Vlasto Kopač - A Visionary Mind from the Banks of the Ljubljanica

In the renowned Zois Palace, just a few steps from the Krakovski Embankment (Krakovski nasip), Vlasto Kopač lived and worked throughout his life. One of the most versatile creative figures in 20th-century Slovenia, he was an architect and a student of Jože Plečnik, as well as a conservator, designer, draughtsman, cartographer, mountaineer, and a dedicated guardian of the country’s natural and cultural heritage. Through his exceptional creativity, expertise, and perseverance, he helped preserve countless stories, plans, objects, monuments, and records that might otherwise have been lost to time.

Located only a short walk from Zois Palace, this outdoor panel exhibition invites visitors into the world of a man who did not merely shape space but understood it, protected it, and listened to it. Marking the 20th anniversary of his death, the exhibition reveals the richness of his life’s work, spanning architecture, design, mountaineering, cultural heritage, and collective memory.

To present the diversity of Kopač’s legacy to the public, museums, heritage institutions, and research organisations preserving his works and archival material joined forces to create this exhibition. It is one of the key events in a year dedicated to commemorating the life and work of Vlasto Kopač.

The exhibition is on view from 27 July to 27 August 2026.

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KOLOFON

Temporary Group Exhibition Vlasto Kopač – A Visionary Mind from the Banks of the Ljubljanica, 27 July – 27 August 2026, Krakovski nasip Ljubljana.

Exhibition coordination: Ana Katarina Ziherl
Texts by: Janja Železnikar (MMK), dr. Primož Gašperič, Matjaž Geršič (GIAM ZRC SAZU), dr. Martina Malešič (MAO), Ana Porok (MGML –
Plečnikova hiša), Sabina Ravnikar, Saša Roškar (ZVKDS OE Kranj), Aleksandra Renčelj Škedelj (ZVKDS OE Ljubljana), mag. Zora Torkar (MMK), Darja Urbanc, Anja Zver (MNZS), Ana Katarina Ziherl (GMJ – SPM)
Reviewed by: Katja Šturm in Janja Železnikar
Photos by: Peter Fister, Jure Gašparič, Matevž Gradišek, Leon Jere, Janez Kališnik, Vlasto Kopač, Tomaž Lauko, Matevž Petrovič, Sarah Poženel, Saša Roškar, Peter Škrlep
Held by: arhiv Mojce Kopač, MGML – Plečnikova zbirka, MNZS, MAO, MMK, ZVKDS, GIAM ZRC SAZU, GMJ – SPM
Design: Saša Kovačič
Language review: Ivan Cepanec
Translation: Nataša Gerič
Webpage developement: Eva Kremser
Print: Tiskarna Silveco d. o. o.
Technical implementation: Turizem Ljubljana
Production: Slovenski planinski muzej – Gornjesavski muzej Jesenice/Slovenian Alpine Museum – Jesenice Upper Sava Museum, represented by Aljaž Pogačnik, Director