Slovene Ethnographic Museum (SEM)
The Slovene Ethnographic Museum (SEM) is a museum “about people, for people,” a museum of cultural identities, a space for dialogue between the past and the present, between one’s own and other cultures, between nature and civilization. SEM is a cultural meeting point and hub, striving to promote the understanding and respect of ethnological heritage in society.
Through an annual cycle of exhibitions, programs, and other events on Slovene, European, and non-European topics, along with a rich educational program and publications, SEM presents and communicates knowledge about traditional culture, mass and pop culture in Slovenia, and about the cultures of some other peoples around the world. It covers the material cultural heritage of everyday and festive ways of life and intangible heritage, including knowledge, values, techniques, wisdom, and creativity in the Slovene ethnic area, the diaspora, and elsewhere.
SEM is the central ethnological museum, the product of the maturation of ethnological and anthropological thought in Slovenia. It is a national ethnological museum institution of cultural, scientific, educational, and social significance, based on collections in the fields of Slovene traditional material, social, and spiritual culture, as well as collections from some cultures of the world. SEM is responsible for their protection, preservation, study, documentation, and communication. Since 2011, SEM has been the national Coordinator for the protection of intangible cultural heritage.
