Damijan Kljajič from Velenje

Since 1987 Damijan Kljajič has been working in the Velenje Museum as a curator in charge of pedagogical activities and curator of recent history, an area in which he also focuses as a writer. In the area of museology he is involved with displays placed with regard for their environmental context and the arrangement of a recent history collection on the Šaleška Dolina Valley, while in his educational work he is devoted to adult education.

A few years ago he enrolled in the Velenje University of the Third Age, which gained in Damijan a designer and organiser of large-scale programmes. As a mentor of the history group, he surprises people every year with a new project that is guaranteed to leave a deep impact. Currently, members of his group are preparing a ‘memory book'. For a number of years they have also been involved in the successful renovation of the Kavčnik household area in Zavodnje and they are acquainting themselves with Slovenian cultural and natural monuments (every member prepares a presentation of a selected monument, person, place or a region by using professional resources). They also cooperate successfully with the Velenje Museum by collecting exhibits, and organising events and celebrations.

Independently or together with group members, Damijan Kljajič prepared several radio and television shows on the elderly and their life stories. He also invested a great amount of work in the education of adults who come from care and working centres for people with impaired physical or mental development. Last year the Velenje Museum prepared a quiz on museums for these people, while this year contestants from all over Slovenia tried their luck with a quiz about castles.

Under Kljajič's guidance, group members also collect historical testimonies, and record events and customs in the Šaleška Dolina Valley from between both world wars and up to the beginning of 1950s. The compiled material is returned to the Valley in the form of essays, exhibits, revived customs (known as jajčerija, čajanka or kresni večer, which is a kind of bonfire night), in this way connecting the young generation with their roots, and enriching the tourist and cultural attractions of Šaleška Dolina.