The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška (KGLU) is a museum of visual arts, focusing on the collection and study of art from the second half of the 20th century onwards. In addition to its exhibition and administrative spaces in the centre of Slovenj Gradec the Museum also oversees the programme of the Ravne Gallery, which is located in the Cultural Centre in Ravne na Koroškem.
The Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška was founded in 1957 as the Art Pavilion. Those initially responsible for the founding of the gallery and the organizers of the first exhibitions and lectures were members of the so-called Academic Group (established in 1954), comprised of architects Marjan Gnamuš and Mirko Zdovc, philologist Primož Simoniti and painter Karel Pečko. The group’s work soon transformed into a formally established gallery, which was led by Karel Pečko from its founding to 1997.
Already in the 1960s the institution began organizing international exhibitions. In 1966, for the purposes of an ambitious international exhibition, the gallery was expanded and a new exhibition pavilion was built designed specifically for contemporary exhibition projects.
The Gallery’s activities contributed significantly to a the creation of a specific identity of the city of Slovenj Gradec, which was granted the title of UN Messenger of Peace in 1989. Even today, the four large-scale international exhibitions (1966, 1975, 1979 and 1985) organized under the auspices of the United Nations Organization still well represent the mission of the gallery, as they provided the basis for the Museum’s international collection, which carries even greater symbolic meaning in light of current events and developments today.
From the 1990s to the present, the gallery has expanded its work by enlarging the collection and developing the Museum staff’s professional competence and expertise. Decisive steps have been taken towards developing a contemporary institution that manages its collection in accordance with high museum standards and practices and organizes relevant and engaging exhibitions together with other activities that reinforce interaction and cooperation with various audiences and actors.
In addition to its andragogical programs, the gallery has also developed a diverse pedagogical program for children of different age groups. The pedagogical program is especially recognizable for Berneker's creative workshops.
Today, the collection of the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art Koroška is made up of roughly 3000 works. The collection is comprised of works by many foreign and domestic artists and of special larger groups of collections, such as the collection of works by Jože Tisnikar, which is supplemented by the collection Homage to Tisnikar – Homage combines works by Slovenian and foreign artists dealing with subject matter similar to that Tisnikar developed – and collections of works by Franc Berneker, Bogdan Borčić, Valentin Oman, Štedan Planinc and Pino Poggi.
The Museum also maintains the special collection that began during the exhibitions under the auspices of the United Nations between 1966 and 1985, which is comprised of international works of art that have a particularly contemporary and engaged position, such as those dealing with war, migration, social inequality and similar. Special attention is devoted to contemporary artistic production, particularly of those artists from the region as well as artists from across Slovenia.
