Slovenes are the proud possessors of the world’s oldest wooden wheel with an axle. From 24 May 2013 until 20 April next year, you are welcome to visit an exhibition entitled ‘THE WHEEL – 5.200 years’ at the City Museum of Ljubljana.

Slovenes are the proud possessors of the world’s oldest wooden wheel with an axle. From 24 May 2013 until 20 April next year, you are welcome to visit an exhibition entitled ‘THE WHEEL – 5.200 years’ at the City Museum of Ljubljana.

The ‘WHEEL – 5.200 years’ exhibition links ancient heritage, technological and scientific development with culture and art in an original way, and even escapes the confines of our planet.

The invention of the wheel is one of the foundations of modern civilisation and culture. Thousands of years of inventiveness have not created anything to replace the wheel. And the oldest wooden wheel with an axle, aged 5.200 years, was discovered in Slovenia at Barje (the Ljubljana Marshes). It consists of two ash panels which are joined together by four oak wedges. There is a square hole in the middle, into which the axle was placed. The manufacture of the wheel is surprising in its accuracy and exceptional creativity. The adherence to the expansion and contraction of the wood, the methods of mounting and bonding and other details demonstrate that this was a highly skilled craftsman and connoisseur of different kinds of wood. Therefore, in its technological sophistication and age, the wheel and axle rank at the very peak of global cultural heritage.

Exhibition curator Irena Šinkovec presents the history of the wheel in three sections. The first section places the wheel into its primary context – in the space and time of pile dwellings on Ljubljana Barje, with special emphasis on the conservation and preservation of the rich cultural heritage. The second section showcases the wheel as one of the most important technological inventions with emphasis on the fields of industrialisation and the industrial revolution, which fundamentally changed the economic, scientific, political and broader social development of Western civilisation. The third section presents the wheel on the symbolic level, spinning in different dimensions of time and space. The human desire for knowledge, exploration and creativity is unstoppable and also expands beyond our home planet. The exhibition’s broader concept encourages the visitor to come up with their own thoughts and research and emphasises the indivisibility of science, art and heritage.

At the exhibition it will be possible to experience life in the pile dwellings more directly in the experimental room, in which the visitor will be able to put together a model of the wheel, weave cloth, get dressed up as pile dwellers, smell herbs, stone-grind wheat into flour or have a go at fuelling the fire. Experiencing ancient pile-dwelling heritage and the inspiration of the wheel as an invention will also be a starting point for a number of associated events for kindergartens, schools, families and adult visitors from Slovenia and abroad alike.

The exhibition is to be on show at the City Museum of Ljubljana all the way up to 24 April 2014, at which point it goes on tour to other European cities. During the period of this exhibition, the museum is to host ten smaller monthly exhibitions intended for the inclusion of various disciplines, institutions, local communities, vulnerable groups, schools and individuals.

In the summer (29 May – 15 September 2013), Ljubljana Castle is also to be home to a contemporary lighting installation with a symbolic presentation of the wheel in the context of Ljubljana (capital city – generator of development and creative potential; Ljubljana Castle – symbol of the capital; the wheel – symbol of development).

Exhibition project partners

The leading project partners are the City of Ljubljana, the Republic of Slovenia Ministry of Culture, the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia (ZVKDS) Restoration Centre, Ljubljana Barje Landscape Park, the Cultural Centre of European Space Technologies (KSEVT), Ljubljana Castle public institute and RTV Slovenija.

The exhibition is also supported by BTC d.d., BMW, Goodyear Dunlop Sava Tyres, Vodovod-Kanalizacija public institute and Kambič laboratory equipment.

The media patrons are Delo (general patron), Europlakat, InYourPocket, Mediabus and Tam Tam.