Slovenski etnografski muzej

The article is an essay on the theme of the permanent exhibition and its integration in museum reality in the case of the fi rst part of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum’s permanent exhibition – Between Nature and Culture.

The article presents how Slovenia’s health system has been reformed and compares it with that of the former common state. Based on an ethnographic survey among health workers from different health institutions in Slovenia, it analyses some aspects of the reforms, which mainly entail more restricted access to health institutions, privatisation of certain segments of the health system, and changed funding trends.

The article addresses the visual arts as stimulating source on the relationship between people and oxen, whether illustrating metaphorical meanings or real work practices. Based on a virtual collection of art works in which oxen have been identified, we can first establish the informative nature of the collection through time and then the expressiveness of its iconographic structure. What follows are four contents analysed in detail: oxen as symbolic markers of regional identity, children and oxen, the use of goads or whips, and various types of harness.

The article presents five to date unpublished staffs from the African Collection of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. Its main focus is on the ritualstaffs of the Dogon from Mali. The article describes the phenomenon and development of staffs from ancient Egypt, Mesopotamia, Etruria, and Greece to Early Christian Ireland, and the intercultural connections with the staffs from the African Collection of the Slovene Ethnographic Museum. The research was carried out on the basis of records, iconography, and archaeological finds.