Iniciatíva na založenie Fóra slovanských kultúr (FSK) sa zrodila v roku 2002. Širším východiskom pre jeho vznik boli moderné globalizačné procesy a skutočnosť, že slovanské krajiny vstúpili do Európskej únie. V decembri toho roku sa na podnet slovinskej ministerky kultúry v obci Brdo pri Kranju v Slovinsku neformálne stretli ministri kultúry z krajín, ktorých obyvatelia hovoria slovanskými jazykmi. Po obsiahlych predbežných prípravách a dohodách sa vypracovalo spoločné vyhlásenie, aby krajiny posilnili a podnecovali vzájomnú spoluprácu v oblasti kultúry v najširšom slova zmysle a urýchlili spoluprácu v európskych a ďalších medzinárodných organizáciách v rámci Fóra slovanských kultúr, ktoré bude mať sídlo v Ľubľane. Medzinárodná inštitúcia Fórum slovanských kultúr bola založená v roku 2004 vládou Slovinskej republiky. Členov do prvej správnej rady FSK vymenovali Slovinsko, Bulharsko, Bosna a Hercegovina, Chorvátsko, Severné Macedónsko, Poľsko, Rusko a Srbsko a Čierna Hora. Ustanovujúce zasadnutie Správnej rady FSK sa uskutočnilo 29. júna 2004 v Ľubľane. 20. a 21. marca 2006 sa v Ľubľane uskutočnilo aj ustanovujúce zasadnutie Programovej rady FSK.

Inštitúcia si pôvodne stanovila dva dlhodobé ciele:

• Podnecovanie rozvoja kultúrnej spolupráce medzi všetkými krajinami, ktorých obyvatelia hovoria slovanskými jazykmi. Výmenou informácií a poznatkov a ich priamym šírením medzi verejnosťou môže prispieť k lepšiemu vzájomnému poznaniu zúčastnených krajín.
• Podnecovanie rozvoja kultúrnej spolupráce medzi všetkými krajinami sveta. Aby slovanské kultúry boli rozpoznateľné a atraktívne aj za jazykovými hranicami slovanských krajín. Podpora väčšieho záujmu a lepšieho porozumenia sveta, najmä v rámci EÚ a iných jazykových oblastí sveta.

Inštitúcia od samého začiatku prostredníctvom svojich projektov presadzuje kultúrnu spoluprácu, vzájomné spoznávanie a dialóg kultúrnych dejateľov slovanských krajín, ktoré sú založené na rovnocennej účasti, a nielen na jazykovom nacionalizme, čo kedysi bolo cieľom panslavizmu. FSK posilňuje aktivity spolupráce v oblasti umenia, literatúry, vzdelávania a výskumu.

Dôležitým faktorom pri formovaní vlastnej národnej kultúry je uvedomovať si, v čom sa líši od iných, aj keď do veľkej miery príbuzných kultúr. Ak sa na svoju vlastnú kultúru pozeráme ako na izolovaný, neopakovateľný jav, potom neexistuje ani potreba naďalej ju rozvíjať, obohacovať ju a pýšiť sa ňou pred ostatnými – výnimočnosť kultúry sa zrodí až vtedy, keď svoju kultúru oddelíme od ostatných. Pritom však musíme najprv dobre poznať iné kultúry a umožniť im prekročiť svoj kultúrny prah, pretože iba pri splynutí rôznych kultúr môžeme skutočne pochopiť a správne vyhodnotiť svoju vlastnú výnimočnosť.

Sídlo inštitúcie

Vďaka svojej geopolitickej polohe je Slovinsko „prirodzeným“ iniciátorom uvedeného spájania – spájania krajín, v ktorých hovoríme slovanskými jazykmi. Nachádza sa na západnom okraji slovanského sveta a zároveň je členskou krajinou EÚ. Spolu so záujmom o vlastnú kultúru a identitu prináša do EÚ širší záujem o spájanie, čo zvyšuje reputáciu a posilňuje jeho postavenie v medzinárodnom spoločenstve. Úloha a iniciatíva Slovinska sa zakladá na myšlienke zjednocovania na princípe rovnocenného partnerstva všetkých účastníkov. Kultúra a umelecká produkcia slovanských krajín zanechali v histórii pozoruhodné úspechy a hmatateľné stopy v globálnom meradle. Niekedy vzniká dojem, že súčasná kultúrna produkcia tzv. „slovanského východu“ je okrajová, že nie je integrovaná do tzv. „západného sveta“ umenia. V FSK zastávame postoj, že tvorivá sila a umelecký potenciál našich krajín sú výrazne väčšie, ako by sa dalo usúdiť z ich selektívnej prítomnosti v západnom umeleckom systéme. Preto je jednou z úloh FSK, aby sme boli aktuálni vo svojom spochybňovaní súčasného postavenia umenia a kultúry v najširšom slova zmysle.

V roku 2012 inštitúcia prijala strategický plán, v ktorom re-definovala svoje poslanie: „FSK podporuje tvorivosť slovanských kultúr“. Hlavné činnosti FSK, v ktorých plnení stále pokračujeme, sú:

• podpora informačného toku v oblasti kultúry vo všetkých zúčastnených krajinách,
• podpora realizácie spoločných projektov z oblastí kultúry, vedy a cestovného ruchu,
• organizovanie vzdelávacích programov (vo forme štipendií),
• podpora mobility umelcov medzi zúčastnenými krajinami,
• zaznamenávanie iniciatív, týkajúcich sa kultúrnych projektov, výmen alebo hosťovaní zo všetkých zúčastnených krajín,
• podpora spoločného výskumu,
• podpora spolupráce v oblasti lingvistiky a slovanských štúdií vo všeobecnosti,
• organizovanie konferencií, seminárov, kolokvií a iných stretnutí.

Pri založení Medzinárodnej inštitúcie – Fóra slovanských kultúr sme napísali:

„Jednotným a jasným cieľom Medzinárodnej inštitúcie – Fóra slovanských kultúr je nielen kvalitná podpora slovanskej spolupráce, ale aj vytváranie spoločenských podmienok smerom k otvorenej a plodnej tvorivosti slovanských kultúr.“

Po 16 rokoch fungovania môžeme s veľkou radosťou skonštatovať, že sme dosiahli tento cieľ a úspešne pokračujeme v jeho plnení.

Literary writing is an important constituent of national culture, as it has an added value that no other artistic discipline possesses: language, which German Romantic philosophers claimed was the primary source of national identity. It is also what our first project, the 100 Slavic Novels is all about: promoting and strengthening language and cultural exchange, which is even more challenging due to our linguistic kinship and joint “transition”. But the collection aims beyond promoting mutual understanding between Slavic nations, its goal is also to spread the word of the best of Slavic creativity among non-Slavic literature lovers. The project took off in 2006, when members, under the baton of Andreja Rihter, defined the basic parameters of cooperation at meetings in Belgrade in Ljubljana. In the same year, the book series received its visual identity. The first translations came out in Slovenia, Serbia, Slovakia and North Macedonia, and soon after also in Russia. Later they were joined by Belarus, Bolgaria, Croatia and Montenegro.

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At the Forum of Slavic Cultures we have been actively involved also in a number of literary festivals: Slavic Bridge (Ljubljana, Strasbourg), Slavic Embrace (Varna – Bulgaria), Struga Poetry Evenings (Struga – Macedonia), Days of Poetry and Wine (Medana, Ptuj – Slovenia) and Stranou (Beroun – the Czech Republic), writers’ meetings at the Tolstoy estate Yasnaya Polyana, Fabula Festival (Ljubljana) and most recently also in the Slavic Garden at the Pula Book Fair(y) (Croatia, 2019). We presented our 100 Slavic Novels at several exhibitions across Europe; among the most notable was the exhibition at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in 2016, when we celebrated its 10^th anniversary. In nearly 15 years of our operation our book series has made an appearance at a number of events, including conferences, round tables, exhibitions and readings in Serbia (2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019), Croatia (2018), England (2016), Germany (2018), Russia (2017, 2018, 2019), China (2016), Montenegro, North Macedonia (2014), the Czech Republic (2017), Slovakia (2018), Austria (2017), Brazil (SLAWA – 2015) and Slovenia (2016, 2017, 2018 PEN, 2019). Between 2010 – 2014 the FSK cooperated with the Public Fund for Cultural Activities in the mobility programme for artists, predominantly writers.

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Upon its inception, the Forum of Slavic Cultures defined preservation and promotion of Slavic cultural heritage as one of the priorities of its mission, in particular in terms of ethnography, folklore studies, museology and archival science, highlighting as one of its goals the establishment of study programmes (scholarships) and exchange schemes for curators, restorers and similar, to promote mobility of experts between participating countries.

More systematic activities began in 2006, when the Programme Council adopted its heritage guidelines, but the first concrete projects took place in 2011 when the heritage project group met for the first time:

• preparation and organisation of the first joint exhibition My portrait for the museum, which opened in 2012 at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. The project involved … institutions from … countries;
• we started preparations for the Živa Award for the best Slavic museum, which was conferred for the first time in Skopje in 2014.
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• In 2012, in the framework of the Maribor – European Capital of Culture programme and in cooperation with the Assembly of the Council of Europe we organised the conference: The History of Socialism: Film and Technical Heritage.
• In 2006 we organised the first seminars on the training of museum professionals. The first seminar for directors of museums of North Macedonia was held in Ohrid, and was organised by Andreja Rihter with Massimo Negri (EMA) and the Ministry of Culture of North Macedonia. Our seminars continued in North Macedonia in cooperation with ICOM and the Museum of Macedonia, and in Serbia in collaboration with the Gallery of Matica Srpska and the Ministry of Culture. In Slovenia we were actively involved in organising instructional seminars in the framework of the International Summer School of Museology.

Individual educational projects of the International Summer School of Museology in Piran have grown considerably. Since 2018 they take place in the framework of Piranova, International Heritage Research Centre in Piran.

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The FSK has been active in education for a number of years, in particular at the international summer school META Humanities, which is organised by the University of Primorska in Koper, and at the International Seminar of Slovenian Language, Literature and Culture, which is organised by the Centre for Slovene as the Second/Foreign Language.

We have been pursuing our primary goal, collaboration in joint projects within our respective countries, also in the framework of the project Together. The project connects state and national archives. This collaboration has generated a number of joint exhibitions, publications and conferences. The FSK co-organised the 1^st conference of national archives of Slavic countries in Lipica in 2010 and at the initiative of the state archives began working towards their collaboration.

The first independent conference thus took place in 2015 in Ljubljana and focused on World War I. The second conference took place in Dubrovnik in 2016, in cooperation with Croatian State Archives and ICARUS Croatia. The third conference took place in Warsaw in 2017 in cooperation with the State Archives of Poland. Our collaborations take place also through joint exhibitions: Slavic Capitals in 2D, 2013, at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris, which travelled to Cetinje later the same year, and to Skopje, Belgrade and Sofia in 2014. The archives organised and put on the exhibition Women and the Great War at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in 2019. The exhibition was opened by Saniye Gulser Corat, UNESCO’s director for gender equality.

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Exhibitions are an especially prominent feature of our collaboration with museums and galleries. As early as in 2008, the FSK in collaboration with the Slovenian Ethnographic Museum, ZRC SAZU and the Russian Ethnographic Museum of St. Petersburg organised a very well-received ethnographic exhibition of national costumes in Brussels. The exhibition was accompanied with a film on DVD, Les Slaves de l’Europe by Naško Križnar (ZRC SAZU).

Another notable event was our exhibition of intangible heritage – Slavic Carnivals, which premiered in June 2014 at UNESCO’s headquarters in Paris. It featured 12 museums from 12 Slavic speaking countries and was accompanied with a catalogue. The exhibition opened on 3 June 2014 with inaugural addresses by Mechtild Rossler, Deputy Director of UNESCO’s Heritage Division, Hans Martin – Hinz, president of the International Council of Museums ICOM, Andreja Rihter, Director of the FSK and Bojana Roglej Škafar, Director of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. In 2015, the exhibition travelled to Pazin/Croatia (Ethnographic Museum of Istria), Belgrade/Serbia (Ethnographic Museum), Banja Luka/Bosnia and Herzegovina (Museum of the Republic of Srpska) and Kotor/Montenegro (Maritime Museum). In 2016, the exhibition visited St. Petersburg/Russia, where it was on show at the Russian Ethnography Museum.

Another important exhibition was a double show World Heritage in the Slavic World (photography) and Slavs. Legends Past and Present (folklore) at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris in 2011. The same year we organised a one-off exhibition on one of the most important artefacts of the Slavic cultural heritage – the 11^th-century Codex Suprasliensis, which took place in Brdo pri Kranju. The FSK also helped in the documentary film on the ethnologist and linguist Matija Majar-Ziljski Illusions Lost, we published a history monograph on meetings at the Russian Chapel on Vršič (2007) and the proceedings Slovenian Diplomats in the Slavic World (2010).

Our second goal was pursued through various activities: scientific symposia of the Slovenian Science Institute in Vienna Reformation in Central Europe (2008) and 1989-2009: Religion and a Shift in East and Southeast Europe (2009); we also make regular appearances at the UNESCO headquarters. In addition to said exhibitions we should point out the presentation of At the Table with the Slavs, the first world monograph on Slavic cuisines, in Milan (2015), Beijing (2016) and Jamtli, Sweden (2017). We cooperate with the Council of Europe – Assembly of the Council of Europe, and in the last three years also with the European Institute of Cultural Routes of the Council of Europe from Luxemburg.

The FSK gave the initiative for the association Women Writers’ at the Beginning of the 20^th Century. Its goal is to devise and manage a cultural route dedicated to women writers, which will shed light on the history of human rights and democracy in Europe, present the extraordinary efforts of women writers in these processes and expand research into women’s writing in the context of European history, identity and values. Through inspiring presentations and dynamic cultural activities it will introduce the life and work of women writers to wider audiences, and strengthen and consolidate scientific, cultural and tourist exploration of women’s writing, the places that marked them and their lives. The route begins in our region and will extend across Europe.

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Our last project is called Transformations – FROM the Slavic Clothing Tradition TO Contemporary Designs. Its aim is to bring together creative fashion efforts from our countries and present them to the world. We create and build a long-lasting umbrella platform of fashion creativity of Slavic countries for both the general and professional public in Slovenia and abroad.

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