Ivan Cankar, a Slovenian author, playwright and essayist born in 1876 in Vrhnika, spent a few years of his life in Ljubljana. Having returned from Vienna to Ljubljana, he established himself on Rožnik Hill which today forms part of the Tivoli, Rožnik and Šišenski hrib landscape park.

The panel exhibition in the outdoor atrium of the City Museum of Ljubljana presents the MGML Archaeological Centre, where archaeological finds begin a new life after excavations are completed. It reveals the heart of the work that usually remains hidden from public view — from cleaning, documenting and studying objects to their long-term preservation and archiving. The exhibition presents the people, processes and spaces that make it possible to understand the past and preserve archaeological heritage for the future.

Can a mother also be an artist? How important can sculpture be to her when war breaks out or in a post-war period with all its uncertainties? Everyone’s life reflects the era in which they live and the events that take place in it, and this is particularly true of the sculptor Liza Hribar, about whom we have long remained silent.

Are you interested in how an object from the depths of the earth makes its way into a brightly lit museum display case?

The exhibition Fragments of Time takes you behind the scenes of contemporary archaeological research, revealing that archaeology today is no longer simply about searching for lost treasures. It is a high-tech, interdisciplinary and collaborative science that helps shape our shared cultural identity. Drawing on examples of archaeological investigations carried out in Ljubljana and its surroundings over the past twenty years, the exhibition traces the entire journey of archaeological heritage – from discovery and excavation to complex laboratory analyses, conservation, scientific findings, museum display and the long-term storage of extensive archaeological site archives. It also highlights the importance of protecting archaeological heritage and our shared responsibility to preserve it for future generations.