Mitja Čander was, of course, most excited about the outstanding artistic achievements, which were probably more numerous in the first three months than Maribor has seen in the previous twenty years. The Director particularly emphasised the splendid concert by the pianist Ivo Pogorelić with the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, the sold-out concert by 2 Cellos, the excellent attendance and high media coverage of New Burlesque Cabaret, and the great opera and theatre productions by Tomaž Pandur and Uroš Lajovic, which are described elsewhere in this magazine. The LifeTouch programme, which re-establishes the role of the Internet, not only as a mediator of events, but as a co-creator, has also closely involved a wide audience through mobile telephone networks. Smartphones already use the Maribor 2012 application, which takes the user virtually to the heart of the cultural events.

Although somewhat unexpectedly, Project Twelve, which brings a leading global intellectual to Maribor each month, has received most attention from the wider Slovenian public. We have seen three so far: the first was the art theorist Boris Groys, followed by the French-Bulgarian philosopher Tzvetan Todorov and Hans Magnus Enzensberger. All great people! Slovenia could listen to their lectures, and their reflections were even more fully presented in the most important Slovenian newspapers and even on national television, which after a long time have shown that they are able to devote attention to people and events that really matter. In this time of a certain social lethargy, which is most strongly marked by the economic crisis, with prevailing attempts to save neoliberal capitalism on the old, wasted foundations, the insightful reflection of Maribor’s guests might be the best thing that has happened to Slovenians recently. And there are still nine more guests to go.