You can find a lot of art, both curated and spontaneous, in the streets of the old city center of Ljublijana. (And a lot of tourists taking care of their blisters…)

There are sculptures,

sudden vistas appearing on street corners,

 

 

 

church doors incongruously modern on their baroque hosts,

 

surprise alleys,

 

windows and corners

 

and facades.

 

Across the river, however, you encounter an explosion of graffiti, sculpture and objects defying description when you enter the terrain of the Autonomous Metelkova Cultural Center Mesto -an umbrella term for one of the liveliest cultural, artistic, social and intellectual urban areas imaginable on par with other alternative and underground cultures in Europe.

In 1990 a group of more than 200 partner organisations facilitated by the Movement for the Culture of Peace and Non Violence and the ŠKUC Association, formed the Network for Metelkova trying to propose a new use for the former Fourth of July Military Barracks, which had housed troops since 1882 by whoever was currently occupying or running the country. Negotiations with the government showed no results, so that in 1993 the Network occupied the former military barracks in order to prevent its illegal destruction and redevelopment. The squatters have remained to this day, and since 1995 the space of 7 buildings has been a self-organised autonomous zone. Although it has not yet succeeded in achieving a proper legal status, the area was partly registered as national cultural heritage in 2005.

Despite the legal limbo, the many music venues and cultural organizations on location are these days supported by state and municipal funders as well as by diverse local and international sponsors, foreign Embassies, and cultural institutes. The Center is  organized non-hierarchically, with its Forum making decisions using consensus and direct democratic principles. The participating members are too numerous to list here, spanning galleries, music clubs, NGOs, queer festivals, peace initiatives, a hostel and  Infoshop, a social space for research and development in the theory and practice of anarchistic and related movements.  http://www.metelkovamesto.org

It holds up to 1300 concerts annually and young Europeans flock to the festivals organized around underground music.

Equally, if not more importantly, the center offers a home and workshops to both the LGBTQ and disabled communities. Both constituencies face a far more hostile environment in the Balkans than we are used to, evidenced also in that after the addition of some feminist and LGTBQ organizations, the center has faced increasing attacks from the neo nazi right. Metelkova’s biggest challenge, though, is to hold off the forces that ogle this urban location for private housing development. So far they have been successful in persuading the city that as a magnet for cultural events and concerts they enhance the tourist value of Ljublijana overall, which fills public coffers, but the situation is tenuous.

Below is an article from 2015 that comprehensive tells the history.

https://www.theguardian.com/cities/2015/jul/24/metelkova-ljubljana-abandoned-barracks-europe-squat

As a photographer you could spend a week there, just documenting details. I was only able to visit briefly, but certainly caught enough to give you an idea of the profusion.