Issv President's Report 2008

Institute for Slovenian Studies of Victoria Inc. President’s Report 1 July 2007 to 30 December 2008

1. Projects in Australia and Slovenia Launch of the Archive of Slovenian Emigrant Handicrafts in Victoria on 1 March 2008 and new web site www.rocnadela.org The archives were presented at the 11th Slovenian Festival of Victoria, held by CSOV at Jadran Social Club, Digger’s Rest. The event was the launch of the online exhibition of handicrafts made in Victoria (twenty exhibitors). It is the first online exhibition on Slovenian handicrafts. It is also the first cooperative web project between Slovene Ethnographic Museum of Ljubljana and another organization. A catalogue edition (issue ISSN 0354-0316) of three articles on the exhibition in the SEM journal Etnolog 18/2008, pp231-255, was printed in Ljubljana, December 2008. It consists of two articles on the exhibition by Daša Koprivec and Aleksandra Ceferin; the second author’s article is in both Slovenian and English. It contains many coloured photographs documenting the project. Each exhibitor is to be sent a copy of the catalogue by SEM, by special request from A. Ceferin. Etnolog and a copy of the catalogue are held in the ISSV Library. Ethnolog issues can be purchased from SEM. Archives of Handicrafts project 2009 – 2010 The project is continuing with anticipated contributions from new exhibitors, including other states of Australia, possibly extending to other countries. If funding is available then a field trip will be taken to Sydney and elsewhere. Contact has already been made in Sydney and Wollongong. Background on Handicrafts archives Two projects have been initiated by Aleksandra Ceferin, in collaboration with Daša Koprivec in Ljubljana, in March 2005, A. Ceferin had a meeting with D. Koprivec, (senior curator for the Slovenian immigrant collection, of the Ethnographic Museum of Ljubljana, and editor of the periodical of the museum, Etnolog and proposed a viable community project - an exhibition of Slovenian handicrafts in Victoria. ISSV sent an invitation to D. Koprivec to investigate handicrafts in Australia. Her application for a field trip grant, from the Ministry of Culture and Foreign Affairs of Slovenia in December was successful. ISSV coordinated and organized her visit to Melbourne for May and June 2006. A. Ceferin contacted Slovenian clubs of Melbourne and Geelong for community meetings and publicity, and photographed exhibition items (400 photos). Proposal: Slovenia House - Slovenska Hiša An invitation was sent to Sasha Ceferin to participate in a formal program of lectures at the Eighth All Slovenian Meeting (VIII Vseslovensko srečanje) on 3 July 2008 in Ljubljana. As she couldn’t attend she sent her contribution to Mr. Janez Kramberger, President of the Commission for Relations with Slovenes across the Borders and in the World, which was included in the program. Her letter was read to the Parliament by Peter Mandelj the representative of Slovenes in Australia. The letter deals with questions of: "Communication with the diaspora" in the general theme of "Communication with the lost generation", "Komunikacije z izgubljeno generacijo", and

offers some practical proposals. It discusses the author's proposal of a "Slovenia House" in Slovenia, and the importance of partnership projects between Slovenia and Slovenes abroad. The document is on view online at Scribd web site at, http://www.pdfcoke.com/thezaurus. Link http://www.pdfcoke.com/doc/12824569/All-Slovenian-Meeting-3-July-2008-Contribution-by-ALCeferin-ISSV-Inc The proposal was first made in 2007 and submitted to the first Council for Slovenes in the World, 3 July 2007. As there was no formal response to this submission the proposal was again highlighted in the 2008 paper. Link http://www.thezaurus.com/ISSV/Proposal_Slovenia_House_Slovenska_hisa

2. Thezaurus web site ww.thezaurus.com New online texts published in 2008 in several projects: Sloveniana webzine Project: Slovenian myths and legends series – Slovenski miti in legende: Slovenian folk tales is the first bilingual Slovenian/ English publication on the web (April 2008), with a selection of twenty-two tales. Permission was obtained from the publisher of “Bajke in Pripovedke slovenskega ljudstva”,by Jakob Kelemina (reprinted 1997, first edition 1930). There are eight categories: Stvarjenje sveta, Ajdi in Velikani, Povodni Mož, Vile/Žalžene/Bele žene, Škrati, Mitična bitja, Bela kača, Čatež, Zmaj, Zlatorog. Articles series: Vernacular Architecture: “Slovenian Farmhouses and Homesteads” by Tomaž Štefe, series of eight articles; Notable Slovenes: “France Prešeren”, lecture by Prof. Miran Hladnik, “Anton Janša apiarist”, by Aleksandra Ceferin; Cultural heritage: “Slovenian cuisine” by Marinka Pečjak. All the articles are featured with a photo album. Language: New language learning materials presented in Slovenian with English translation. Slovenian Proverbs - slovenski pregovori; Slovenian riddles - slovenske uganke; Slovenian aphorisms by Žarko Petan. The translations have been done by Aleksandra Ceferin and Sandi Ceferin. ISSV Archives: Students of Slovenian 1977 - 2005 list; Slovenian language studies in Victoria Bibliography. Webclassroom: Six new topics were published in March 2008; Shopping therapy, Ljubljansko barje, Honey bee of Carniola, Nature parks, Tales of rivers, and Archaeological heritage. Sloveniana Gallery – Photologs: New photo albums have been published in various categories by Aleksandra Ceferin of trips in Slovenia and Australia. There are also contributions by members Milan Ceferin, Slavec Frankovič, and Maja Obreza. Community: New articles have been written about individuals and community events in multicultural Victoria. This section is regarded as integral in a presentation ofSlovenian cultural identity activities and in the profile of cultural heritage and traditions maintained by Slovenes and descendants in Australia.

3. ISSV Sponsors The Office of Slovenes Abroad, Department of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia is the main sponsor since 2000. ISSV is required to lodge a grant application each year to Slovenia. This entails lodging detailed costing of new yearly projects. The grant itself is not guaranteed and it is not known how much will be given. The grant funds cover general expenses of maintaining a web site, with a remainder for project development. For the greater part, project activity, some equipment and web programming was provided gratis by sponsors, members and

donors. A grant was received by Victorian Multicultural Commission for the launch of Handicrafts, and by Education Department of Victoria, for providing language resources.

4. ISSV activity Promotion and news about ISSV 1. ISSV provides information to the online community about Slovenian language resources and culture events in Australia and Slovenia on Thezaurus forums, and in the news section of Community category of Thezaurus web site. In year 2007 to 2008 articles were written about the Handicrafts exhibition project. A series of Newsletters in English and Slovenian languages about Thezaurus web projects were published online from June 2007 and sent by email to members, subscribers and associated organizations throughout the world. 2. Aleksandra Ceferin was in Slovenia from September to November 2008 representing ISSV, and to do project work. She had meetings with ISSV colleagues in Ljubljana, discussed further projects, and collected project material. She attended: Slovenian Archivists Seminar in Ljubljana, September 2008 There is an article about the program and a photo album of the seminar on the web site. Slovene Slavist Congress in Austria, October 2008 It is an annual event attended in large numbers by academics and teachers of Slovenian from Slovenia and surrounding countries. There is an article about the congress and photo album. 3. The monthly statistics of web site Thezaurus.com, averaged 500,000 hits from over eighty countries this year. The highest number of hits are from: the USA, Slovenia, Australia, European Union, and Canada. 4. Modern Language Teachers’ Association of Victoria committee A. Ceferin represents the Slovenian language, one of twenty single languages, as a MLTAV committee member for Single Language Associations of Victoria. She attends the meetings and informs of ISSV Slovenian language activities. MLTAV facilitates annual language conferences in Melbourne, seminars, workshops, and training for country teachers. MLTAV award 2008 Sasha Ceferin was awarded recognition for outstanding service to language education in Victoria in May 2008 at the Languages Conference, “Celebrating the International Year of Languages”.

5. ISSV organization, and services 1. Official ISSV representative in Slovenia is Bojan Ažman. Other ISSV members who assist in administrative matters and projects in Slovenia are: Jožefa Ažman, Maja Obreza, and Nataša Potočnik. They all reside in Ljubljana. Many others in different parts of Slovenia provide valuable support in ISSV projects. 2. ISSV library has over 1,500 books and increases yearly with new books purchased or donated. It is open Saturdays 2.30-5.30pm during Victorian school terms. The library has recently acquired cultural and language textbooks from Slovenia. These are valuable for selfstudy and research purposes. Slovenian publishers have promised to donate new books yearly to ISSV. They are however unable to provide for the rather high cost of international postage. ISSV library holds several publications, amongst others: five Slovenian journals, Dve Domovini - Two Homelands, Etnolog, Sinfo (in English), Moja Slovenija and the literary journal Sodobnost. Issues of the Australian Slovenian religious and cultural monthly periodical Misli/Thoughts and the academic journal of the Society for Slovene Studies from USA are available for loan; older issues are archived. Australian publications include the journals: VCAA Bulletin, Victorian Multicultural Commission, Babel, and MLTAV. 3. Correspondence dealt with covers a wide-range of queries from around Australia and the USA. They are queries about Slovenian language study for adult beginners. Individuals,

businesses and cultural groups in Slovenia contact us for a variety of reasons. Some are interested in visiting and working in Australia for an extended period of time, some are promoting a product or a service, some are seeking information about sponsorship or support for community performances in Australia. ISSV provides information on Slovenian language studies and related fields. Aleksandra Ceferin President Institute for Slovenian Studies of Victoria Inc.