2025 will be a significant year for Goriška region. The prestigious title of European Capital of Culture (EPK) is coming to Nova Gorica and Italian Gorizia, which brings many opportunities for the border town and the entire region to prepare interesting cultural projects. At ID20, we have been actively collaborating with the GO! 2025 team since the beginning of the EPK program design, and in the meantime, we have also become an official partner of the program with activities in the field of industrial and residential heritage of Idrija.
The Giser House is an important focus of activities
At the ID20 Institute, we have been dedicated to researching, popularizing, and preserving the residential heritage of the former mining town of Idrija for many years. The first steps in this area date back to 2018 and 2019, when we prepared a list of the remaining Idrija mining houses, conducted interviews with the owners of the houses, provided a series of free architectural and construction consultations, and, together with the Cultural Society prostoRož, prepared a plan for the comprehensive renovation of the Trnovec house in Grapa, which is owned by the Municipality of Idrija. Together with our partners, we continued to develop architectural walks, urban games, and writer's residencies. We also prepared a comprehensive exhibition on mining houses and a special catalog dedicated to Idrija prhavzi. All this with the aim of drawing attention to the great importance of residential heritage for the preservation of Idrija's unique identity.
With the desire for a more active approach in this area, we managed to buy our own property in the summer of 2021 - the endangered Giser mining house at Ulica zmage 12, which is one of the last authentically preserved examples of this unique working-class building type. After the implementation of the first international volunteer action on the house, where we cleaned the surroundings and interior with a group of 12 young people from all over Europe, sorted historical objects, restored dilapidated double-leaf windows and renovated the woodshed, we began to think more intensively about the future of the unique structure.
The important role of GO! 2025 in heritage development
It was clear from the beginning that the Giser miners’ house would be an open space dedicated to intensive learning and understanding of cultural heritage. We soon prepared a more detailed program and architectural vision, which summarizes our thoughts on the future of this endangered building. The goal is that by 2025, the Giser miners’ house will become a space where artistic residencies can be held during the warmer months, and where the rich residential heritage of Idrija's mining families will serve as inspiration. We were successful with this idea in the official ECoC application and began to implement it in the past two years. The support of GO! 2025 has proved to be extremely important, as we have been able to hold a number of resonating community events, professional workshops, and workshops in the past period, contributing to the preservation of the endangered heritage object Giser. All of this with the goal that the Giser house will be ready to establish an artistic residency by 2025.
The European Capital of Culture (ECoC) has financially supported a significant part of the activities for the revitalization of the Giser mining house.
- Workshop on renovating handmade wooden furniture with the Jugošik team,
- Orchard pruning and orchard arrangement workshop with orchardist Ivan Kodrič,
- Workshop on 3D digitization of heritage objects with Spodnja Idrija Elementary School,
- Restoration workshop of intricately carved entrance doors with restorer Matija Hiršenfelder,
- Event "Day of Miners’ Houses 2023" with a professional discussion on sustainable revitalization of cultural heritage and a performance by the ethnic-chanson duo Zajtrk,
- Establishment of a kitchen and sanitary facilities on the premises to facilitate the establishment of residence.
The activities at the Giser house are also supported by Creative Europe.
The significance of our efforts to preserve the Giser miners’ house is also recognized beyond our region. The ID20 Institute, together with Romanian and Slovakian partners, recently succeeded in a prestigious call for proposals from Creative Europe. In the coming months, this partnership will enable the implementation of numerous additional professional workshops, heritage digitization efforts, and the preparation of a unique theater-gastronomy experience based on the rich heritage of Idrija miners and their families.
You are soon invited to visit.
As part of the European Heritage Days, on Friday, October 6th, at the Giser House located at Ulica zmage 12 in Idrija, we will hold an Open House Day. This will be the first opportunity for all heritage enthusiasts to get a closer look at this unique property and the stories woven by its residents over the centuries.
