14. Museum - room 4: the circle of life

Step into the infinite sphere of time where throughout centuries the life of local settlers depended ultimately on nature and its seasonal cycles. Farming activities illustrated in a medieval calendar, photographs of modern times on the rim, the image of an interlaced cross on the floor and Jesus on the ceiling all come together to tell the tale of traditional harmony of time and customs, work and holidays, the sacred and the profane.

This circular arrangement copies the spatial organisation of old village centres with stones arranged around the central linden tree. The panorama of surrounding hills on the walls reminds us not only of the personal and cultural, but also of the oldest of the three, the cosmic passing of time.

The exhibits in the showcases range from tiny ritual ard ploughs from the Antique periods to a mask worn by modern-day 'otepovci', the spirits of dead ancestors who return to the Earth in a traditional Bohinj custom as a reminder of the endless cycle of life. Old pagan rites and the Christian faith are connected through Easter eggs, a symbol of the most important festival in the Christian calendar. A stone solar clock made of locally-sourced tufa and an old farmer's clock are just two different measures of the same time. These artifacts and rites remind us of the sensitive attitude that man, constantly divided between the earth and the sky, has towards nature, time and all things beyond.