On International Museum Day, May 18, the exhibition “Every Millimetre Counts – Geodesy in Slovenia through time” was opened at the Depots of national museums in Pivka, and will be open to visitors until December 18, 2022. The auditorium was addressed by the Director of the Technical Museum of Slovenia, Dr. Barbara Juršič, the Director General of the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia, Mr Tomaž Petek, and the representative for the working group for the exhibition Janez Slak. The exhibition was opened by Mrs. Vida Koporc Sedej, Secretary at the Directorate of Cultural Heritage at the Ministry of Culture. The opening of the exhibition was accompanied by various demonstrations from the field of geodesy.
The Slovenian surveying collection has been on display for visitors to Bogenšperk Castle for more than three decades. This was the central museum presentation of geodesy in Slovenia. The collection was designed and established in 1987 by the Association of Surveyors of Slovenia in collaboration with the Technical Museum of Slovenia. In 2006, the permanent collection was complemented by an illustration of the evolution of the surveying profession in the last decades of the 20th century, updated with multimedia and interactive computer presentations. In 2007, the collection was enriched with an ambient representation of the Earth in Valvasor time, with a new arrangement of exhibited surveying instruments and a panoramic presentation of the wider surroundings of the castle. More than 400 instruments and maps were displayed at 120 m², most of them reproductions, and the most valuable exhibits were original maps and surveying instruments from the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia, the Geodetic Institute of Slovenia, the Technical Museum of Slovenia and the Public Institute Bogenšperk participated in that renovation.
On September 15, 2021, the permanent installation of the collection at Bogenšperk Castle closed its doors to visitors. For the design of the present exhibition, the Technical Museum of Slovenia partnered with the Surveying and Mapping Authority of the Republic of Slovenia, the Association of Surveyors of Slovenia and the Department of Geodetic Engineering at the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana to participate in the project of renovating the surveying collection. From the Department of Geodetic Engineering, Assoc Prof Dr Dušan Kogoj is involved, who is also the designer and author of an exhibition of surveying instruments at the faculty.
The result of this collaboration is an interesting exhibition “Every Millimetre counts – Geodesy in Slovenia through time“, which chronologically presents the main milestones of geodesy and explains concepts related to geodesy, surveying, cartography and spatial information. The exhibition includes more than 20 surveying instruments and other museum objects, as well as multimedia displays and 3D interactive presentation of the contents. To bring geodesy and its professional terminology closer to visitors, the exhibition’s authors have also created a glossary, which appeals to the younger audience with its exciting illustrations.
In view of the upcoming complete renovation of the monastery-castle complex in Bistra, the Technical Museum of Slovenia is preparing the conceptual design of the substantive renovation of the collections. The new, modern layout will also include a surveying theme, presented in a new context and a refurbished exhibition space.
The collection is on display from May 18 to December 18, 2022 in the Depots of National Museums in Pivka. Warm invitation!
More information at: https://www.tms.si/en/prireditev/every-millimetre-counts-at-the-depots-of-national-museums-in-pivka/
Welcome address by Director of the Technical Museum of Slovenia, Dr Barbara Juršič (Photo: B. Pucelj).
Introduction to the collection Every Milimetre Counts (Photo: A. Lisec).
The collection in the Depots of national museums in Pivka: Every Milimetre Counts (Photo: A. Lisec)