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Beletrina Academic Press
Experimental Typographer
2010
Initiation and realisation of a public art project in Ljubljana's principal square, which dressed the statue of the most important Slovene poet, France Prešeren (1800–49), in a cloak covered with around 560 hand-made lettering from stanzas of the poet's longest work in verse called The Baptism on the Savica (Krst pri Savici). The project was commissioned by the publisher in conjunction with the World Literatures – Fabula Festival 2010, the central event of Ljubljana's time as UNESCO World Book Capital 2010.
The selection of the text was from the most important passages from the poem – and its emphasis was especially on the connection of two vital speeches between Črtomir and Bogomila, the main protagonists of the poem. The text, executed in an experimental typographical manner, ran with the male voice on one side and the female voice on the other side of the poet’s sculptural body. It began at the same height as the book that the poet is holding in order to give the impression of the letters falling from the pages. The overall design and experimental letter forms gave a strong sense of the text travelling, coming closer and further away, and in this way attracted the attention of readers, inviting them to read the poem.
Since its original creation and installation in the open public space in Ljubljana (21 May 2010), the 5-meter-long cloak was put on a public display for the first time in a different context in 2023. It was suspended from the ceiling with the help of a specially designed crinoline for the exhibition Andreja Brulc: Odstiranja/Unveilings (7 Feb–24 Mar, Šmarje pri Jelšah, Slovenia), which opened on the eve of the Day of Culture, also known as Prešeren Day (8 Feb), as the day commemorates his death. For this occasion, the cloak was accompanied by a photographic wall installation in the form of the waterfall Savica, showing a series of 35 black-and-white photos documenting the original creation and installation.
[Andreja] also participated in the art installation Krst pri Savica, an experimental typographic project based on Prešeren's poem, one of the central events of Ljubljana as the UNESCO World Book Capital in 2010. It was this participation … that led to the initiative of opening the exhibition on the eve of the Slovenian cultural holiday. In this spirit, the author dedicated the main wall of the Gallery to the sculptural installation of Prešeren's cloak and the photographic wall installation …, which is also the beginning of the visual narrative, which symbolically and metaphorically conveys the autobiographical stories of life in two countries, two cities, through which Andreja weaves her personal, residential, cultural and artistic identity in the domestic and foreign environment.
– Knjižnica, "Ob slovenskem kulturnem prazniku otvoritev razstave Andreje Brulc 'Odstiranja'," Knjižnica Šmarje pri Jelšah (Razstave), 10 Feb 2023
The exhibition offers an insight into the unveiled fragments of Andreja Brulc’s multifaceted creative process. With the monumental installation Prešeren’s coat with its fluid wall of visual poetry in the form of a cascade of words from the poem Krst pri Savici and documentary photos of the project, the visual narrative begins.
– Karmen Volavšek, Curator of Andreja Brulc: Odstiranja/Unveilings, Exhibition Panel, Feb 2023
a form as never seen before … the project gave Ljubljana a new artistic inspiration.
– A.H., Dnevnik, 22 May 2010
Prešeren was stoically coping with the adornment, while two other statues nearby were observing this moment in silence.
– Živa Rogelj, Poročila ob 13h (TV Slovenija 1), MMC RTV SLO, 21 May 2010
