The ground floor and basement of the building at 22 Glavni trg Square are home to the GT 22 art community, an interdisciplinary laboratory of various artists. Their story began in 2013, when the Sonda Foundation was assigned management of the premises. Under the Guestroom Maribor project, a wall painting entitled We Will Get The Flag was createdon the courtyard wall of the GT 22 building in 2015. The painting carries both significant artistic value and a meaningful message. The theme underlying the painting’s design is based on archival records preserved by the Museum of National Liberation Maribor on the fight of the People’s Liberation Army during World War II. A photograph of the Zidanšek (Pohorje) Brigade marching with a flag received upon the liberation of the hamlet of Gornji Grad in 1944 (30 July--1 August), was used as a basis for the motif. Some depicted scenes are also based on a photograph of the 14th Division, in which soldiers were preparing for their march to the Štajerska region. A red flag and a red star on a side cap stand out in the composition. The figures are indicated by black lines only. The key message is conveyed by the inscription: “We live in a historical moment of oppression, which can only be answered through class struggle”. The inscription is not only a reminder about a historical event but also an attempt to contemporize the topic and to engage the viewer to reconsider their own position in society.
(Ana Kristofič, in the framework of the Creative Path to Knowledge project, Virtual guide; The investment is co-financed by the Republic of Slovenia and the European Union from the European Social Fund)
