Gifts

The President of the Republic will present the presidents with replicas of an old painted chest from the Gorenjska region. In addition, the presidents will receive a special set of "Stefan glasses". The young Ljubljana designer Stefan Ogrin found inspiration for these glasses in the vast treasure trove of Slovene tradition. The gift will be completed by the excellent sparkling wine Zlata Radgonska Penina.

The presidents will find the gifts with a card from the President of the Republic in their hotel rooms on their arrival.

Other gifts to guests of the event will be bequeathed by the Republic of Slovenia

The delegation members will receive a floral motif from the painted chest. The guests will find the gift with the card of the Protocol Office of the Republic of Slovenia in their hotel rooms on their arrival.

Hand carved wooden doves, accompanied with the card of the Protocol Office of the Republic of Slovenia, will be given to a select group of participants during protocol proceedings.

Gifts

Replica of a painted chest from Gorenjska

	Photo: BOBO

In 18th and 19th century Slovenia, painted chests were popular particularly in the country, although individual pieces of painted furniture are known to have existed from the 16th century onwards. The painting of chests was particularly developed in the Alpine areas of Slovenia and reached its zenith in the Gorenjska region where painted chests had a special significance and purpose. They were the main wedding gift to a bride and through painted decoration, ordinary chests were turned into special gifts. Particularly popular were floral designs, the decorative character of which increased the special character and significance of a gift that was dictated by the norms of that time. Chests were painted by many professional and amateur painters from the countryside and even from towns and markets, thus making them a characteristic example of Slovenian folk art tradition. In the 18th and 19th century painted chests were so popular that they were given as a gift to brides from all social and economic strata. The bride's social and material background was reflected in how richly the chest was decorated.

Today, quality replicas of chests kept in museums and private collections are produced in Slovenia. In this way, the tradition is kept alive in the present, enriching our every-day life and holidays with its noble messages.

Floral design from a painted chest

	Photo: BOBO

The painting of chests, that characteristic type of furniture from rural Slovenia, was particularly popular in 18th and 19th century Gorenjska. Chests painted with floral and other designs were a characteristic wedding and status gift that was dictated by the social norms of the period. Chests were painted by many professional and amateur painters from the countryside and even from towns and markets. They represent a characteristic example of Slovenian folk art that was an important part of the visual aspects of everyday life and was an important element in the building of the social and spiritual ties established between families through weddings.

The floral motif on this gift is one of the painted designs that adorned the front, sides and the lid of painted chests.

Refreshing drops from Stefan glasses

	Photo: BOBO

Young generations of Slovenian designers often search for creative inspiration in the numerous traditional forms, approaches, solutions and models that have survived to the present. The designer Peter Ogrin from Ljubljana has designed a set of glasses with an interesting name: "Stefanovi kozarci" or "Stefan glasses". The set was named after a popular two-litre wine bottle called "stefan". Our ancestors cheerfully raised their glasses around "stefans" filled with wine on holidays and other occasions. But the glasses designed by Ogrin are connected with heritage in one more way. The design of the "Stefan" glasses for sparkling wine is based on the once very popular "bubble glass" technology with which many glassworks or "glazute" in Slovenia produced the widely used glassware for the consumption of wine and beverages.

Na zdravje! ... with Zlata Radgonska Penina!

	Photo: BOBO

In Gornja Radgona, the excellent and the oldest and thereby the first Slovenian sparkling wine has been produced according to the Méthode Champenoise for over 150 years. The town of Gornja Radgona is the centre of the north-eastern part of the Slovenske Gorice region, where excellent wines, such as the gewürztraminer and the local ranina, age in old cellars. Zlata Radgonska Penina comes in sec and demi-sec versions and is made from the Chardonnay grape variety. It has received numerous Slovenian and international quality awards. Raise a glass of this excellent sparkling wine from a special release commemorating 150 years since the founding of the wine cellar in Gornja Radgona! Na zdravje!

...And the first intercom!

	Photo: BOBO

The hand carved wooden dove as the symbol of the Holy Spirit was suspended from the ceiling above the table in the main room of many rural homesteads, particularly in the Alpine areas of Slovenia. The first such examples are documented in the 18th century, although it was in the 19th century that the doves became a constant feature of every home. The doves were entirely carved in wood (even the wings and the tail were skilfully made from a single piece of wood). Some were also made from paper or other natural materials. The string on which the dove was suspended was often connected with the door to the house, so that when the door was opened or closed, the dove above the table moved up and down. In this way, the family gathered around the table new when someone came into the house. For this reason, you might say that these doves are probably the oldest type of intercom! But the hand carved wooden dove is not only part of tradition; it is also a symbol of peace, that most needful commodity in the contemporary world.

Text by: Prof Janez Bogata,j Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana

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