Representations of a shepherd boy as a symbol of the Slovenian nation are found in three locations: the boy with a flute has been installed in Ljubljana’s Tivoli Park and in front of the RTV Slovenija building in Kolodvorska Street; another is on the green in front of Brdo Castle near Kranj. All the statues were made by sculptor Zdenko Kalin. The sculpture from 1942 personifies the youthful strength of resistance of the Slovenian people. It was installed on top of a staircase in Tivoli Park in 1946, on the first anniversary of liberation.
The shepherd boy also came to be regarded as a symbol of the national television station. With the introduction of the first Slovenian TV show, Televizija prihaja (Television Is Coming), the boy was included in the national broadcasting station’s opening sequence announcing the Slovenian national programme in the context of Yugoslav TV production. The representation of a shepherd boy herding sheep with his flute heralded media changes to come, in particular the new technological invention – television. (In 1973, Vasko Repinc wrote a song, Tivolski pastirček – The Tivoli Park Shepherd, for the Slovenian Pop Song Contest.)
Maia Juvanc
