Exhibition on view: from Febraury 20, 2020 to May 10, 2020, in the foyer of the Knights’ Hall
Exhibition Curator: Jožica Šparovec in Marjeta Keršič Svetel
At the exhibition prepared by the National Museum of Contemporary History on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the birth of Marjan Keršič-Belač, in collaboration with his daughter Marjeta Keršič Svetel, we show a selection of photographs, predominantly from the museum photographic fund of Marjan Keršič-Belač, with a focus on the first Slovene and Yugoslav Himalayan expedition to Trisul, India, in 1960, and also on the theme of mountaineering in the Slovenian mountains from 1939-1950. Some rare shots are on display of Slovene climbers and their ascents in the Kamnik Alps and on the North Triglav Face, from 1939 and from the years immediately after World War II. The exhibition also commemorates the 60th anniversary of the first expedition to Trisul. The exhibited photographs, consisting of colour slides and black and white negatives, donated to the Museum by Marjeta Keršič Svetel, are supplemented with film and archive material and some items from the collections of the Museum of Contemporary History of Slovenia and the private collections of Marjeta Keršič Svetel and Arne Hodalič.
Marjan Keršič-Belač (May 18, 1920, Ljubljana, † June 3, 2003, Ljubljana) excelled in several fields. His work as an academic sculptor was fruitful, since in public spaces alone stand 82 monuments, including many busts of famous Slovenes. He was also a top mountaineer, completing 340 climbing routes in his life and, in 1960, as a member of the first Slovene and Yugoslav expedition to the Himalayas, Trisul, India, stood at the top of the 6,270 m high Trisul III. He was also a mountain rescuer, mountain guide and ski instructor and received many awards for his work.
He began to study sculpture at the private studio of academic sculptor Boris Kalin, as a 15-year-old boy in 1935, when, precisely because of Kalin he also began to walk in the mountains. He cooperated with the OF during the 2nd World War, was arrested several times and finally sent to Gonars concentration camp. In 1945, he enrolled at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana and in 1949 completed his studies of sculpture under Prof. Boris Kalin. From 1962 to 1966, he taught sculpture techniques at the School of Fine Design in Ljubljana.