On Saturday, July 3, 2021, the Office for Slovenians Abroad organise the event "Welcome home" in the Slovenian town of Ribnica. The Triglav Association attended the celebration called "To Slovenia for 30 years".
On that occasion, a round table "Contribution of Slovenian emigrants to the independence of Slovenia" of the Slovenian Emigrant Association was organised, a documentary film shown and an exhibition opened: Rešetari s Crvenog krsta - Vijek postojanja u Beogradu. (Workshops of master Ivan Debeljak) of the Slovenian Association Sava from Belgrade, Serbia. This was followed by a puppet show "Friendship" performed by the organisation Youth from Klagenfurt, Austria, and by a central presentation of Slovenians Abroad. Introductory speech was delivered by the Minister for Slovenians Abroad, Helena Jaklitsch, PhD, President of the World Slovenian Congress, Boris Pleskovic, PhD, and the mayor of Ribnica, Samo Pogorelc. The artistic programme consisted of performance by opera singer Lucas Somoza Osterc and the cultural group Godba na pihala Šmihel (Austria), Folklore group Sakalovci (Hungary) Danni Stražar (Sweden), Folklore group KPD Bazovica, Rijeka (Croatia), RAST 49 and 50 (Argentina) and Aleksi Jercog & friends (Italy). At the end, there was a concert in honour of the 30th anniversary of Slovenia's independence with the performance of the ensemble of SAŠA AVSENIK: "ALL THE BEST, SLOVENIA!"
This was also an opportunity to meet our acquaintances and friends from the Office for Slovenians Abroad, the Association for the Development of Voluntary Work Novo Mesto, the Slovenian Emigrant Association, KPD Bazovica from Rijeka and to meet Slovenian emigrants from Italy, Austria and Hungary.
Before arriving in Ribnica, a small place not far from Ljubljana, we stopped in Novo Mesto and hung out with Branka Bukovec and representatives of the Association for the Development of Voluntary Work. After refreshments, we headed to the event which took place at the fortress in Ribnica, in a beautiful peaceful environment of the town which is known for local crafts of dry-making and pottery, which has a centuries-old tradition in these places. The production of "Ribnica dry goods" is one of the oldest, but at the same time very unique home crafts. Preservation, education and promotion of dry goods and pottery are taken care of by the Public Institution Handicraft Centre Ribnica, Institute for Handicrafts, Museum and Gallery Activities.
An interesting demonstration of making dry goods and pottery with local craftsmen who demonstrated the magical process of creating products from wood and clay could be seen in the courtyard of the fortress next to the stands where Slovenians from Austria, Italy and Hungary presented themselves. In the centre of town is the church of St. Stefan, decorated with bell towers, the so-called Ribnica Crown, one of the last works of the architect Jože Plečnik.
After the event, we headed to Ljubljana and the next day we had the opportunity to walk along the Ljubljanica, refresh in some of many bars along the river or near Tromostovje and visit the Fortress of Ljubljana.
Ana Marjanović
Translation Ana Marjanović
