KUD AAC Zrakogled
KUD AAC Zrakogled is a small NGO based in the multicultural region of Istria. Since 1996 we have been active in the fields of publishing, performance arts and education, publishing being at the forefront of our activity in recent years.
Publishing
In recent years, we have published about 30 book titles and participated in several co-publishing projects. Original editions of Slovene authors include several poetry collections, drama and some brillant works of cutting-edge authors that transcend established literary types and genres in innovative ways. We are especially proud of the publication of the book Can you hear me? by one of the most prominent contemporary playwrights, Simona Semenič, who created an authentic structure by amusing and lucid essayatic-novelistic text from her three award-winning plays, which contributed to her receiving one of the highest national award for cultural creation.
Regarding transalation our editorial emphasis is on fiction books by renowned authors from the cultural and geographical space of the wider Mediterranean basin, including Zyranna Zateli, Juan José Millás, Nedjeljo Fabrio, Daša Drndić and others.
In addition to the above, we have also published some works that address important marginal topics, e.g. The Freedom of Breathing, an autobiographical essay by Elena Pečarič, a blend of the most intimate story with the universality of human experience. On the translation side, we should mention Marina Cvetaeva’s poetry and prose collection The Attempt of a Room, an important classical work for which our translator Andreja Kalc was awarded the prize for the best young translator at the Ljubljana Book Fair and was shortlisted for the ˮRead Russiaˮ international prize.
At the Zrakogled publishing house, we pay great attention to quality in all stages of the publishing process, which is also confirmed by the awards and nominations received by our authors, translators and designers Andreja Kalc, Simona Semenič, Klarisa Jovanović, Zalka Drglin, Irena Gubanc and Tea Jalovec and Barbara Korun.
In cooperation with many partners, we continuously organize literary events with authors, book translators and other creators, as well as experts from various fields. In 2020, we also started the production of the innovative and widely established projects “AdHoc: visual arts and musical improvisation interpret poetry” and “Live” by Petra Koršič. Most of our publications are also available as audiobooks.
Projects
Our educational and other projects focus mainly on the topics of multiculturalism and human migration, as well as on language issues. We also continuously organize cycles of literary events. With the long-term translation residency project, we also participated in the candidacy of the Municipality of Piran for the European Capital of Culture 2025.
2020-2021
SRCE MESTA/ THE HEART OF A CITY (in progress) opens a space for connecting and integrating immigrants through the method of personal identification through research and presentation of Slovenian migrations and related phenomena; The Heart of the City project is supported by the ACF Program in Slovenia
2014-2021
AD HOC * LIVE WITH PETRA KORŠIČ is a synergistic cyclus in which musical improvisation and visual depiction interpret poetry. The cyclus of poetic, musical and visual art’s language is a part of the literary events of KUD AAC Zrakogled, co-organized by Trubar’s House of Literature. The cyclus is co-financed by JAK RS (Slovenian Book Agency).
2020
EUROPEAN CAPITAL OF CULTURE (PI2025); we actively participated in the bidding process and, in cooperation with the Koper Cultural Club, created a comprehensive project of the international resident translation center Forum Babilon, which the Municipality of Koper intends to implement. In addition, we took care of the proofreading and translating of the bid books.
2016
WORKSHOPS FOR THE EMPOWERMENT OF REFUGEES, MIGRANTS AND ASYLUM APPLICANTS; under the auspices of the International Organization for Migration (IOM), we participated in the implementation of workshops, especially in the field of health.
2016
SH-CAPAC, international project AUSL, Sanitary agency from the Italian province of Reggio Emilia. As part of this project, we participated in the implementation of focus groups to improve the health care of refugees and migrants.
2015–2016
FOR BETTER HEALTH AND REDUCTION OF HEALTH INEQUALITIES, abbreviated Together for Health; we participated in the NIJZ (National Institute for Public Health) project for the inclusion of vulnerable groups in the field of health care, we provided training on cultural competencies for health care workers and worked in the field of cultural mediation in contact with vulnerable groups of the population.
2014–2015
SHARED CULTURE, an international INTERREG project for comprehesion and accessibility of common cultural heritage; As a partner in this project, we translated and prepared for the client, Ca ‘Foscari University of Venice, a book of selected scientific treatises by the eminent Italian historian Claudio Povolo, titled Tradition Comes to Light, Discussions on Anthropological Rights (16th-18th Century).
2014 – 2015
LANGUAGE-LINGUA, international project of “Unione Italiana-Italian Union in Slovenia and Croatia” (umbrella organizations of the Italian national community in both countries). As a partner in the project, we translated, edited and prepared for publication an extensive History and Anthology of Italian Literature of Koper, Izola and Piran (from the 11th to the 21st century), a pioneering scientific-professional monography by Nives Zudič Antonič (2014). In 2015, as a partner in this project, we also translated, edited and published four books by the most prominent contemporary authors of the Italian national community in Slovenia and Croatia.
2010
THE BASICS OF LIGHT DESIGN AND LIGHT SCENOGRAPHY, vocational training project in the field of culture; we prepared several-day educational workshops in cooperation with the Koper Theater.
2007 – 2011
WITHOUT FOG IN THE HEAD, a set of activities within the project of integrated promotion of personal development according to the concept of Viljem Ščuka and in accordance with the principles of gestalt. Primary and secondary school youth in the period of development were involved in the project. The participants of the experiential workshops identified, developed and trained five basic abilities that define personality: safety, awareness, belonging, meaningfulness and efficiency. Each of these competencies was presented in the project with ten workshops, and several additional activities were carried out, mainly in the form of condensed multi-day meetings.
2006
SEALINES – MORSKE LINIJE, projekt mednarodnih literarnih rezidenc. Kot partner društva Tropos smo soorganizirali izmenjave enomesečnih pisateljskih bivanj v šestih dvojezičnih evropskih pristaniščih (Koper, Riga, Helsinki, Galway, Cardiff, La Valletta).
2002
DIFFERENT LANGUAGES / LINGUAGGI DI-VERSI, a poetry-translation workshop, which we organized with the Tropos association as a partner in the project. The workshop was attended by 26 poets and translators from 11 countries. Based on this workshop, we co-published an extensive multilingual translation collection in 2004. We also participated in several international literary events (San Pietro al Natisone / Špeter Slovenov, Budapest, Topolovo, Cheddar, Kontovel, Susegana, Waxenberg Palace – Austria…).
2002
UNVEILED MEDITERRANEAN; editorial and conceptual cooperation in the preparation of an extensive thematic volume of the Magazine 2000, titled Unveiled Mediterranean, was the beginning of a new social and cultural magazine in the Istrian region.
1997–2011
Workshops for the promotion and development of creative thinking and the ability of artistic expression in preschool and primary school children in different age groups (3-6, 6-9, 10-12 years); the workshops were held continuously throughout the period under the mentorship of Sabina Zlatar.
Performance
We produced several performances in the period between 2004 and 2010. Here we would like to mention above all the extremely successful and multiple award-winning play Mother based on a play by Vesna Furlanič Valentinčič, which was published by our publishing house in the book Alone, Face to Face with Death. You can watch the excerpt from the play here.