They started the workshop with a discussion about where pharmacists work and what their role is in caring for human and animal health.

They also talked about the different forms of medicines, such as syrups, tablets, drops, creams and ointments, and the schoolchildren listed all the medicines they had taken. They emphasised that children should never take medicines alone and that they can also get medicines for their pets from the pharmacy.

They then started making a pampering cream, which the children thoroughly enjoyed. The cream also contained animal ingredients (lanolin, which is extracted from sheep’s wool). The ingredients were first weighed and then mixed to make the cream. The children learnt the basic steps of making the cream, using syringes, falconers, a paten and a pestle.

Then they each filled their cream into a jar and labelled it with an animal sticker of their choice.

Coordinator: Alenka Zvonar Pobirk, PhD, Faculty of Pharmacy

Since the Renaissance, cabinets of wonders have stirred people’s imaginations as symbols of intellectual and cultural importance. In special rooms, which were actually the precursors to museums, collectors housed various objects, works of art, herbaria and stuffed animals, particularly peculiar specimens.

Some enthusiastic collectors composed fantastic beings out of stuffed animals.

In the 21st century, art is moving to the virtual word of computer software, where new technology enables creators to manipulate images further than with any earlier technology. A new aesthetic of digitisation has entered the traditional fine arts practice, but the collage concept remains ubiquitous in artistic creations.

In the Cabinet of Curiosities project, BA and MA students of painting and printmaking at ALUO explored and then virtually collaged and put together images of humans and animals where human and animal body parts intertwine.

In 2022, students created collages of peculiar creatures digitally, later translating them to analogue works of art in classic printmaking techniques, which they performed in the printmaking atelier.

They looked for images of various animal species, including extinct species, combining them with pictures of contemporary creatures. In doing so, they underlined the importance of respecting every living being, reflecting on how every living being has an important role and how our attitude towards animals shapes the world.

The exhibition is a continuation and a follow-up of last year’s activity in the framework of the European Researchers’ Night – Humanities Rock!, which was also entitled Cabinet of Curiosities.

A publication with student works, edited by Zora Stančič and Arjan Pregl and designed by Ana Govc, a postgraduate student of Graphic Design, was also presented at the opening.

Participating students:

Špela Ambrož, Pika Basaj, Katarina Babič Derenda, Kim Benkovič, Ana Govc, Lana Hasić, Vanesa Hochkraut, Ajda Kalan, Žoel Kastelic, Ema Kobal, Petja Kocet, Lana Kosovel, Maja Klepec, Klara Frančiška Kracina, David Kucler, Klara Maček, Miha Majes, Katarina Marov, Petja Novak, Rina Jurjevčič, Liza Jutra Norčič, Zdenka Pandžić, Polona Pečan, Maks Podgornik, Klara Polajnar, Pika Potočnik, Lina Povšič, Valentin Radulović, Ana Marija Rauch, Svitlana Ryabishchuk, Gal Šnajder, Isidora Todorić, Tim Topić, Tom Winkler, Matej Zupan, Eva Žgajnar

The exhibition was co-funded by the European Union and the Arts Council of the University of Ljubljana

The exhibition at the UL Gallery will be on view from 29 September to 26 October 2023 every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday between 4 pm and 8 pm in the former provincial mansion, which is now the headquarters of the University of Ljubljana. You are cordially invited!

Coordinator: Zora Stančič, MA, Academy of Fine Arts and Design

The use of animals for research purposes dates back to antiquity, but the systematic use of animals in research began in the 16th century. The number of animals used increased until the previous century, when clear professional and ethical guidelines for handling animals in experiments were established.

Animals for research purposes can only be handled by specifically qualified researchers, who must undergo regular training regarding not only their research but also, and above all, contributing to animal welfare in research.

Animals can’t express with words that they don’t feel well or are in pain, but if we observe them the right way, we can see that their facial expressions, snouts, whiskers, ear placement and cheeks change, indicating how they feel. Through observation, animal welfare can be enhanced even in experiment conditions.

Through visual material available to visitors of the stall, we will present the differences in facial expressions between laboratory animals that feel well and those whose welfare is not optimal. Visitors will be able to test their own knowledge, determining, based on visual material, how an animal feels, what they should look for and what a picture can tell.

Project coordinator: Tatjana Pirman, PhD, Biotechnical Faculty

The central event will be accompanied by an exhibition on cave life and a series of presentations in places where humans and human fish share the same underground water, which sustains both species.

The human fish or olm is well known in Slovenia but is still a mysterious and exotic animal. As a resident of karstic groundwater, it lives below the surface, hidden from view. It is the only cave amphibian and the biggest cave animal in Europe.

In the last two decades, new field research techniques and new molecular biology methods have contributed to exciting new discoveries.

New knowledge enables the counting of olms even though they are hidden underground. It has been found that some populations are so decimated and threatened that their very survival is at stake.

On the Researchers’ Night, the light of science will illuminate the eternal night of the olm’s life, and a multimedia demonstration will enable visitors to see what these animals look like from up close, whether they are really blind, whether they have teeth, whether they really live for a hundred years, how they orient themselves in total darkness and other interesting facts about their lives.

The soundscape of the cave environment will be conjured by the artistic sound installation Black Drop. It will be contributed by the internationally recognized and awarded artist Robertina Šebjanič (https://robertina.net/), who in her works transcends the boundaries between science and art and draws attention to the vulnerability of the underground environment in a very special way.

The multiple award-winning short film Proteus Hunters, authored by the well-known Slovenian underwater cameraman Ciril Mlinar Cic (https://www.cicfilm.com/), was also shown.

Coordinator: Peter Trontelj, PhD, and Hans Recknagel, PhD, Biotechnical Faculty

Programme of the art and information stall:

– advice on understanding and living together with cats,

– drawing cats,

– cat colouring book,

– cat quiz.

Coordinator: Pšenica Kovačič, Minami Kat

The purpose of the Animal Within stall is to present the evolutionary history of the human body, the characteristics of particular organs and to facilitate an understanding of their functions through a multi-sensory experience.

The evolution, form, functioning, even certain responses and behaviours of living beings are largely conditioned by their genomes, i.e. the gene sequences in their chromosomes. The diversity created by differences in genomes is key to the process of natural selection, which in turn powers microevolution and the emergence of new species. From the genomic point of view, human evolution did not start only seven million years ago (the age of the oldest known fossil hominid) but reaches much further into the geological past.

For example, hair, which covers the human body, appeared approximately 245 million years ago in a group of therapsids, long before the appearance of the first mammals. The structure of our arms is analogous to the limbs of the first terrestrial vertebrates living 360 million years ago, while the design of our jaw is found in the gill arches of fish living more than 450 million years ago. The physical properties defining humans are thus inherited and somewhat modified structures that may have originally served completely different purposes.

Coordinator: Petra Žvab Rožič, PhD, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering

With a starting point in Slovenian culture, art and fauna, the students of the Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Department of Textile and Clothing Design, Chair of Textiles and Fashion Design, present their projects in physical and digital form through various sustainable textile and clothing design principles.

The works were presented at the international event, the BIEN 2023 Biennial of Textile Art in Kranj and on the website of the Department of Textile and Fashion Design, OTGO, NTF University of Ljubljana – www.kotofolio.si.

The sub-theme of the project FOLKLORE. In the Park, in the academic year 2022-23, dealt with the contact between humans and animals in green oases of the urban environment. Beehives, ponds, botanical gardens and other green spaces provide an insight into the life of wild creatures and their inspiring features.

Two short videos and two garments on puppets will present the work of the students in Pritličje in the Mestni trg Square. You are cordially invited!

Project coordinators: Petja Zorec, MA, Arijana Gadžijev, MA, Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, Department of Textile and Clothing Design, Chair of Textiles and Fashion Design

How do anthropologists incorporate the animal perspective and human-animal relationships in their work in NGOs, landscape parks, pastoral livestock, food production and research?

The film screening (20 minutes) will be followed by a discussion (30 minutes) on the collaboration between anthropologists, environmentalists and pastoralists and food producers.

The event is suitable for the general public, university students and secondary schools.

To register for the visit of secondary schools, please send an e-mail to: sarah.lunacek@ff.uni-lj.si.

Coordinator: Ana Sarah Lumen Brunaček, PhD, Faculty of Arts

Photo title: Girls from Galjevica in front of the house

Author: from personal archive

Archived by: Ethnological Information Laboratory of the Department of Ethnology and Cultural Anthropology, Faculty of Arts

You will be able to see the presentation on the Faculty of Pharmacy’s YouTube channel.

Project coordinators: Nataša Karas Kuželički, PhD, Associate Professor, and Lucija Ana Vrščaj, Faculty of Pharmacy