Beasts in pictures and puppets

Menageries in pictures and puppets is a new collaboration between the Art Gallery Maribor Puppet Theater Maribor and the Maribor Library. In 2023, UGM and LGM together with the Maribor University Library prepared an exhibition on the 100th anniversary of the birth of the artist Janez Vidic. This time, from their collections, they are preparing a thematic exhibition about animals trapped in works of art and dolls from the rich depots of both public institutions.Animals can be the central character in a work of art or in a puppet show, or they can accompany people. Friendly, scary, dynamic, anthropomorphic in the basin or distinctly animalistic, they appear often and often in art. Quite often, the human phenomenon and nature remind us of an animal counterpart, and we imitate human traits and characteristics in animals. That is why their depictions are so frequent and picturesque. It is no different in the literary illustration of literary works for children and youth. That is why we are cooperating with the Maribor Library, which will contribute to the exhibition a set of works that will expand and complement both selections from UGM and LGM. The exhibition is prepared by Breda Kolar Sluga, Katarina Klančnik Kocutar and Zdenka Gajser.