by Ron Bernthal
With the opening of the Cukrarna Gallery in Ljubljana, in September 2021, the Slovenian capital has gained a new space that serves not only as a venue for exhibiting contemporary art, but as a place where contemporary art projects of all kinds – visual, intermedia, performance, sound, music and more – can be created and presented.
Artist Marjetica Potrc’s The House of Social Agreement at Cukrarna Gallery (photo Andrej Peunik)
The presentation of artworks through exhibitions and events is just one part of the Cukrarna Gallery’s purpose. However, the ambitious main goal of the venue is not only to become a new cultural hub in Slovenia, but to serve artists and visitors from the rest of Europe as well. Working with artists and other stakeholders from Slovenia and beyond, the Cukrarna’s mission is to fulfil the role of a truly contemporary art institution, which includes exhibitions, interpretation and education activities with pro-social and humanistic principles, and responsibility towards the environment.
Cukrarna began life in 1828 as a sugar refinery. Starting with 22 workers and a single sugar kettle, it grew rapidly over the following decades to become the first real factory in the region and, by the mid-19th century, the biggest sugar refinery in the Austro-Hungarian empire. In August, 1858, however, a devastating fire broke out and put an end to sugar production in Ljubljana. Of course, there were also other factors involved, by that time it had become more profitable to produce sugar from beet rather than from cane, and the owner of the building was deep in debt and could only afford to restore it sufficiently to make it fit for renting out for other uses.
Exterior view of Cukrarna (photo Andrej_Peunik)
Over the following decades the building was lived in by soldiers and factory workers, sometimes both at the same time. Poorer Ljubljanans also moved there in large numbers, especially for those looking for shelter after the Easter 1895 earthquake. Those who found a new home in the building included the noted Slovenian writers Dragotin Kette and Josip Murn, while their friends, who included Ivan Cankar, Oton Župančič and other writers, often met or even stayed there on occasions.
These writers, who are now associated with the genre of Slovenian modernism, became some of Cukrarna’s most famous residents during this period, and in their works they left remarkable testimonies about the building and its occupants. Living conditions there were terrible, and remained bad even into the 20th century. By the 1980s Cukrarna had come to be regarded as a disgraceful spot in the city.
In 2008 the City of Ljubljana purchased the building and its grounds from its previous owner, and from 2018 to 2021 the building was restored and renovated in accordance with plans drawn up by design firm Scapelab before being transferred to the management of the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana, a public institution.
Due to Cukrarna’s status as a cultural monument, the building work took a conservative approach in which the appearance of the roof and the original outer walls with the 318 windows have been retained. A steel structure was inserted into the shell to support four white-cube gallery spaces. This structure is suspended from the roof and does not come into contact with either the ground or the external walls. A basement floor was added to the building, below the level of the Ljubljanica riverbed.
Interior gallery space (photo Miran Kambic)
Though officially protected as an important piece of industrial heritage, the main reason it was preserved at all for almost 200 years was its status as Ljubljana’s biggest building, at 61,000 square-feet. Today, however, thanks to the major renovation, Cukrarna has finally come into its own as an interesting architectural achievement in its own right.
A few of the 365 windows in Cukrarna Gallery which opened in Slovenia in September, 2021. (photo Miran Kambic)
Cukrarna Gallery is seen as an architectural gem. There are also some other wonderful architectural structures located in its immediate surroundings. The two cylindrical buildings, known as the TGH-48 car park on Ambrožev Square, was designed in 1969 by Savin Sever, one of Slovenia’s best known modernist architects. At the end of the embanked section of the Ljubljanica River is an outstanding work by another Slovenian architect. Jože Plečnik’s sluice gate, designed to control the water level in the city center. Plečnik’s work can also be seen at the park on Ambrožev Square, a cultural monument of national importance.
Ljubljana’s Sluice Gate across the Ljubljanica river, designed by architect Jože Plečnik.
The Cukrarna Gallery is part of the Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana public institution (MGML).
The founder of the MGML public institution is the City of Ljubljana.
