In the first days of spring, the Piran Coastal Galleries will open their doors to artists from the Slovenian Littoral. We will host individual exhibitions by Aleksander Velišček, a very popular painter, and Daniela Danica Tepeš, whose work will be presented in our galleries for the first time. The rich programme of exhibitions will be accompanied by guided tours, promotional events for Tartini 330 and numerous workshops for children, teenagers and adults.

What will also take place in April is the call for applications OPEN DOORS, which will provide the opportunity to promote new artistic productions and alternative contemporary projects by artists, authors and curators from the Littoral. The application deadline has been extended to 25 April 2022. Additional information is available.

The exhibition Aleksander Velišček, PAINTINGS 2020–2022 will open on Thursday, 14 April 2022, at 6 p.m. at the Meduza Gallery in Koper, where it will be on display until 24 June 2022. Aleksander Velišček is an artist from the Littoral who studied painting at the Accademia di Belle Arti di Venezia, but now lives and works in Milano and the village of Vipolže (Goriška brda). Since 2009, he has participated in many group exhibitions abroad, including at the AplusA gallery in Venezia, where he also held his first solo exhibition. He has attended artist-in-residency programmes in Venice (Bevilacqua La Masa Foundation), Belgrade and Paris (Cité Internationale des Arts) and won the Mariuccia Paracchi Testori award (presented by the Casa Testori Cultural Association in Novate Milanese) in 2011. In 2017, his exhibition Gullivers was featured at the Loža Gallery in Koper, which was also the first time that his work was presented at the Piran Coastal Galleries. Velišček’s works, whether they be paintings, installations or performances, always encourage critical reflection. It is therefore no surprise that Velišček has spent the pandemic deeply reflecting on himself and his fellow human beings, as well as on the role of visual art and the artist in today’s society. The exhibition PAINTINGS 2020–2022 will feature his recent series of remake portraits, masterfully crafted replicas to which he added a provocative personal touch. The paintings challenge the spectators’ perception and their way of understanding the painted images and their message.

The Monfort Gallery, which was closed during the winter, will open on Thursday, 28 April 2022, at 6.00 p.m. with the exhibition ON THE OTHER SIDE by artist Daniela Danica Tepeš. The exhibition will be on display until 22 May 2022. Daniela Danica Tepeš is an internationally renowned visual artist that lives and works in Portorož. She graduated from the Academy of Visual Arts in Ljubljana and has participated in numerous international exhibitions and projects all over Europe, Asia and Oceania. Her artworks have been presented twice at the Venice Biennale: at the 57th edition in 2017 as part of the pavilion of the Republic of Kiribati, and in 2019. The present art project is related to the presentation at the 2017 biennale, which focused on the global issue of extreme interventions in nature, including the active deep mines in the Pacific islands where phosphates are mined. The exhibition is designed as a reflection on how humans plunder the natural environment. The installation with phosphate caves transforms the gallery into a space of extraction and contamination and encourages the spectator to self-reflect and contemplate the human existence.

The Piran City Gallery will host the group exhibition Panorama: A selection from the Collection of Piran Coastal Galleries, where spectators will have a rare opportunity to enjoy the art heritage that has been stored in depos. The chosen works, which fall under various art genres and include paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs and prints, were created by well-known Slovenian and international artist and are part of the most representative gallery collections.

On Friday, 15 April 2022, at 6 p.m. we will organise a public guided tour of the exhibition, by which we aim to introduce individual works to the public and explain some of the less-known details of how they were acquired. The tour will be given by dr. Majda Božeglav Japelj, curator of the collections, and a guest. Guided tours led by PCG’s curators and other guests (experts, art critics, artists etc.) will also take place in May. Additional information is available.

On Wednesday, 11 May 2022, at 6 p.m. the guided tour of the exhibition will be given by Italian art critic Samantha Chia, who has selected the presented artworks. We will also hold a round-table discussion with representatives from professional artistic circles that will take place on Wednesday, 25 May 2022, at 6 p.m.

Workshops and guided tours can also be organised by prior arrangement (at info@obalne-galerije.si) Information on all additional events will be published in due time. Educational workshops Tape it, wrap it, spray it! led by Ana Papež (contact: ana.papez@obalne-galerije.si) feature a particularly extensive programme. Additional information is available.

In the coming months the Piran Coastal Galleries will pay respect to the world-renowned composer and violinist Giuseppe Tartini, to whom the Year of Tartini, TARTINI 330, which celebrates the 330th anniversary of the artist’s birth, is dedicated. Activities will include a dynamic workshop on creating portraits of Tartini, which will promote intergenerational cooperation. Workshops are open to all interested members of the general public, from small children to senior citizens. Their creative work will later on be presented in the exhibition How I See Tartini. The exhibition will be open from Thursday, 14 April 2022, until Sunday, 15 May 2022.

The second TARTINI 330 event will take place on Saturday, 30 April 2022, at 11 a.m. at the Piran City Gallery, where the promotional project ART OBJECTS: TARTINI 330 will be launched in cooperation with the Italian Community Giuseppe Tartini and various economic partners. Attendees will be able enjoy a presentation on the process of projecting objects and visual materials, which will be given in the exhibition space of the Piran gallery, where the PANORAMA exhibition will be on display. The event will be followed by wine tasting and an informal social gathering.

We look forward to future events, exhibitions and the opportunity to meet you!