EX-TEMPORE PIRAN 2023 |
58th INTERNATIONAL PAINTING EX-TEMPORE |
26 August – 2 September 2023




Ex-tempore Piran is one of the most important traditional art events in Slovenian Istria. Recognized for its competitive character and mass participation, it is attended by academically trained artists, young artists and painting enthusiasts alike who come from Slovenia and various, especially neighboring, countries.
We are sure that this year's edition will also be characterized by the quality and high participation of creators of different generations. In addition to the interesting accompanying program, Ex-tempore Piran 2023 will introduce some innovations: an increase in the amount of the first prize, the Grand Prix, which amounts to €4,000, and the presentation of all selected and awarded works in one place, in the Monfort Gallery in Portorož. The closing ceremony with the awarding of the prizes and socializing with music will also take place in the Monfort complex, in the adjacent Wooden Hall.
The decision to hold this year's Ex-tempore Piran exhibition and its opening event in Monfort is connected to a shift in Ex-tempore Piran’s direction in terms of its substance, program and operation. With a spatial design upgrade and appropriate lighting, we will be able to properly present all selected works in a single place; participants of the Ex-tempore will have easier access for the delivery and collection of the painted canvases, and last but not least, there will be the concluding event of the Ex-tempore with a gathering at an elite location, by the sea shore, which undoubtedly represents another step in the direction of reviving the historical memory of this magnificent building in Portorose.
An international expert jury consisting of Eda Čufer, playwright, curator and essayist (Slovenia), Igor Eškinja, visual artist and academic professor (Croatia) and Daniele Capra, art critic and curator (Italy), will make a selection of the paintings for the exhibition at the Monfort Gallery Portorož and award a multitude of appealing prizes, among which the Young Author Prize and the Grand Prix stand out. Both prizes are patronized by the Piran Coastal Galleries.
The week of Ex-tempore Piran 2023 will begin with the opening of an exhibition of artworks by Blažka Križan, who was selected by the international expert jury as the winner of the Youth Author Prize at Ex-tempore Piran 2022. The opening will be on Friday, August 1, 2023, at 8 p.m at Herman Pečarič Gallery in Piran. At her first solo exhibition in the Piran Coastal Galleries, carvings from the past three years will be on display. More information at the link …
The international group exhibition (Everything Is) Not What It Seems at the Piran Civic Gallery has been extended until 15 October 2023. It includes a selection of works of art by twenty-one artists well established on the world art scene. On Friday, September 1, 2023, at 7 p.m., a guided tour of the exhibition will be organized with the Croatian visual artist Igor Eškina, followed by a discussion with the participating artists. More information at the link …
Friday evening will come to its close at the Tartini House in Piran, where the opening of the exhibition Im-material by the Venetian artist who works under the pseudonym Bluer (Lorenzo Viscidi) will take place at 8 p.m.. The exhibition is organized by the Community of Italians Giuseppe Tartini Piran. The artist and the publication will be introduced by Enzo Santese, Italian art critic and curator of the exhibition.
Ex-tempore Piran 2023 will end on Saturday, September 2, 2023, at 8:30 p.m. at the Monfort’s Wooden Hall in Portorož. The event, directed by Ivan Loboda, a director born in Koper and trained in London, who is currently finishing his master's degree in theater direction at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (AGRFT) in Ljubljana, will be hosted by journalist and television presenter Karin Sabadin. This will be followed by socializing with the musical accompaniment of the LAPsus trio, which will perform standard jazz and pop hits.
On Saturday, you are cordially invited to Monfort Portorož for the award ceremony, the opening of the exhibition and an evening imbued with culture and entertainment, during which the original cocktail Ex-tempore à la Rose specially created for the occasion will be presented.
Ex-tempore 2023 events are being upgraded with significant inter-institutional and local networking, combining new forces: this year's 58th edition is created with the financial support of the Municipality of Piran, and with the added valuable support of the Koper Theatre, the Avditorij Portorož, the Giuseppe Tartini Italian Community from Piran, CAN, Okolje Piran, Hotel Marko Portorož and the Restaurant Kogo Koper, and with the general patronage of the company Vinakoper.
PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN, YOUTH AND FAMILIES
Ex-tempore Piran is also intended for young creators. Already on Wednesday, August 30, 2023, two workshops will take place at the Monfort Gallery in Portorož: in the morning, a painting workshop with markers, and in the afternoon, a workshop of face painting and tattooing.
Children's Ex-tempore for different age groups will enliven Piran's Tartini Square on Thursday, August 31, 2023, from 9 a.m. to noon. On Saturday, September 2, 2023, at 11 a.m., the children's program will end at the Tartini Theater in Piran with the theatrical performance Around the World With Igor (produced by the Koper Theatre). All events for children are free.
EX TEMPORE ON AN EASEL: a homage to painting on an easel
OUTDOOR EVENT
A painting stand or easel is a structure, usually made of wood or metal, that a painter uses when creating small-format paintings. The finished painting is also called an easel painting. The Slovenian term for easel painting comes from the obsolete German term Staffel (ladder) and is therefore called “štafelajno slikarstvo".
The painting event EX TEMPORE ON AN EASEL, a tribute to painting on an easel, will take place on Thursday, August 31st, 2023 from 9 a.m., on Tartini Square in Piran.
Organizers of the program: Piran Coastal Galleries and Community of Italians Giuseppe Tartini Piran.

