Cultures of Two Worlds: Štefka Cobelj’s Contribution to the Establishment of Museum Collections in Slovenia and Somalia

Abstract

Slovenian Štefka Cobelj (1923–1989) saw her work of an art historian and ethnologist as a calling, and dedicated her life entirely to it. She specialized in Baroque and Yugoslavian and international contemporary art, but was most passionate about world ethnology. As the director of the Ptuj museum in Slovenia, and later a museum consultant in Mogadishu in Somalia, she was involved in the creation of ethnology collections of national importance. On her numerous travels for both business and pleasure, she compiled a large personal collection of cultural, historical, and ethnological items. This article describes her contribution to the creation of collections in Ptuj and Mogadishu, and her personal heritage, which was bequeathed to the following Slovenian institutions: Celje Regional Museum, Maribor Art Gallery, Maribor Regional Museum, Ivan Potrč Library Ptuj, and Ptuj-Ormož Regional Museum.