International Symposium of Sculptors Forma viva Portorose, which boasts a sixty-year tradition, offers artists from all over the world a rare opportunity to work with large formats of the given sculpting material- stone. In the increasingly tense atmosphere of modern people's ecological preoccupations, this type of art interventions turn urban landscapes and green oases into spaces for modern contemplations about the environment, about a more responsible and respectful relationship of humans to nature. That's why this year's symposium maintains the theme of the relationship between art and nature, which was set two years ago. The worksite of the sculptural symposium FORMA VIVA PORTOROŽ on the Seča peninsula came to life on Monday, September 25, 2023. This time around, two artists, Ištvan Išt Huzjan (Slovenia) and Emma Jääskeläinen (Finland), are grappling with the mighty blocks of Istrian stone. They are among those representatives of the younger generation who understand the vocation of a contemporary artist in the context of conscious social action.
The symposium, with an indispensable personal engagement of the OGP collective and external professional collaborators, takes place under the guidance of the Piran Coastal Galleries’ curator dr. Majda Božeglav Japelj. This year's event and all accompanying activities are also taking place in cooperation with numerous partners: Vinakoper, the Public Company Okolje Piran, the Community of Italians Giuseppe Tartini Piran, CAN and the Cultural Club/Circolo culturale Il Faro Reana del Rojale, the organizer of the sculpture symposium in Vergnacco in Friuli-Venezia Giulia. This year's assistants at the symposium, two stone masters, are also from there: Pablo Augusto Garelli and Franco Cadeddu. This year's international art event was made possible by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia and two coastal municipalities: Piran and Ankaran.
On the occasion of the Piran Municipality holiday, an informal gathering with sculptors and organizers called A DAY IN THE PARK will be held at the FV worksite on Friday, October 13, 2023, at 12 o'clock. Traditionally, the ceremonial CONCLUSION OF FORMA VIVA also takes place at the FV worksite, which this time around will be on Saturday, 28/10/2023, at 12 o'clock. Hot chestnuts and wine will be served. During the month of intense sculpting activity at the Forma viva worksite in Portorož, a content-rich accompanying program will take place. More information on the link…
The fifth edition of the Spekula manifesto, organized by the Faculty of Education of the University of Primorska in cooperation with the Piran Coastal Galleries, will begin with the opening of the central exhibition Memory of the Visible and Touch at the Loža Gallery in Koper, which will take place on October 5, 2023, at 6 p.m. This year's edition questions and studies the experiences and research of the authors, who use their work to perceive their own individual discoveries through a personal view and touch of their own creations, which often generate new memories, truths and stimuli. Right where the title dictates the treatment of the visible and memory, we meet a group of high-quality authors, active on both the Slovenian and international art scene: Duša Jesih, Rajko Apollonio, Miha Štrukelj, Maxime Berthou and Mark Požlep. At the exhibition, which is curated by the artistic director of the manifesto, Assoc. prof. dr. Tilen Žbona, various media-supported works are interwoven, which show the complexity and well-founded independent growth of artistic language and the context of individual activities. Spekula 2023 is accompanied by various events: round tables, guest lectures, accompanying exhibitions, tours of exhibition halls, institutions and creative workshops. More information on the link…
The Contemporary Art Day 2023 (Giornata del Contemporaneo) dedicated to contemporary visual art is organized by the Italian association AMACI (Association of Italian Contemporary Art Museums). In Italy this year, it will take place on Saturday, October 7, 2023. It includes museums, foundations, public and private institutions, galleries, studios and art spaces across the country. With the support of the Italian diplomatic-consular network, the event will be spread abroad, including to Slovenia. The organizers – the Consulate General of Italy in Koper, the Embassy of Italy in Ljubljana and the Italian Cultural Institute in Ljubljana – invited Piran Coastal Galleries to participate. The joint event will take place on Thursday, October 12, 2023, at the Piran Civic Gallery. At 3:00 p.m., there will be a discussion, presentation and guided tour of the exhibition (Everything Is) Not What It Seems and a presentation of the work of Tiara Strgulc, a young graduate of IED in Milan. At 5:00 p.m., the program will continue with a round table on the presentation of good museum practices in the Alpe-Adria region, entitled The Future of Museums, Depots and Preservation of Art. Numerous noteworthy local and national agents will participate. His visit to the Piran Civic Gallery was also confirmed by the Consul General of Italy in Koper, Mr. Giovanni Coviello. More information on the link…
Pedagogical activities in October, organized by curator and pedagogue Ana Papež, will be very diverse. As every year, and especially in the years when the sculpture symposium Forma viva Portorož is held and the stone blocks are worked on in a haze of stone dust, creative workshops Let's sculpt together in collaboration with the academically educated sculptor Tia Avsec will take place at the Forma viva worksite. After prior guided tour and learning about the history of the Forma viva sculpture park, elementary school and high school students, will tackle a lightweight cube of Siporex and use sculpting tools to transform it into a smaller sculpture. With prior notice, outdoor workshops are also intended for adults, as sculpting in an olive grove in the company of sculptors is a great challenge and an unforgettable experience for any age group.
Pedagogical workshops will also be held at the Monfort Gallery in Portorose, which is hosting the Ex-tempore Piran exhibition, which attracts many visitors every year. In this way, young people learn about the history and course of this traditional international event, various painting techniques and motifs.
Alongside the exhibition (Everything Is) Not What It Seems), another interesting pedagogical workshop will be held in the month of October, which will be guided by one of the exhibiting visual artists, Meta Grgurevič. She will briefly present her way of creating a kinetic sculpture to the students. More information on the link…
This year, the Piran Coastal Galleries have also announced a public call Open door with the aim of democratically including new artistic productions and alternative contemporary projects in the field of visual art of the coastal area in the galleries' program. The public call ended in the spring, when the jury of experts (dr. Martina Vovk, IED of the Modern Gallery Ljubljana, Mara Ambrožič Verderber, director of the Piran Coastal Galleries, dr. Majda Božeglav Japelj, PCG’s curator and museum councilor, Ana Papež, PCG’s curator-pedagogue, and Tatjana Sirk, PCG’s curator and museum consultant) reviewed and evaluated 34 submitted projects according to the previously announced criteria. Four were shortlisted, and among them two authors were selected for the exhibition at the PCG: Nežka Zamar, an interdisciplinary artist of the younger generation, and Hannes Zebedin, an Austrian academic sculptor who lives and creates in the Slovenian Karst. The two exhibitions will be the first to be realized in the PCG’s 2024 program year. More information on the link…
