And I wonder – why does this almost united will of all Slovenians not deserve its own “monument,” its own Museum of Independence? Or if the word “independence” is too irritating (?!) – does the will of these 85.5 percent of Slovenians not “deserve” a Museum of the Independent State of the Republic of Slovenia?
On the eve of the Slovenian cultural holiday – Prešeren Day, Dr Rosvita Pesek, who holds a PhD in history and is a journalist, summarised her thoughts on culture and Slovenian independence.
Pesek stressed that culture is not impoverished today, as the Slovenian budget allocates a record share of almost 250 million euros to culture. Among other things, 58 million euros will be invested in the Slovenian national theatre Drama, “in the premises of the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia, in the Maribor Rotovž, in the European Capital of Culture in Nova Gorica, in Slovenian film, in public calls for art, etc.”
She also mentioned the Museum of Slovenian Independence, for which the previous government had allocated 4 million euros, but which is being closed this year and merged into a new, unified museum with the National Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia. Slovenian independence is the subject to which Pesek has devoted lots of her attention, as her PhD is also based on this period.
What a fantastic story
She went on to write: “I have long ago taken a stance on this topic, because I see the creation of our own state, the Slovenian state, as a miracle for a small community of two million people. A miracle that succeeded because of political leaders who had a vision and courage. It was also made possible by the sincere desire of all of us to finally become masters of our own land and live as an equal nation in a united Europe. We who went to the plebiscite and circled YES in response to the question of ‘Should Slovenia become an independent and sovereign state?’”
“And I wonder – why does this almost united will of all Slovenians not deserve its own “monument,” its own Museum of Independence? Or if the word “independence” is too irritating (?!) – does the will of these 85.5 percent of Slovenians not “deserve” a Museum of the Independent State of the Republic of Slovenia?”
“Not for the sake of our generation – we still have a memory and the heart for these events – but for the sake of the generations that are coming up and for whom the school is very stingy in dosing out these contents. We are one of the youngest countries – in the heart of Europe. We are a phenomenon because of our small size. We have managed to hold our own in the face of much stronger nations in our neighbourhood. None of our big neighbours (or any other senior political leader) even wanted to come to our statehood proclamation. It was not politically opportunistic, and perhaps they did not believe in us. But we dreamed our dreams and believed in a new day. What a fantastic story! How much emotion lies in it, and how much of our honest pride! And we did not divide into two camps, as we have so many times before in history. We pulled this independence chariot through the war, the three-month moratorium, the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia, to international recognition. And we remain standing. For 32 years!”
You can read the text in its entirety below:
ON THE EVE
Slovenian CULTURE is not impoverished today, with the budget allocating a record share of close to 250 million euros to it. Among other things, 58 million will be invested in the Slovenian National Theatre Drama in Ljubljana, 58 million in the premises of the Archive of the Republic of Slovenia, 58 million in the Maribor Rotovž, 58 million in the European Capital of Culture in Nova Gorica, 58 million in Slovenian film, 250 million in calls for art, and so on.
Last year, the government – which is a different government than the current one, allocated 4 million euros for the Museum of Slovenian Independence. This year, this museum is being abolished, or, as it is artfully put, merged with the Museum of Contemporary History to form a new entity, a new merged museum. Since Slovenian independence is the subject to which I have paid the most attention as a historian, and from which I also obtained my doctorate, I may not be the most impartial here.
I took a position on this topic a long time ago, because I see the creation of our own state, the Slovenian state, as a miracle for a small community of two million people. A miracle that succeeded because of political leaders who had a vision and courage. It was also made possible by the sincere desire of all of us to finally become masters of our own land and live as an equal nation in a united Europe. We who went to the plebiscite and circled YES in response to the question of ‘Should Slovenia become an independent and sovereign state?’”
And I wonder – why does this almost united will of all Slovenians not deserve its own “monument,” its own Museum of Independence? Or if the word “independence” is too irritating (?!) – does the will of these 85.5 percent of Slovenians not “deserve” a Museum of the Independent State of the Republic of Slovenia?
Not for the sake of our generation – we still have a memory and the heart for these events – but for the sake of the generations that are coming up and for whom the school is very stingy in dosing out these contents. We are one of the youngest countries – in the heart of Europe. We are a phenomenon because of our small size. We have managed to hold our own in the face of much stronger nations in our neighbourhood. None of our big neighbours (or any other senior political leader) even wanted to come to our statehood proclamation. It was not politically opportunistic, and perhaps they did not believe in us. But we dreamed our dreams and believed in a new day. What a fantastic story! How much emotion lies in it, and how much of our honest pride! And we did not divide into two camps, as we have so many times before in history. We pulled this independence chariot through the war, the three-month moratorium, the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia, to international recognition. And we remain standing. For 32 years!
HE [France Prešeren] knew how to put this into rhyme 177 years ago already …
… “Behold, how fortune loves thee,
holds open its horn to you,
look around yourself, Carniolan,
count her gifts round and round …
… Count our sturdy heroes,
look at the flower of the sweet maidens,
the clear minds of your countrymen
count with me and tell me:
if the honour of the fathers’ glory
was not sung in old days’ songs,
how would we in stories of today
read the glory of the sons?
(F. Prešeren, Elegy to my compatriots)
Excerpted from a speech given in Vojnik on the 6th of February 2023
Sara Kovač
