An ephemeral reading space at the lighthouse of the picturesque coastal town of Izola invites beachgoers and passers-by to read and socialise. A series of events for children (daily morning readings) and adults animated the space during the hot summer months, culminating in a celebration of the European Day of Languages.
The University of Ljubljana organised the art installation titled “My Reading Room” alongside the lighthouse in Izola in cooperation with numerous project partners. The idea of a spatial artistic installation follows the concept of the Library under the Treetops. It was created by students from different fields of spatial, artistic and technical studies who were learning through work. The aim was to strengthen the awareness of the quality of life that goes beyond consumption and to promote the need to read and acquire knowledge. As part of the project, students published a special multilingual newspaper, Palindrom.
“My Reading Room” was open from 10:00 to 18:00 every day until the end of September. Daily morning readings for the children were held every day at 11:00 and on Tuesdays also at 17:00. It hosted events for all generations organised by local, national and international players.
On 14 September, Europe Readr partners from Egypt, Jordan, Serbia and Slovenia met at the Europe Readr Pavilion to discuss lessons learned and share their ideas on the potential of culture to boost active citizenship among young people.
At the end of September a cultural programme organised by the cultural institutes of the EU countries took place alongside the installation.
The installation was opened on 7 July 2021 by Mayor of Izola Danilo Markočič, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia Gašper Dovžan, President of the Slovenian cluster of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC) network Andreas Pawlitschek, and Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture Alenka Fikfak. Together, they advocated promoting social change through culture, especially reading, as one of the main factors of critical reflection and active citizenship.
Project mentors:
Associate Professor Dr Alenka Fikfak, Assistant Janez Grom, Kristijan Lavtižar, Assistant Professor Dr David Koren, Marko Lazič, Aleš Švigelj, Jan Barič, Professor Dr Grega Bizjak, Lanlan Wei, Assistant Professor Dr Matej Bernard Kobav, Associate Professor Dr Manja Kitek Kuzman, Assistant Professor Gašper Mrak, Assistant Professor Matej Nikšič, Uroš Polanc
Students:
Nina Beganović, Leon Rus, Manca Gjura Godec, Liza Štandeker, Tisa Lozej, Tadej Gregorič, Lovro Pinter, Vladimir Tripković, Laura Fontana, Anže Lopatič, Matija Kunstelj, Alexander Simić, Gašper Luka Pevec, Jure Polanc, Jernej Malik, Blaž Parežnik, Kaja Žnidaršič, Mara Vogrinec, Korina Kuzmić, Katarina Končina, Tajda Hladnik, Lara Zalokar, Tilen Fikfak Peršak
‘Gast Groeber’s short stories in Every Day Just Hides Another put the focus on characters that increasingly distance themselves from their usual surroundings. The story ‘A Village Idyll’ describes the life of a man who has been ostracized by the villagers ever since he ran over a boy with his car. Groeber smartly shows how the real circumstances of the accident, which have an essential influence on our moral judgement, are no longer taken into consideration at all once the culprit is found. Groeber’s description of the threat to the individual by the Others is also cleverly done: in these stories, it is never clear from the start whether the threat is merely imaginary or very real. Interpersonal relations float between the superficial and a precarious intimacy.
What should be highlighted in Every Day Just Hides Another is the obvious desire to achieve a consistent topical conception that only a few texts don’t follow. Groeber also aims at a decidedly literate, yet always natural language, which is quite an achievement given the limited stock of role models. The attempt for example to construe a character perspective using only impersonal phrases and infinitives that the author makes in ‘The Unbearable Weight of Waiting’ is utterly successful.’