EX-TEMPORE PIRAN 2026
61st INTERNATIONAL PAINTING EX-TEMPORE
International expert jury:
Mojca Grmek (Slovenia), curator and head of House of Culture in Pivka
Rachele D'Osualdo (Italy), curator and cultural manager
Igor Eškinja (Croatia), artist and associated professor at APURI Rijeka
President of the jury: Rachele D'Osualdo
Secretary of the jury: Ana Papež, curator of Piran Coastal Galleries (Slovenia)
229 participants applied to the 61st International Painting Ex-tempore Piran and 192 art works of art and 17 children’s works were submitted. The jury selected 115 artworks of art for the exhibition, which is set up at the Civic Gallery Piran and at the Monfort Gallery in Portorož.
PRIZES
Ph: Jadran Rusjan.
GRAND PRIX
The highest purchase prize of 4.000 euros, is also awarded by the PIRAN COASTAL GALLERIES. Grand Prix of the 60th International Painting Ex-tempore Piran 2026 was awarded to ALJOŠA POTOKAR (Slovenia) for the painting entitled »Quo vadis«.
Explanation:
For its ability to question reality on multiple levels through a series of formal, thematic, and symbolic contrasts. The landscape shaped by traditional work in the salt pans – or rather, a representation of it – provides the backdrop for new phenomena: the recent migrations of flamingos, which find an increasingly suitable habitat there, plastic materials and the environmental questions these raise. The composition brings these elements together, prompting us – as viewers and as a society – to ask: where are we heading?
Ph: Jadran Rusjan.
YOUNG AUTHOR PRIZE
Purchase prize for the best work by an author under the age of 35 is awarded by the PIRAN COASTAL GALLERIES. The prize, which is in the form of a solo exhibition at the Herman Pečarič Gallery in Piran, was awarded to ANJA KOČAR (Slovenia) for the painting “ Little Bathers“.
Explanation:
The painterly quality conveys the pervasiveness of a blinding light and the sensation of heat so intense that it leaves no refuge: only a brief dip might offer relief, yet, on closer inspection, even that proves futile.
Ph: Jadran Rusjan.
SPECIAL PRIZE TARTINI 2026
The Special Prize Tartini 2026 is awarded by the CAN PIRAN and the association COMMUNITY OF ITALIANS GIUSEPPE TARTINI PIRAN in the form of a solo exhibition at the Tartini House in Piran. This year, it was awarded to NICOLA TOMASI (Italy) for the painting »Block F4/C«.
Explanation:
The concrete building is depicted in the midday light, devoid of any sign of human, animal, or natural presence. Modernist architecture, once conceived as a utopian solution, now reveals its inability to meet the need for which it was created: to accommodate life.
SPECIAL MAJOR PURCHASE PRIZE
Prize is awarded by :
JP OKOLJE PIRAN, received by MANCA ŠUBELJ (Slovenia)
MAJOR PURCHASE PRIZES
Prizes are awarded by:
MUNICIPALITY OF PIRAN, received by ANDREJ SCHLEGEL (Slovenia)
GASSPAR d.o.o. PORTOROŽ, received by VASKO VIDMAR (Slovenia)
STARA GOSTILNA PIRAN, received by TYMOFII BIELSKYI (Slovenia)
SELF-SERVICE LAUNDRY, 1st MAY SQUARE, PIRAN, received by JOŽE ŠTERK (Slovenia)
PURCHASE PRIZES
Prizes are awarded by :
CITY MUNICIPALITY OF KOPER, received by CVETO VIDOVIČ (Slovenia)
PORTOROŽ TURIST BOARD, received by MILENA ROŠTOHAR (Slovenia)
PRIVATE COLLECTOR, received by JERNEJA SMOLNIKAR (Slovenia).
SMALL PURCHASE PRIZES
Prizes areawarded by :
SURF d.o.o., PORTOROŽ, received by MATJAŽ PENKO (Slovenia)
ADET d.0.0. PORTOROŽ, received by MATJAŠ DIEGO ZADEL DELLAMORTE (Slovenia)
HOTEL PRIZES
Prizes in the form of hotel services are awarded by:
EUROTASS HOTELI d.o.o., received by BARBARA KASTELEC (Slovenia)
ART HOTEL TARTINI PIRAN, DAVID PIRNAT (Slovenia)
HTP BELVEDERE IZOLA, received by INJA ILNIKAR (Slovenia)
SPECIAL PRIZES
Prizes in the form of art supplies are awarded by:
SHOPS ART LJUBLJANA AND ROYAL TALNES, received by LONA VERLICH (Slovenia)
SHOPS ART LJUBLJANA AND CLAIRFONTAINE, received by DAVIDIČEN (Slovenia)
PRIZE FOR A WORK ON PAPER
Prize is awarded by :
PRIVATE COLLECTOR, received by BAGRAT ARAZYAN (Slovenia)
CHILDREN’S PRIZE (up to 15 years of age)
The prize in the form of art supplies was awarded by the PIRAN COASTAL GALLERIES to NINA CJUHA GIULIATTI.
JURY STATEMENTS
GRAND PRIX
Aljoša Potokar: Quo Vadis?
For its ability to question reality on multiple levels through a series of formal, thematic, and symbolic contrasts. The landscape shaped by traditional work in the salt pans – or rather, a representation of it – provides the backdrop for new phenomena: the recent migrations of flamingos, which find an increasingly suitable habitat there, plastic materials and the environmental questions these raise. The composition brings these elements together, prompting us – as viewers and as a society – to ask: where are we heading?
YOUNG ARTIST AWARD
Anja Kočar: Kopalčki / Piccoli bagnanti / Little Bathers
The painterly quality conveys the pervasiveness of a blinding light and the sensation of heat so intense that it leaves no refuge: only a brief dip might offer relief, yet, on closer inspection, even that proves futile.
SPECIAL AWARD “Tartini 2026”
Nicola Tomasi: Blok F4/C / Blocco F4/C / Block F4/C
The concrete building is depicted in the midday light, devoid of any sign of human, animal, or natural presence. Modernist architecture, once conceived as a utopian solution, now reveals its inability to meet the need for which it was created: to accommodate life.
