Koroška cesta 8
2000 Maribor
Slovenia
- Arts
- Democracy and community development
- Environment/Sustainable development
- Human rights
- International/Cultural relations
- Research
- Youth and education
The mission and aims are grounded in the interdisciplinary approach of art and science on a local, regional, and international level, with the focus on Slovene culture in the context of a global crossroads. The main targeted fields are: music, visual arts, ecology, education, youth programmes, and social entrepreneurship.
Exhibitions
The premises of the association also offer a gallery space known as EPEKA Gallery. Works by Jernej Forbici (SLO), Bojana Radulovič (MNE), Marko Lipuš (SLO), and others have been on display there.
In 2013 a major exhibition, entitled Intergenerational Comics Exhibition – Together for a Better Living, was opened and hosted 50 adult and 50 young artists. The exhibition was a part of an international EU-funded project coordinated by Info Project from Romania involving 11 organisations from various countries (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom).
In 2014 EPeKa was invited to co-curate 100 years in the Balkans – The comic strip in resistance with Stripforum from Zagreb, an exhibition conducted in partnership with Centre Belge de la Bande Dessinée and the Bosnian Cultural Center from Sarajevo and Stripartnica Buch. This most significant exhibition on comics from the region, which also features Slovene comics, is on display at the Belgian Comic Strip Center in Brussels. The exhibition features artists from former Yugoslavia: Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Slovenia (featuring artists Kostja Gatnik, Miki Muster, Tomaž Lavrič, Zoran Smiljanić, Iztok Sitar, Jelko Peternelj).
In 2015 and 2016 EPEKA GAllery has hosted several exhibitions of several deifferents artist: Selma Selman (BiH), Alan Kosmač (SLO), Marjan Amalietti (SLO), Serena Luna Raggi (ITA), Stojan Grauf (SLO).
Education
The association is also concerned with socially engaged education, especially when it comes to marginal social groups. In the past it has organised several workshops, lectures, and projects aimed at an inclusive approach for local and international protagonists (such as English lessons for Roma, intercultural dialogue, lessons of Romani language, etc.).
The education projects are closely related with the European Volunteer Service (EVS), an organisation with which EPEKA extensively collaborates. Among other sources, EPEPEKA is also financed through institutions that promote European mobility and education: the Centre of the Republic of Slovenia for Mobility and European Educational and Training Programmes (CMEPIUS), MOVIT – a Service for the Promotion of Youth Mobility, and the Slovene Human Resources Development and Scholarship Fund.
Social entrepreneurship
The most well-known EPEKA´s project is Romani kafenava, the first Roma restaurant in Slovenia, which opened its doors in 2014. The project was supported by the EU Social Fund and the Ministry of Labour, Family, Social Affairs and Equal Rights of the Republic of Slovenia.
Other projects include lectures and debates on social economy, the destigmatisation of vulnerable social groups, and other relevant themes.