Roundtable discussion Slavia Veneta, so close, yet so far

On 22 January 2020, the programme group Heritage on the Margins and the Slovenian Migration Institute of ZRC SAZU coorganized a round-table discussion entitled Benečija, tako blizu in tako daleč [Slavia Veneta, so close, yet so far], which took place in the ZRC Atrium in Ljubljana.

The event was inspired by the film Zgodbe iz kostanjevih gozdov [Stories From the Chestnut Woods] by the director Gregor Božič, which is set in the valleys of Natisone in Slavia Veneta and deals with the topics of depopulation of the area and of abandoning of traditional practices. The participants of the round-table discussion were screenwritter and film director Gregor Božič, researcher Aleksej Kalc, research and member of the programme group Janoš Ježovnik, and culture workers Donatella Ruttar, organizer of Postaja Topoluove/Stazione di Topolò and custodian of the multimedial centre SMO, and Živa Gruden, form long-lasting principal of the Pavle Petričič Bilingual School in Špeter/San Pietro al Natisone. The discussion was moderated by journalist Ervin Hladnik Milharčič.