I came across artwork for almost every door

Sebastian Valentan He is many things – he is a doctor of canonical sciences, a lecturer, manager of the parish of Sv. Peter pri Maribor – Malečnik and a member of the Slovenian Society for the study of the 18th century. He is also a man who has strongly linked Malečnik’s locals through his work and contributed to the exhibition Baroque in Slovenia Among other things hanging pictures Conversion of the Apostle Paul and Japanese martyrs. But let’s start at the beginning.

When you returned to Slovenia after six years of doctoral studies in Rome in 2020, you were greeted with a new job and a surprise of a rich artistic heritage.

Yes, I took over the parish of St. Peter near Maribor – Malečnik and everything was new for me, since I was in Malečnik only once, as a student of theology, at the harvest in the diocesan vineyards. When the predecessor handed me a bunch of keys to me, I came across quality works of art that called after the renovation, whether in both churches or in the Baroque parish. Before taking over the parish, of course, I became acquainted with its history in all dimensions – pastoral, art, economic and political.

At the same time, I came across a tremendous discovery: personality Marko Glaser. In addition to leading the parish of Malek from 1843 until his death in 1889, he was also a poet, writer, translator, national awakener and patron artists. The parish, which boasted some valuable works of art before its arrival, supplied, for example Tunner’s the canvas of the Cross’s path, Phanton and Brollo However, at Glaser’s initiative, they painted the parish church of St. Peter and the famous Mary’s Pilgrimage Church in Malečnik, which Pope Francis In the previous year, with a spiritual kinship bond, joined by the papal basilica of Mary the Great (Mary of the Snow) in Rome.

Your parish is a meeting point with the local community, you say, and the Parish Library of Yuri Borešič also came to life last year.

At the same time as his renovation, he has also been in the parish since 2021 with the Gallery Salon with the Gallery. Without the hard -working parishes – volunteers – the renovation of the parish, which was carried out under the careful supervision of the Maribor Cultural Heritage Institute, could not happen. There was a wonderful synergy between the profession, the talents of the local population and the practical life.

So what goals was the Glaser salon established with the gallery and what is his role today?

The mission of the Glaser Salon with the gallery perfectly symbolizes the painting that the academic painter gave us to us in the decision of the exhibition in our country. Andrej Jemec and has a title Dialogue. It was designed to become a place of interactions between different views, cultures and generations. It is not only a permanent exhibition of works of art of the 17th, 18th, 19th and 21th centuries, but also intended for conversational evenings, round tables and concerts.

One of the pictures you found at the time of the parish door can now be viewed at the exhibition Baroque in Slovenia In the National Gallery, she is joined by a painting that adorns the Malecnica altar.

We lent an altar oval picture for the exhibition Franz Ignas Josef Flurer Conversion of the Apostle Paul from the parish church and the picture Japanese martyrswhose authorship is credited Joseph Anton Lerchinger. The latter is in the Glaser Salon collection with a gallery and was restored as part of the renovation of the Malecnica parish.

You said that during the preparations for the exhibition, interesting anecdotes related to the loans to the National Gallery of the 1960s had emerged.

Hold up. When we were called from the National Gallery and announced that two of our canvases would be included in the big exhibition about the Slovenian Baroque, we were all very proud, honored. Not everyone is exhibiting in the National Gallery. I shared this nice news with the locals and one of them told me that he remembered how more than half a century ago when he was a boy, he saw a large white van in front of our church, which had a license plate in Ljubljana, and there was an inscription on it National Gallery. At that time, our largest painting from the main altar of the parish church traveled to the exhibition Christ deliver keys to the apostle Peter.

Why do you think it is crucial that such images are placed not only in museum spaces but also in churches around Slovenia?

Art, especially sacral, has a eternal dimension. In the ecclesiastical ambience, her message is dynamic, alive, as it was also created for this space. When he leaves him temporarily, he introduces himself somewhere else. He is on display to a different, broader audience, which he also addresses. When a picture returns home, to its place, I think it feels best because it is again among its own. This is also the case with our lives.