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Art between two fires. The Nazi art plunder in the occupied Slovenian territories 1941–1945 in the context of cultural genocide

Opis

Art between two fires. The Nazi art plunder in the occupied Slovenian territories 1941–1945 in the context of cultural genocide is a postdoctoral research project that addresses a topic that is as old as humanity itself and whose characteristics can also be observed in modern political and military conflicts. The postdoctoral research project investigates the German art looting in the occupied territories of present-day Slovenia (Lower Styria, the Occupied Areas of Carinthia and Carniola, The Province of Ljubljana/Operational Zone of the Adriatic Littoral). In relation to the objectives set, mechanisms of the confiscations, the legal basis of the confiscations, the institutional and personnel aspects of the looting, and the fate of the confiscated artworks in the areas under consideration will be analysed. The phenomenon of German looting of cultural assets in the territory of present-day Slovenia will be placed in a broader European context and, at the same time, analysed in connection with the political appropriation of cultural heritage by German National Socialist policy, which constituted cultural genocide.

The project will pursue three main objectives:
1)    Systematic study of the German confiscation of works of art in Slovenia in the years 1941–1945 based on preserved primary sources in Slovenian and foreign archives.
2)    To understand and present the German confiscation of works of art in Slovenia in the years 1941–1945 in the broader context of the National Socialist looting of works of art on the territory of the Third Reich and other German-occupied territories.
3)    Analyse and interpret the Nazi looting of works of art in the context of cultural genocide.


Faze projekta

Phase 1 (December 2024 – December 2025)

- launching the project website (realized)
- researching primary sources and literature (realized)
- conducting fieldwork (realized)
- participating in academic and professional conferences (realized)
- writing chapters for the project monograph (realized)

 

Phase 2  (January 2026 – November 2026)

- researching primary sources and literature
- conducting fieldwork
- participating in academic and professional conferences
- writing chapters for the project monograph
- editing the project monograph


Rezultati

ISKRA, Anja. Franjo Stiplovšek (1898–1963) : umetnik in turbulentna 30. leta 20. stoletja : predavanje, Galerija Božidar Jakac, Kostanjevica na Krki, 15. 3. 2025. [COBISS.SI-ID 229660931]

ISKRA, Anja. The mobilisation of art : the Nazi (ab)use of medieval art in occupied Slovenia : predavanje na mednarodni znanstveni konferenci "Shared and Contested Heritage in Greater Eastern Europe and the Caucasus, 1870-1991: Art, Scholarship, and Fragility", Masaryk University, Brno (Češka), 29.-30. 9. 2025. [COBISS.SI-ID 252167939]

ISKRA, Anja. Spregledan slikar Jaro Hilbert med umetnostjo in kulturno politiko Egipta v letih 1926-1962 = The overlooked painter Jaro Hilbert between art and the cultural policy of Egypt, 1926-1962. V: RAKOVEC, Andreja (ur.). Eksotika in temelji civilizacije. Odkrivanje umetnostnozgodovinskih raziskovalnih potencialov med Slovenijo in Egiptom : znanstveni simpozij in delovni obisk : program in povzetki referatov : 9. & 12. december 2025, Koptski muzej, Kairo & Luksor = Exoticism and the foundations of civilization. Discovering art history research potential between Slovenia and Egypt : scientific conference and study visit : programme and abstract booklet : December 9th & 12th 2025, The Coptic Museum, Cairo & Luxor. Ljubljana: ZRC SAZU, Umetnostnozgodovinski inštitut Franceta Steleta: ZRC SAZU, France Stele Institute of Art History, 2025. Str. 24-25. [COBISS.SI-ID 262979843]


Raziskovalni projekt