Hats were indeed the order of the day as the Chief Minister officially installed a beehive in the embassy of Slovenia, today (December 12), at an event intended to highlight the importance of human rights and sustainability.

It was a mighty show of strength from the Canberra Slovenian community and Canberra Urban Honey, who share a taste for honey cakes, scones and traditional drinks from Slovenia.

As for the hats, all of them had been made from recycled materials by a local ACT designer of Slovenian background, Emilijana Sega. Sega’s hats adorned the heads of many people including the innovative ambassador Helena Zorko, whose initiative the day had been.

The hats were for sale with funds going to “our rights project aimed at promoting the awareness of rights of children”.

Slovenia, which celebrates 25 years of independence this year, is behind an initiative to promote World Bee Day and ambassador Zorko was keen to point out that Australia’s Barnaby Joyce had indicated the nation would be supporting the idea.

Also on hand to support the event were Ngambri-Ngunnawal elder and artist Jimmy “Boza” Williams and a young artist of the Slovenian background, Nina Kosec, both of whom had painted pictures that were attached to the end of the hive – “so the bees find their way to the right place”.

As an adjunct to the event, Canberra artist Marijke Gilchrist exhibited her distinctive paintings executed in beeswax with resin and pigments.

There was an optimistic note to this purely enjoyable event. As ambassador Zorko put it: “In the challenging times we are facing, we trust that with paying respect to the human rights and the sustainability of the Earth we will jointly send a positive message to the coming year”.