23 December, 2020
Maribor

Our gallery is closing its doors. We present you with the speech which was held at the opening of the last exhibition within the EPEKA Gallery.

The year 2020 will go down in history as a very special year. For a small group of people, especially us, who gathered today at the last opening of the exhibition of Luka Murovec – Pohorje pearls, we will remember this year after the end of a story, the story of the EPEKA Gallery. We started writing it together in 2013, when we got these beautiful spaces on Koroška cesta 8 in Maribor. Since then, we have organized numerous exhibitions, concerts and other cultural and educational events within our gallery.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone, especially the artists and collaborators and, last but not least, our funders; The Municipality of Maribor, the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Office for Youth, embassies, and others who supported us.

For us, the EPEKA Gallery was a place, a city, a place where we knew we belonged somewhere. It is very important for each of us to be able to identify, orient, return to the point where we started. In short, we have a home somewhere. But it is hard when you realize that despite all the effort, sacrifice, stress and effort, in order to achieve the best results, you are not and will never be accepted, no matter how hard you try. This is why the Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent., focuses on people who have not been allowed to find their home for centuries and helps them to the best of their ability. We had at least our temporary home here, which we have now lost, and some are unfortunately unlucky to find it for the rest of their lives.

Thank you all again, Merry Christmas and Happy 2021 on behalf of the EPEKA Gallery.

The Association EPEKA, Soc. Ent., is supported by: