February 8 is a Slovenian cultural holiday, a day when we remember the death of the Slovenian poet France Prešeren. Supply teaching lessons of Slovenian language and culture were festive on this day, and we refreshed the memory of the poet through creative workshops.
Curators of the Gorenjska Museum Kranj Anja Poštrak and Barbara Kalan were with us. Three workshops for children and youth were organized at the Elementary School “G. S. Rakovski”. Students wrote with a goose feather, painted pictures of clothes from the romantic period and posted scenes from Prešeren's life around the place on the map of Gorenjska (birth house, Prešeren Theatre, Prešeren Grove, Prešeren Square...).
Kranj is Prešeren's city, France Prešern died there and was buried there. The curators told what was happening in Kranj on February 8, showed various picture books of Prešeren's works, and especially pointed out the message of Zdravljica to the young people. The young people also got to know the life and work of Valentin Vodnik, since the Gorenjska Museum Kranj organized the exhibition “Valentin Vodnik - the first poet of Kranj” in the year of Vodnik.
The purpose of the workshops was to bring young people closer to the life and work of two important Slovenian artists: Valentin Vodnik, who worked during the Enlightenment, and France Prešeren, who created during the Romantic period. Students learn the most if they are active themselves, and creative workshops will surely be remembered. As a souvenir, they also received a book of Prešeren's poems.
Barbara Hanuš
Translation: Ana Marjanović
