Spekula: Matrix – The Alienated Thought
Matrix – The Alienated Thought is the title of the seventh artistic manifestation Spekula. At a time when the specificity of media messages, carriers, and content generators intertwines with the thoughts of both narrower and broader groups of users, readers, and mediators, individual thought is increasingly exposed to algorithmic platforms of artificial intelligence — and thus to distorted truths. As a counterpoint to this generated reality and unreality, the exhibition titled Matrix – The Alienated Thought responds as a genuine and tangible experience of ideas and reflections by the artists Andrej Savski, Zora Stančič, Črtomir Frelih, and Mojca Smerdu. The presented works are undoubtedly a transfer of the invisible into the visible realm — ideas embodied in matter, reaching deeply and concretely into the real experience of perceiving the given contents, concepts, contexts, and the artworks themselves. In this way, the seventh edition of the manifesto delves into the transmission of messages, meanings, and new genesis of reality. The exhibition, prepared in collaboration with UP PEF VOU, will open at Galerija Loža in Koper on Ta veseli dan kulture (The Joyful Day of Culture), December 3, 2025.
More information at the link….
Piran Coastal Galleries – 50 Years of Contemporary Art |
Posters, catalogues, invitations, audi-video documents
In the year coming to an end, the Coastal Galleries of Piran celebrate 50 years of their activity. We mark this fifty-year journey with an exhibition of documentary material collected and preserved over the decades in the archive of the central public institution for visual arts in the Slovenian Littoral. Through their exhibition spaces in Piran, Portorož, and Koper, the Coastal Galleries maintain a diverse exhibition program. In addition, they carry out extensive public service work: researching, studying, documenting, and archiving visual heritage.
Promotional, book, and other archival material accompanying individual exhibitions or forming part of the general documentation provides insight into the complex process of exhibition creation and serves as a valuable record of the past. On display will be items from the Collection of Documents and Archival Catalogs: posters, exhibition catalogues, leaflets, and other publications and printed matter.
The exhibition aims to present the fifty-year scope of the institution’s work: its exhibitions, accompanying events, symposia, roundtables, and professional meetings, educational and adult-learning activities, and publishing endeavors. It will cover activities in all domestic and international exhibition spaces where OGP has organized exhibitions, as well as long-standing traditional events such as Ex-tempore Piran, Forma viva Portorož, and the Piran Days of Architecture.
The documentary material from the OGP archive, arranged into thematic visual sections, brings visitors closer to the lively and diverse activity of the organization and its rich and dynamic history, without following a strict chronological order. The core of the exhibition is formed by posters that accompanied many important exhibitions from the gallery’s beginnings to the present day. This extensive material tells the story of decades of work in contemporary visual arts while reflecting the stylistic imprint of its time.
The exhibition will open at the Piran Civic Gallery on Thursday, December 18, 2025, and will remain on view until spring 2026.
More information at the link….
42nd Piran Days of Architecture
The 42nd Piran Days of Architecture took place recently. This international architectural conference, one of the longest-running of its kind in the world, is organized by the DESSA Architectural Centre Ljubljana in cooperation with the Piran Coastal Galleries, the Avditorij Portorož, and the Municipality of Piran.
The aim of the conference is to evaluate current architectural trends and present the most innovative ideas in architectural and spatial production created in the last two years in the Central European region. The themes change every year but are always topical. This year’s invited speakers — Miha Dešman (Slovenia), Palinda Kannangara (Sri Lanka), Pau Bajet & Maria Giramé (Spain), Petr Pelčák (Czech Republic), Nemanja Zimonjić & Ognjen Krašna (Serbia/Switzerland), and Matjaž Bolčina & Ernest Milčinović (Slovenia) — presented their projects, perspectives, and visions on the theme Is Architecture Neutral? at the Avditorij Portorož on Saturday, 22 November 2025. After the conference, the Piranesi 2025 award ceremony took place in the Auditorium.
This year, 50 architectural projects were nominated for the Piranesi Award, selected by national selectors from 11 European countries, along with 40 student projects chosen by selectors from 20 European architecture faculties. A total of 86 projects were submitted for the Piranesi exhibition: 47 architectural projects and 39 student works.
The international Piranesi 2025 Award was granted to Hungarian architects Péter Szabó and Emese Galamb (OKKA Architects) for the project House and Apiary in the Balaton Highlands.
The international Piranesi 2025 recognitions were awarded to Slovenian architects Uroš Rustja, Primož Žitnik, Mina Hiršman, Mateo Zonta (VOID Architecture) and landscape architects Ana Kučan, Luka Javornik, Danijel Mohorič (Studio AKKA) for the Ankaran Cemetery, as well as Serbian architects Anđela Karabašević Sudžum and Vladislav Sudžum (AKVS Architecture) for the Creative Industries and Innovation Center “Ložionica” and the e-Government Building in Belgrade.
The international Piranesi 2025 Student Recognition was awarded to Slovenian student Ela Grasselli (mentors: Prof. Maruša Zorec, Assist. Prof. Uroš Rustja) for Two Long Houses in Jesenice.
All awarded and nominated projects are on display in the Wooden Hall of Monfort in Portorož until 30 December 2025.
More information: Piran Days of Architecture 2025
Florian Cziesla: The Change of the Sea
At the Meduza Gallery in Koper, photographer, cultural studies researcher, and translator Florian Cziesla presents his work. His pieces, created this time in Koper, Izola, and Piran, are based on the exploration of ideas through the photographic medium and tend toward the abstract and mysterious, where forms, textures, and the play of light and shadow intertwine. The abstract visual meditations engage the viewer with intimate yet open compositions.
The exhibition The Change of the Sea, organized in collaboration with ZRC SAZU, has been extended until January 24, 2026, due to great interest.
Free New Year Educational Workshops
In the spirit of the Christmas and New Year holidays, we are preparing two free educational workshops as part of the Merry December program. They are intended for children aged 8 to 13 and will take place at the City Gallery Piran.
The first workshop, titled What Is Written Will Not Be Erased, will be held on Friday, 19 December 2025, from 4:00 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Participants will create New Year greeting cards, where young creators will be able to write warm wishes and thoughts for their loved ones to brighten their festive days. Although SMS messages and e-greetings have largely replaced handwritten cards, they cannot match the charm of uniquely crafted and handwritten greetings.
The second workshop, titled Festive Glimpse, will take place on Monday, 29 December 2025, from 10:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Children will paint New Year ornaments with acrylic paints; the ornaments will have been pre-printed using a 3D printer. They will decorate the lobby of the City Gallery Piran with their creations, and in January they will be able to collect the ornaments and take them home as a keepsake.
All materials needed for both workshops will be provided at the Piran Civic Gallery.
You are kindly invited to join us!
