On Thursday, 9 February 2012, in some of the cultural institutions in Maribor, the signs with the names of these institutions will be in Mandarin, one of the most spoken languages in the world. The signs will be put up, in addition to their Slovenian names. This will get Chinese characters on Vetrinjska Manor (on the sign European Capital of Culture), National Liberation Museum Maribor, Photo Club Tower, the House of Experiments / Science Center, Great Cafe, K8, Literary House, City Confession, and the National House. Chinese represents in Maribor one of the largest immigrant groups that does not come from the former common country. Because of linguistic, cultural, and social differences, this group of immigrants is completely non-integrated into Slovenian society. Moreover, it has become a stigmatized group, because except in the work place, they have no contact with other residents of the city. The Chinese inscriptions project is conceived as the establishment of cultural contact with the minority, an attempt to bring the Slovenian culture and history closer to the population who are not familiar with it.
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