Metelkova City: Ljubljana's Alternative Arts Community

In all of my travels, I’ve never seen an experimental arts community quite like Metelkova City in #Ljubljana. Located in former military barracks once used by the Yugoslav National Army, the city planned to demolish the buildings until squatters and concerned locals occupied the area and refused to let it be torn down. Interestingly, you can see smashed windows and some crumbling areas where the demolition had begun. The cultural and #social center isn’t huge — it looks like a very large parking lot with some extensions — but it’s packed with personality: colorful #graffiti in dark and fairytale themes, alternative galleries, clubs, bars, concert spaces, artist studios, tables adorned with rat drawings, grotesque ET-like creatures sprouting from building walls, eclectic tile mosaics, seemingly random embellishments, historic statues in crumbling wall holes and creativity literally bursting from every corner and detail. Thank you to @ljubljanabybike for showing it to me on your #tour!