Glass Worlds
archaeological exhibition
curated by Petra Stipančić
10 April 2025–18 January 2026, Gallery
The exhibition offers an overview of glassware from prehistory, beginning in the Late Bronze Age (9th century BC), all the way up to the early modern period. Material from the museum’s own archaeological collection is complemented by remarkable pieces from the collections of other museums in Slovenia, Croatia and Austria. The central part of the exhibition is dedicated to skilfully made glass necklace beads of many colours, evidence of the flourishing Hallstatt culture in Dolenjska in the fifth century BC. New discoveries and the development of glassmaking both here and in other countries permitted the creation of numerous new kinds of glassware and their general use in everyday life, particularly in Roman times. In the Middle Ages and the early modern period, glassware served to reflect wealth and prestige and was the work of highly skilled master glassmakers. Stories from prehistoric times to the early modern period are reflected through remarkable glass products – beautiful, colourful, transparent, fragile yet strong – that stand as supreme examples of the glassmaker’s art.
21st Novo Mesto Fine Art Days
colony: 3–8 March 2025, Jakac House
exhibition: 10 April–8 June 2025, Jakac House
exhibition curated by Jasna Kocuvan Štukelj The annual international project Novo Mesto Fine Art Days consists of a week-long art colony with invited artists and an exhibition of the works they create during this time. This year’s participants come from Slovenia, Croatia and North Macedonia and create unique glass pieces using a wide variety of techniques. They are Jasminka Begić, Mila Dobrevska, Lorena Ignaz, Meta Mramor, Anton Vrlić and guest of honour Tanja Pak. They share a commitment to artistic glass design, which demands a high level of skill, patience, expertise and experience. By combining traditional and modern techniques, they create the innovative and unique works presented at the exhibition
An Idea Captured in Glass
exhibition of contemporary art glass
curated by Katarina Dajčman
10 April –31 August 2025, Small Hall
We present examples of contemporary art glass from the collections of the Museum of Ancient Glass in Zadar (Croatia) and the Bärnbach Glass Museum (Austria). Works by world-famous glass artists and designers (from Austria, Hungary, Italy, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Finland, Portugal, the USA and China), created in the context of international symposia and exhibitions and for the Art Glass Biennial in Croatia, are among the items on display.
On the Trail of Material Culture – Functional Glass in Slovenia
Curated by Katarina Dajčman
exhibition of functional glass
12 September 2025–18 January 2026, Small Hall
The exhibition, organized in cooperation with the Glassmakers Society of Slovenia, will present a selection of functional glass objects dating from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century. It will showcase precious specimens of functional glass from Steklarna Hrastnik, steklarna Jurklošter, Steklarna Boris Kidrič (Rogaška Slatina) and the Rogaška Slatina Glassmaking School. Food storage glassware – drinking, serving, and eating glassware, as well as lighting and decorative items, will be displayed. The everyday glassware is aesthetically simple but interesting in shape, while the more precious items are decorated with ornamental elements created by engraving, enameling, or mirror painting.
Brilliance and Colour
Visiting exhibition of the Museum of Arts and Crafts, Zagreb
curated by Sandra Kandučar Trojan
coordinator: Majda Pungerčar
3 October 2025–18 January 2026, Jakac House
Glass Design in the Nineteenth Century – Selection from the Glass Collection of the Museum of Arts and Crafts in Zagreb
The exhibition Brilliance and Colour consists of nearly 150 one-off art glass products that together offer a technical and artistic cross section of glassmaking in Croatia in the nineteenth century. Various types and methods of glassworking are represented. The attention is drawn most by the numerous colours, the use of which was highly fashionable in that period.
Selection of Glass Masterpieces from the Collections of the Dolenjska Museum
Cultural History Department
Decorative craft products combine the art of designers, the skill of manufacturers and the functionality of the product. The nineteenth-century sweet bowl is decorated with eight medallions containing symbols and the inscription “Faith, Hope and Love, Health, Happiness and Friendship Prolong Life”. The punch bowl set from 1917 is also important because of its historical background, having been presented to Field Marshal Svetozar Boroević von Bojna, the commander of Austro-Hungarian forces on the Isonzo Front. The jug for cold beverages is an example of the ingenuity of designers at a time before refrigerators were invented. Glass Christmas tree ornaments evoke the warmth of home and the festive spirit in the late nineteenth century.
Ethnology Department
Glass is part of everyday life in various forms – as a memento, a functional item or an aesthetic accessory. In times past it served to preserve images on photographic plates, in glass plate photographs and in paintings on glass, which are still found in many homes today. Bottles from the More soda works and the milk bottle inscribed with the name of the Novo Mesto Dairy are part of the history of local production of refreshing beverages and dairy products. Glass lamps, including both simple oil lamps and other forms of lighting, brought light into homes and workplaces, evolving with advances in technology. Individual categories are centred around items from the Dolenjska Museum repositories and place them in the broader context of life in Novo Mesto and the wider Dolenjska region, where glass has been part of the stories of place and people for centuries.
Contemporary History Department
Objects made of glass are used in various areas of work and life. They are an essential part of our everyday lives and are also urgently needed in hospitals, pharmacies and laboratories. The display cases of the Contemporary History Department present glass objects that were used in wartime and in everyday life. They include medicine bottles that saved lives in two world wars, sparkling wine bottles, which we associate with toasts celebrating important moments in our lives, and a school chemistry laboratory.
10 April–19 June 2025
Memories in Glass, Ropas House
Where Art and Functionality Meet: Sweet bowl, Gallery Entrance Hall
Partisan Pharmacy, National Liberation Struggle Collection
21 June–29 August 2025
Flavours from the More Soda Works, Ropas House
Where Art and Functionality Meet: Punch bowl set, Gallery Entrance Hall
Independent Slovenia, National Liberation Struggle Collection
1 September–30 November 2025
Allow Me: Glass Tableware, Ropas House
Where Art and Functionality Meet: Jug for cold beverages, Gallery Entrance Hall
School Chemistry Laboratory, National Liberation Struggle Collection
3 December 2025–18 January 2026
Let There Be Light: Glass Lamps, Ropas House
Where Art and Functionality Meet: Christmas tree ornaments, Gallery Entrance Hall
It’s a Matter of Health!, National Liberation Struggle Collection