The Association of Cultural Organizations Slovenia – ACOS (Zveza kulturnih organizacij Slovenije – ZKOS) is an institution that emerged after WWII as the Union of Cultural and Educational Societies and is related to the role that culture, art, and education played in the anti-fascist struggle during WWII. After the war, these societies renewed the network of municipal cultural centres and continued to develop programmes similar to those during the war. The government of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia had planned the development of workers’ socialist art from this union, but it was never properly conceptualized. At different periods in history, the institution took care of its cultural programmes, through which they cultivated possibilities for talented young people to choose artistic professions, with varying intensity. ACOS was crucial for the development of contemporary dance in Slovenia after Neja Kos was employed as an expert to curate contemporary dance education and artistic programmes. The latter included: different workshops and seminars for pedagogues and dancers during the seasons, a network of schools and pedagogues for young dancers throughout Slovenia, The Summer Dance School (from 1981 onward with some gaps in between), The Winter Dance School (from the 1990s onward), The Dance Days Festival, the International Competition of Young Dance Creators OPUS 1, the Živa Festival, etc. ACOS functioned as an agency for dancers to get international scholarships, a mediator between domestic and international dance contexts in many different ways, and a publishing house. During the 1990s, despites its accomplishments, its central role started to wane and the professionalization of contemporary dance brought forward new methodologies, practices, and approaches to different elements of the system beyond what ACOS could have planned. Nevertheless, it is important to recognize ACOS’ and Kos’ important role and fundamental contribution to the conditions that made the development of contemporary dance in Slovenia possible. With the law of 1996, ACOS was renamed to Fund of the Republic of Slovenia for Amateur Cultural Activities and in 2000 renamed to the Republic of Slovenia Public Fund for Cultural Activities – PFCA (Javni sklad Republike Slovenije za kulturne dejavnosti – JSKD). After the retirement of Neja Kos in 2005, the choreographer and dancer Nina Meško got employed and continued developing the field in the frame of PFCA.
From Nika Arhar, Jasmina Založnik (ed.), Bodies of Dance, Aspects of Dance as Cultural, Political, and Art Work in Yugoslavia and After (Belgrade, 2024)
