The Museum in the Community is a programme of the Museum of Architecture and Design, created in collaboration with residents and institutions from the Novi Fužine neighbourhood. The aim of the project is to make museum content accessible, to include vulnerable groups, and to foster intergenerational cooperation in addressing social challenges. With the project, we crossed the boundaries of the museum and connected the public space between the neighbourhood and the museum.
This year, in the unrenovated part of the castle complex, we set up a temporary space for Museum in the Community 3—an open and adaptable environment intended to connect museum content with community knowledge, everyday experiences, and the questions that shape our shared urban life. The programme encourages encounters, conversations, and collaborations between local residents, creators, and experts, while searching for ways in which museums can co-create space for community and for the future.
Production Phase of Museum in the Community 3
In spring, the production phase of the project took place, where we explored possible modes of intergenerational and community cooperation. Together with institutions and individuals from Fužine, we developed new inclusive workshops that opened up various themes related to space, coexistence, and community.
At four production workshops, together with stakeholders, we reflected on space—how we shape it, how we coexist in it, and how we live in it. These workshops served as the foundation for the continuation of the production phase of Museum in the Community 3.
Architects Manca Košir and Jan Kozinc, who renovated the community space, used the workshops to better understand Fužine and its residents. They explored how the community space could function and designed the spatial concept of the renovation based on these insights.
Spring Events of Museum in the Community 3
The opening of the spring part of the programme was connected with the nationwide Day for Change. The central part of the event involved preparing for the new gardening season in the community garden next to the Fužine Castle, which we co-created within the first Museum in the Community and which remains one of the museum’s contact points with the community. The work activity was combined with a cultural programme.
The garden activities were led by CONA and Community Programmes for Youth, while the cultural programme was prepared by residents of the Fužine Retirement Home.
In spring, the activities of the Museum in the Community unfolded in two directions. We developed the community space for knowledge exchange and for connecting the community with the museum. At the same time, partner events of the Center for Activities Fužine, the Fužine Retirement Home, and the School of Health took place in the park and courtyard. Together with them, we organised several workshops aimed at intergenerational cooperation. We are particularly proud that the innovative knowledge-exchange platform Mi smo Face, with which the museum has collaborated from the very beginning (indirectly connected to its creation through the challenge Academy for Life • BIO 26), also presented its activities. The workshops offer a unique context for discussing various topics related to our living environment. Through co-creative and intergenerational workshops, we explore alternative ways of connecting and opening discussions about architecture and design.
Presentation of Museum in the Community, 17 April 2025
Participants: Maja Šuštaršič, CONA Fužine, DSO, SŠGT, CAF, MSUM
With the exhibition Representation of the City at MSUM, which presented community practices in the city, we connected not only institutions from Fužine but also those in the city centre. The presentation was designed as a conversational walk from one institution to another, where we introduced our collaboration model. In this way, we created an extended presentation of all the institutions involved in our network.
Events of Museum in the Community 3
Clay workshop with Nevenka Angelski, 8 May 2025
Soap-making workshop with Irena Regovec (Mi smo face!), 22 May 2025
Aquarell workshop with Marija Strnad (Mi smo face!), 29 May 2025
Theatre performance “I fear neither the devil nor the bailiff!” | The Persecution of the Smuggler Melhiorca, 30 May 2025
Sound bath with gongs by Jelka Klun, 5 June 2025
Morning exercise with the School of Health, 6 June 2025
Outdoor Pilates (Mi smo face!), 19 June 2025
Opening of the Community Space
With the summer event of Museum in the Community 3, we opened the new community space created in collaboration with the community. Architects Manca Košir and Jan Kozinc renovated the space in the still-unrestored part of the castle based on workshops with community stakeholders. Together, we explored how to inhabit the castle’s unrenovated and degraded spaces, using materials already available from the museum’s storage. We were interested in whether such spaces could become new community places.
The space supports various types of use—from professional meetings and research installations to community activities and workshops. The renovated space is no longer only a physical unit but serves as a laboratory of ideas, exchanges, research, and community practices that connect museum content with everyday use.
Autumn Programme of Museum in the Community 3
In September, we began a two-month pilot testing period of the community space, enabling institutions and the community to exchange knowledge and experiences. A series of open and closed events took place. Among the most successful were community discussions and events run by the Center for Activities Fužine.
Events were organised in groups: discussions, open Tuesdays, and CAF workshops. Community meetings created a space for dialogue between Fužine residents and experts from various fields. Open Tuesdays offered an open space for informal community connection. With the community space, we opened the museum’s doors to different users and linked various museum communities in the shared use of the space.
Community Meetings
At community meetings, together with guests from different fields, we focused on local topics and opened space for reflection on broader questions related to urban life today. We talked about Fužine, but also considered other cities—how we live together, what connects or divides us in neighbourhoods, what role common spaces, nature, culture, participation, or politics play in everyday life. The discussions were designed as open encounters, connecting personal experience, professional insight, and shared curiosity.
Film screening Čefurji raus!, 4 September 2025
Creators from Fužine: conversation with Goran Vojnović, 23 September 2025
Goran Vojnović, Ajda Bračič (moderator)
The Future of Nove Fužine, 9 October 2025
Miloš Kosec, Gašper Medvešček, Nejc Pulko, Maja Šuštaršič (moderator)
Spatial themes bring people together, 23 October 2025
Meta Kutin (architect and educator), Nives Ličen (Faculty of Arts), Blažka Kirm (MAO), Martina Malešič (MAO), Boštjan Kenda (ALUO), Maja Šuštaršič (moderator)
Open Tuesdays
The renovated community space at MAO was designed as an open place for meeting, creating, and collaborating. It was intended for anyone who wished to develop their projects, connect with others, share ideas, or simply contribute to the vibrant pulse of the neighbourhood. Individuals, creators, and community members met there—each with their own perspective and energy, co-creating the diverse rhythm of Fužine.
Workshops of the Center for Activities Fužine
Laughter yoga with Nevenka Angelski, 8 October 2025
Sound bath with gongs with Jelka Klun, 15 October 2025
Paper flower-making workshop with Marija Strnad, 22 October 2025
COLOPHON
Maja Šuštaršič, curator of Museum in the Community
Manca Košir and Jan Kozinc, authors and programme leads of the project space Museum in the Community 3
Manca Košir, design and public relations
Sara Martinšek, collaborator of Museum in the Community
Project Partners
Center for Activities Fužine, Community Programmes for Youth, CONA Korak, CONA Fužine, Fužine Retirement Home, Bird Watching and Bird Study Society of Slovenia, School of Health, Secondary School for Gastronomy and Tourism Ljubljana, Spominčica – Alzheimer Slovenia, Face, Kindergarten Zelena jama – Vrba Unit, Moste District Community.
Contributors
Nevenka Angelski, Vojko Birk, Ajda Bračič, Dejan Crnek, Marjetka Čermelj, Tomaž Dobravc, Darko Fekonja, Tadej Golob, Angelca Goršek, Joži Gregorič, Neli Grafenauer, Rok Gerbec, Žan Hodžič, Admira Hodžić, Kristina Kaišić, Blažka Kirm, Jelka Klun, Nana Kolmanič, Miloš Kosec, Meta Kutin, Damjan Kuzma, Jelena Kutlača, Ursula Lavrenčič, Nives Ličen, Maša Lozinšek, Ljubiša Maksimović, Martina Malešič, Sara Martinšek, Gašper Medvešček, Katarina Metelko, Darja Miklič, Sanela Milašinović, Inka Nose, Alina Poberezhna, Tjaša Prah, Nejc Pulko, Matija Puškarič, Irena Regovec, Nina Renko, Kristina Ribić, Bor Rolih, Matjaž Rozina, Vitomir Simunišek, Marija Strnad, Monika Šparl, Tanja Vergles, Nadja Vejnović, Goran Vojnović, Katarina Zajec, Jasmina Zubović, Žan Zorko
