, and learn about the possibilities for additional professional training in various fields of culture and the arts;
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Discover new ways of linking culture with other interdisciplinary subjects (health, sport, gastronomy, environment, and spatial planning, …);
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Learn how to choose a suitable cultural event for children, pupils or students, get new ideas for cultural projects that you can carry out yourselves or in cooperation with cultural institutions and artists;
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Discover ways of organising an interesting cultural day in kindergartens and schools or how to arrange a cultural day in a cultural institution;
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Organise a new extracurricular activity, a optional school subject, an extramural activity in the field of culture, or establish a long-term partnership with a cultural institution or an individual cultural worker;
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Provide children, young people and their parents with advice on creative and quality leisure time activities.
For cultural workers
The Cultural Bazaar is aimed at everyone wishing to:
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Receive interesting professional training – you choose from the programme of events according to your needs and preferences;
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Present cultural programmes and projects for children and young people or their professional training programmes in a single day and in one place;
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Discover ways of linking culture with other interdisciplinary subjects (health, sport, gastronomy, environment, and spatial planning, …);
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Obtain information on other cultural institutions and meet cultural workers in their field and other areas, and establish partnerships;
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Learn how to organise a suitable cultural event for children, pupils or students, get new ideas for cultural projects that they can carry out themselves, in cooperation with other cultural institutions and artists, or in cooperation with educational institutions;
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Offer suggestions on how to organise an interesting cultural day in a kindergarten or school, or arrange for a cultural day to be organised in their institution;
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Organise, together with a kindergarten or school, a new extracurricular activity, mandatory optional school subject, or an extramural activity in the field of culture, or establish a long-term cooperation.
For parents and everyone aiming to foster appreciation of quality culture in children and young people
The Cultural Bazaar is aimed at everyone wishing to:
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Obtain information, in a single day and in one place, on Slovenian cultural institutions and artists across the full spectrum of arts and culture;
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Obtain information on cultural events (theatre, cinema, music, …) that children and young people can attend as part of their preschool or school syllabus, in their spare time, alone, with their family members, or within the context of different societies/clubs;
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Discover ways of linking culture with other interdisciplinary subjects (health, sports, gastronomy, environment, and spatial planning, …);
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Learn about the many creative and quality leisure time activities for children and young people throughout Slovenia;
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Learn about the many admission-free events organised by cultural institutions throughout the year;
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Discover online resources providing information on cultural programmes for children, young people and families throughout the year;
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Recognise how quality arts and cultural education can enhance the overall development of children and young people.
