On Saturday, February 7, 2026, at 11 a.m., on the premises of the Association of Slovenians "Triglav", we held a diverse cultural program on the occasion of Prešeren's Day - a Slovenian cultural holiday, which brought together a large number of students of Slovenian language classes and members of the Association.
The gathering was first addressed by the President of the Association, Mladen Lunić. This was followed by the ceremonial part, in which Zvone Žigon, PhD, Consul of the Republic of Slovenia in Banja Luka, expressed his views on the importance of poetic creation and the poets who shaped the Slovenian cultural space. He particularly highlighted the poet Dragotin Kette, whose 150th anniversary of birth is being celebrated this year, and therefore vividly recited one of Kette's most beautiful love poems - "On the Square". This was followed by a poem by the Slovenian-Bosnian poet Josip Osti, titled »Love made me a poet«. Prešeren's poems "O, Vrba" and "Under the window" were recited by the participants of the oldest group of additional Slovenian language classes, Ksenija Urdih and Olga Suvajac.
The main part of the cultural program followed, in which guests from Slovenia presented us with an interesting storytelling and singing technique called kamishibai, which means paper theater in Japanese. Butai is a wooden frame in which we insert pictures that clearly show parts of the story. A skilled storyteller, while experiencing storytelling, draws images from a box that resembles a shuttered window. Storytelling using the kamishibai technique is interesting and successful if three elements are masterfully complemented: image, narrative and narrator. Our guests, Igor Cvetko, Jelena Sitar - founders of the Zapik Puppet Theater from Ljubljana - and Metka Celec - librarian and storyteller from the Murska Sobota Regional and Study Library, proved with their storytelling using kamishibai that ancient storytelling techniques (kamishibai originated in Japan around the 10th century) can be attractive and interesting for both children and adults in today's technological age. We would once again like to thank the Murska Sobota library for presenting us with something new, through a joint project financed by the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Slovenians around the world, which enriched the celebration of the Slovenian cultural holiday in the Association of Slovenians »Triglav« Banja Luka. The members of the culinary section of the "Triglav" Association provided pleasant socializing after the event with their sweet delicacies, once again proving that they are masters of baking various pastries.
The "Triglav" Banja Luka Association has thus once again proven that it is possible to belong to the Slovenian people, to be a part of Slovenian culture even far beyond the borders of the mother country of Slovenia.
Metoda Perger
