Virtual exhibition (e-xhibition) has been created to celebrate 50 Years of the Maribor Theatre Festival (2015) under the title The Borštnik Ring Award Winners (1970 – 2014). It will be complemented each year by the Slovenian Theatre Institute (SLOGI) with an additional section, dedicated to the latest Borštnik Ring Award Winner.
A Symbol of a Permanent Bond with Theatre
The awards “are named after the great Slovenian theatre organiser, director and actor Ignacij Borštnik” wrote Branko Gombač in the annual overview of the Slovenian theatre creation at the Festival’s fifth anniversary in 1970, when its name was changed to the Borštnik Meeting. The festival and the awards thus got their name from a great theatre personality, educated in Vienna and responsible for the transformation of the amateur activity to professional acting in Slovenia; in addition to the annual awards, the Borštnik Ring Award for lifetime acting achievement was also named after him.
“What Linhart is for the history for the development of our drama, this is what Borštnik means for the stage art, particularly acting,” wrote Bratko Kreft a year after the name was chosen.
Consistent with the pivotal role that Ignacij Borštnik (1858–1919) played for the Slovenian theatre – particularly as a founder of the Slovenian theatre acting cultivation, the Ring is awarded every year, as the Regulation from 1973 states, “to the worthiest Slovenian stage actor or actress”. The first year, this task was entrusted to the Borštnik Awards Committee and the Expert Jury for Borštnik Awards and the Borštnik Ring Award. The Ring was presented at the closing ceremony by the then president of the Borštnik Meeting Committee, Josip Vidmar. Later, the task of assessing artistic achievements was entrusted to an evaluatory body known as the Expert Jury; later, a special Jury for the Borštnik Ring Award was appointed.
While the symbolic value of the award is most important, being a confirmation of the artistic work of the actress or the actor, it is worth mentioning that the award is in fact materialised as a piece of jewellery. “When I was ordering the ring,” wrote Branko Gombač in 1985, remembering the preparations for the first awards ceremony, “I emphasised that it has to be solid gold, without kitschy shapes and ornaments. I played a big shot, but didn’t have a penny in my pocket.”
Gombač’s embarrassment was solved. However, the piece of jewellery designed following his suggestion for a motive (a ring with an antique mask as an image of theatre art in the centre and masks of great names of world and Slovenian drama, Shakespeare and Cankar, on the sides), later changed its aesthetic shape.
COLOPHON
Participating institutions: Slovenski gledališki inštitut (Mojca Jan Zoran), Zavod Novi ZATO. (Samo M. Strelec), Festival Borštnikovo srečanje, SNG Maribor (Danilo Rošker, Alja Predan), RTV Slovenija – Radio Slovenija (Marko Filli, Miha Lampreht)
Author: Ana Perne (SLOGI)
Computer Programming: Gregor Matevc (Novi ZATO.)
Data preparation and entry into the digital collection: Ksenija Kaučič
IPR and copyright arrangements: Tamara Matevc (Novi ZATO.)
Language consultant: Maja Cerar
Translator into English: Barbara Skubic
English language editor: Jana Renée Wilcoxen
Digitalisation: Dušan Nelec (SLOGI)
Photographers: Igor Antič, Božo Berk, Viktor Berk, B. G., Anđelo Božac, Tomaž Burlin, Barbara Čeferin, Bogo Čerin, Leon Dolinšek, Igor Drofenik, Sergio Ferrari, Mihael Fock, Foto Atelier Doris Ljubljana, Foto atelje Pavšič Zavadlav, Foto Atelje Vesna, Foto Japelj, Foto Pogačnik, Foto studio Potrč, Miha Fras, Klara Galičič, Mirko Japelj, Janez Jemec, Egon Kaše, Žiga Koritnik, Matej Kristovič, Davorin Križmančič, Sonja Lebedinec, Mario Magajna, Jože Mally, Marcandrea, Marko Modic, Dragiša Modrinjak, Giovanni Montenero, Marijan Pal, Sacha Pečarič, Marjan Pfeifer, Josip Pogačnik, Sandra Požun, Marjan Ravnikar, Vlastja Simončič, A. Smelet, Miloš Srdić, Simon Stojko Falk, Tone Stojko, Danilo Škofič, Jendo Štoviček, Damjan Švarc, Peter Uhan, Ivan Vinovrški, Stanislav Zebec – Stanč