admin – Cultural Manager & Curator

The Offering

THE OFFERING

Artist: Antonio Pichillá

This is not the first time that artist Igor Andjelić has addressed those who enter sacred spaces. Over the past ten years, he has conceived a series of multidisciplinary projects that seek to shake the traditional static role of art in the restrictive context of sacred architecture. Although his photography career is well k

Antonio Pichillá Quiacaín (born in 1982 in San Pedro La Laguna, Sololá) belongs to the Maya Tz’utujil ethnic group. He is part of a new generation of Guatemalan artists who, with the help of strategies acquired through formal education, are redirecting the Eurocentric perception of Maya art and disclosing the contemporary significance of the wisdom of their ancestors. In his work, he transcends boundaries and explores new connections beyond the conventional framework of contemporary art as an artist, healer, cultural mediator and respected member of the community.

Through his art practice, Pichillá analyses and reinterprets his cultural heritage, thus transforming artistic creation into a ritual act that can honour his ancestors and give continuity to inherited knowledge. His works, shown in the exhibition The Offering, were created by Lake Atitlán, which is considered the geographical area of the country where Maya culture is most deeply rooted. They are based on Maya myths, legends, rituals and iconography, respectfully preserving ancestral wisdom while creating new narratives that build on the Maya cosmogony. This worldview, based on the harmony between nature, the universe and humanity, remains a fundamental element of the culture of indigenous communities in Guatemala today.

The guiding thread of the exhibition The Offering is the art of weaving, demonstrating that spirituality is an inherent part of artistic materiality. In the Maya language, there is no specific word for art; instead, they use the term “x’ajaan”, which means sacred. Through appropriation, performativity and abstraction, the artist connects Maya rituals and customs that have long remained hidden, disclosing the value of ancestral knowledge as a symbol of resistance and the dignity of one’s identity.

Read more →

Curator: Yasmín Martín Vodopivec

More information: EXHIBITION BOOKLET (pdf)

MGLC Švicarija, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia
18 September 2024 – 12 January 2025

Producer: International Centre of Graphic Arts (MGLC)
Support: Municipality of Ljubljana City, Ministry of Culture of the RS
Photos: Jaka Babnik. MGLC Archive.

Watch the video on Youtube

The Offering Read More »

Confess

CONFESS

Artists: Igor Andjelić and Marina Abramović

The exhibition Confess, currently on view in the Church of Our Lady of Health in Piran, is the artist’s fourth intervention in this space. With a truly iconoclastic stance and an unwavering intuition, Igor Andjelić once again creates a utopian situation that takes the ideology of the contemporary exhibition space back to its ecclesiastical origins, thus shaping an updated liturgy that transcends the predictable limits of artistic intervention. Through the choice of space and the works on display, as well as their considered placement, the artist and his collaborators create a deliberately mystical atmosphere that evokes a contemplative experience in the visitor. Confess is a total work of art with clear transcendental tendencies. The object here is a sanctuary with dynamic and contemporary artistic expressions that replace the absent religious symbolism, while the context belongs to the viewer.

Confess is an invitation to an insightful experience that happens at the very moment when the observer is confronted with an unexpected image of oneself. To accept that the reflection of one’s own image is far from the perfect ideal we have of ourselves. To honestly admit that we can always expect more from ourselves.

Read more →

Curator: Yasmín Martín Vodopivec

Church of Our Lady of Health, Piran, Slovenia
7 June – 29 October 2024

Production: ULAY Foundation
Supported by: Municipality of Piran – Comune di Pirano
Photos: Igor Andjelić, Matjaž Stopar, Mateja Mirt, Christian Reinhardt.

Confess Read More »

The moment before

THE MOMENT BEFORE

Artist: Sanja Nešković Peršin

Following the traces of her earlier works, artist Sanja Nešković Peršin ventures into the most mysterious regions of artistic creation. Using performative film and live performance, she imaginatively creates a sensual cacophony, exploring in this realm the longing and disquiet that inevitably accompany the deeply rooted pursuit of excellence. By juxtaposing vague, indecipherable black-and-white images of individual movements discarded in the past for their lack of perfection with her performative intervention in the space, the artist establishes an internal dialogue from the perspective of an uncertain present, reproducing a feeling of suspense that precedes the actual resolution of expectation. This dynamic interplay of image and sound fragments in the darkness of the exhibition space draws a map of tension and uncertainty that, from today’s perspective, encourages an exploration of the constellation of what could have been and what did not happen.

Using a unique poetic language dominated by a steady cadence of increasingly intense movement variations, which she has practised continuously throughout her dance career, the artist seeks to transcend the boundaries of the physical, emphasising the importance and weight of the irrational as an essential part of our rational perception. Through the iconoclastic exercise of deconstructing repetitive movements, she reveals the uncanny complexity of conflicting emotional impulses that underlie the creative process. Unconscious themes emerge through memories of half-lived, unrealised experiences, creating a dream-like atmosphere in which the artist sublimates the desire for perfection until it combusts.

Read more →

Curator: Yasmín Martín Vodopivec

Space for Art NÓT, Ljubljana, Slovenia
19 September 2023 – 21 September 2023

The Jamestown Arts Center, Rhode Island, United States
28 October 2023

Ljubljana Art Weekend, Space for Art NÓT, Ljubljana, Slovenia
24 – 25 May 2024

Maribor Art Gallery, Maribor, Slovenia
10 October 2024

Galerie Kandlhofer, Vienna, Austria
24 October – 22 November 2024

13th International Festival of Contemporary Dance CoFestival, Cirkulacija 2, Ljubljana, Slovenia
25 November 2024

Upcoming events in May 2025: Kyoto and Osaka, Japan

Concept and performer: Sanja Nešković Peršin
Set-up and video: Atej Tutta
Music: Sašo Kalan
Text editing: Vesna Česen Rošker
Proofreading: Postulat
Translation: Arven Šakti Kralj
Co-production: NOT Space for Art
Supported by: Municipality of Ljubljana, Department of Culture
Acknowledgments: Museum and Galleries of Ljubljana (MGML), Maribor Art Gallery (UGM), Hestia Belgrade
Photos: Atej Tutta, Jan, Urška Boljkovac.

Watch the video
https://vimeo.com/atejtutta/review/1019945822/62c45aac00

The moment before Read More »

Project Švicarija: Community, Art and Nature

Švicarija: Community, Art and Nature

2017–Ongoing

Author, curator and head of the project Švicarija: Community, Art and Nature

Švicarija: Community, Art and Nature is a long-term project that expands the activities of the International Centre for Graphic Arts by adding a beautifully restored historical building in the heart of Tivoli Park in Ljubljana, popularly known as Švicarija, to its administration. After the renovation, the challenge was to fill the building with content and transform it into a creative and residential centre with a defined and distinctive profile.

The opening of the new cultural venue was carried out experimentally as a dialogue between a multifaceted exhibition and a year-long programme of events. The project drew on three fundamental elements that had shaped the building’s history: community, art and nature. The exhibition and accompanying programme was inspired by the building’s historical shifts and the vision for its future.

The curatorial approach was based on the principles of creativity, accessibility and experiential learning, and envisaged the current activities of the centre. MGLC Švicarija has evolved into a referential creative centre that, in addition to sixteen long-term residencies for Slovenian artists, three residencies for international artists, an artist’s memorial studio, temporary exhibitions, a summer festival and an inclusive programme, aims to bring contemporary art practices closer to audiences, invite visitors to appreciate the natural and cultural heritage, and partake in creating community through art in the natural environment.

In search of a more fluid, far-reaching and proactive dialogue with visitors to Švicarija and Tivoli Park, I conceptualised the Art in Tivoli Park collection. It includes three publications that, in collaboration with various artists and through an innovative and practical approach, bring cultural heritage closer to our daily lives.

As part of the presentation of the third publication Art in Tivoli Park – The Secret Life of Švicarija, Ištvan Išt Huzjan was invited to reveal the process of his artistic intervention for the publication also in an exhibition format entitled The Cankarian Wedge.

On the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the renovation of Švicarija in May 2022, the permanent exhibition on its history and art tradition was opened entitled The Shadow Is Seen by My Eyes, the Light Is Seen Only by My Heart.

A monographic publication is currently being prepared, which will encompass the specific aspects of the past that configure its unique relevance in the present.

In 2024, I conceived the SUN Residency as part of the MGLC residency programme at Švicarija. The interdisciplinary SUN Residency (skupnost, umetnost, narava = community, art, nature) offers professional visual artists the opportunity to make work, develop new ideas and reflect on their practice in the creative atmosphere of this historic building.

More information

PROGRAM PUBLICATION in English (pdf)

EXHIBITION PUBLICATION in English (pdf)

A GUIDE FOR CHILDREN AND FAMILIES in English (pdf)

Production: International Centre of Graphic Arts
Support: Municipality of Ljubljana
Photos: Jaka Babnik, Urška Boljkovac, Gregor Gobec, Peter Giodani. MGLC Archive.

Project Švicarija: Community, Art and Nature Read More »

Print Portfolio Honza Zamojski: Needless to Say

Honza Zamojski: Needless to Say

2024

Project manager of the Needles to Say print portfolio

The Needless to Say portfolio consists of five graphics with titles that are important for the interpretation of the whole: Careless, Toothless, Priceless, Speechless and Fearless. These words, which also appear as scattered typography within the prints, serve many functions, three of which are crucial for the author. First of all, they define the heroine of the portfolio – the author’s several-month-old daughter – Irenka. Secondly, they may also refer to emotions between the child and parents when new relationships begin to be built between them.
Thirdly, they constitute an interesting typographic counterpoint to the recurring main motif of all the graphics – scattered, large and colourful pins or needles.

The motif of pins and needles has appeared in the artist’s works for a long time. The rescaling of a banal object introduces the viewer to a world that is “conventional” and, to some extent, is a stage setting where the relationship between the creator and the viewer takes place. Enlarged pins can become sharp tools or even weapons in the hands of one or the other. They can also be used to pin a selected word to attract the attention of the viewer/reader for a longer time. The scattered pins are also intended to remind us of randomness – an important feature of every creative process.

Another important feature of the portfolio is the process of creating the prints. The whole thing took place during a week-long residency at the MGLC Print Studio. Each graphic was created exclusively using analogue techniques, without the use or support of a computer. This is important because Honza Zamojski needed to reformulate his current drawing practice and change his way of thinking about the composition and sequence of drawing activities. It seems as if the whole printing process is a bit like Irenka, who inevitably changed the artist’s perspective on the world.

Production: International Centre of Graphic Arts
Support: The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Municipality of Ljubljana
Photos: Urška Boljkovac, Jaka Babnik. MGLC Archive.

Print Portfolio Honza Zamojski: Needless to Say Read More »

Print portfolio The Holy Corner

The Holy Corner

The Print Portfolio of Artists of the 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts

2023

Project Manager

Artists: Jihan El Tahri, Soghra Khurasani, Ibrahim Mahama, Tjaša Rener, Jaanus Samma, School of Mutants (Hamedine Kane, Stéphane Verlet-Bottéro), Janek Simon, Temitayo Ogunbiyi

The print portfolio The Holy Corner presents newly commissioned works by selected artists who are taking part in the 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts From the void came gifts of the cosmos. This year’s edition of the Biennale was conceived by Artistic Director Ibrahim Mahama together with curators Patrick Nii Okanta Ankrah, Exit Frame Collective, Alicia Knock, Selom Koffi Kudjie, Inga Lāce and Beya Othmani. The concept for The Holy Corner print portfolio and the selection of artists was developed by curator Yasmín Martín Vodopivec. Her curatorial intervention is based on the idea of how important it is to preserve the values of a bygone era in order to overcome the anxieties of the present day. The diverse themes of the artworks included in the print portfolio form an imaginary altar where the owner is symbolically compensated for their contribution to the social project, and which can evoke the rebellious power of the collective spirit.

In his original notes when coming up with ideas for a concept for this edition of the Biennale, Ibrahim Mahama illustrated the void with a drawing of a bed as an architectural form with an empty space underneath, but with the emphasis that this dark, mysterious, oneiric space under the bed can be understood as a space of potential; a space where the cycle of life begins and ends, a place where memories and dreams meet and where the ghosts of unrealised futures reside. An empty space from which something radically new could emerge through contemporary transformation. In many homes of diverse cultures, the holy corner is seen as a similar architectural element and is not necessarily tied to a particular religion, but is primarily intended for worship, spirituality or a connection to transcendence.

Production: International Centre of Graphic Arts
Support: The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Municipality of Ljubljana
Photos: Jaka Babnik. MGLC Archive.

Print portfolio The Holy Corner Read More »

FORMA MGLC

FORMA MGLC

2015

Author and head of the project FORMA MGLC

FORMA MGLC was a programme based on the use of new technologies, social media and innovative approaches in cultural institutions. The programme enabled young people specialising in the cultural sector to focus their professional profile on specific knowledge and skills to become familiar with the use of new media while gaining insight into the new and increasingly sought-after professional profiles: Community Management Coordinator and Digital Content Coordinator. The FORMA MGLC project was part of a programme aimed at young people funded by the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Security. Young Spaniards with different profiles participated in the programme, which ran from 16 March 2015 to 16 June 2015. The main objective of the programme was to facilitate their integration into the labour market by using new approaches that value creative talent and the ability to put knowledge into practice and innovation.

The FORMA MGLC programme was divided into several parts. Finding good practices for the inclusion of the new profiles linked to the Internet and the use of new technologies in cultural institutions played a crucial role. Within the project, we set up educational platforms and promoted the FORMA MGLC project itself through different channels. The interested public was invited to attend the educational lectures and the symposium as part of the programme.

THE CONTENTS OF THE FORMA MGLC PROGRAMME:

New professional profiles: Participants learned about the working environment of a museum in Ljubljana and the ways in which new media was being used at the International Centre of Graphic Arts. We learned that the position of MGLC within global communication, information transmission and cultural understanding is also changing through the use of new media.

Community Management Coordinator: Participants explored the meaning behind the Community Management Coordinator profile and researched good practices abroad. The theory acquired in the research was then put into practice in the local setting. Particular emphasis was placed on participants learning how to effectively build an online community for different target groups.

Digitisation: The preservation of documents in museums has been undergoing major changes due to digitisation – also with the aim of satisfying an increasingly demanding online audience. Searching for good practices, realising the need to introduce a specific professional profile for the management of digital archives intended for long-term use and introducing good practices of digital management in the local setting.

Digital media in museums: An insight into the importance of different digital tools (touchscreen tablets, mobile apps and other modern tools) that can be used to attract visitors and cultural professionals. Using innovative approaches and looking for solutions on how to use these approaches at MGLC.

Communication strategies in social media: Developing a rough framework for a communication strategy in the use of social networks and finding solutions for the successful implementation of digital media in the marketing and communication strategy of the institution.

Analysis of social media: Museums have a new role in global communication, information dissemination and cultural understanding. How to effectively measure the impact of social media was the question that participants tried to answer.

The positioning of cultural institutions, marketing: Branding basics in cultural institutions and learning that systematically building a brand leads to visitor trust, whose emotional connection also prompts further interactions.

“The programme emphasizes the traditional activities of MGLC in the field of non-formal education. Besides it being a platform for education and the ability to integrate young people into the workplace, its aim is to establish an intercultural space to develop creativity, an exchange of knowledge and new experience, which does not only enrich the participants, but also the institution.”
Yasmin Martín Vodopívec, FORMA MGLC Programme Leader and Assistant Director of MGLC

PARTICIPANTS

Concha Martínez Peláez Architect from Cadiz, Spain “After getting my degree in Architecture I have recently started to attend a course on audiovisual communication. The latter is also the reason why the FORMA MGLC programme immediately attracted my attention. I am very much looking forward to these three months and I expect to learn an enormous amount. We are a young dynamic team and I am confident that we can pass a lot of knowledge on to each other.”

Natalia Corbillón González Industrial and graphic designer from Galicia, Spain “I studied Industrial Design and got my degree in Germany at the so-called Folkwang Hochuschule. In 2011, I was an intern at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design of the University of Ljubljana; ever since then I have been a freelance artist in the graphic design field. When I first read about the FORMA MGLC programme, I was immediately attracted to it since graphic design has a tight connection with marketing and social media. I am convinced that my “invisible backpack” will gain substance after this experience.”

Javier Martin Arjona Architect from Bilbao, Spain “I studied Architecture in San Sebastian but came to Ljubljana on an Erasmus exchange for a year in between. After graduating, I also finished a course in graphic design in Bilbao. I moved to Slovenia in 2013; I work here as a teacher of Spanish. Now I look forward to the new opportunities within the FORMA MGLC programme, where I would like to pass on my knowledge – and learn as many new things as possible.”

Damián Vega Velasco Printmaker from Langreo, Spain “I work with traditional printmaking techniques and am currently working on several creative projects that combine the more traditional disciplines with new technology. In relation to culture, I am very interested in the new social media because I am certain that I could also make use of them within my profession. I am convinced that the new media can forge a new path in the promotion of the graphic arts and its many faces.”

THE COORDINATORS OF THE PROGRAMME

Aleš Ogorevc, Community Management Coordinator “I manage the online community with the notion that social networks and service design can bring about positive changes to both institutions and their visitors. I see my role of Community Management Coordinator at MGLC as an excellent opportunity to further consolidate and broaden my wide range of experience and knowledge. I believe that much can be done in this field to bring art closer to the public through the new media.”

Sabina Vrhnjak, Digital Content Coordinator “A journalist with several years of experience in the fields of journalism and PR and Event Organisation. The social media, the digital world and the growing number of new communication tools that foster the game of words, creativity and innovation have always been my passion. The FORMA MGLC programme, which combines my love of culture and the new media, represents a personal and professional challenge to me. The programme strengthens my belief that the new media require a special approach and additional knowledge from all those involved in this field within cultural institutions.”

SYMPOSIUM

With Slovenian and international guests, we wanted to reinforce the importance of new media in the field of culture and set guidelines for the transfer of knowledge into practice, so we organised an international symposium, The Impact of New Media: Daily Challenges for Cultural Institutions, which took place on 29 May 2015 in the Lecture Room of the International Centre of Graphic Arts. After four diverse lectures (Peter Šepetavc, David Gauntlett, Lenart J. Kučić, Rebeca Hermo; moderated by Domen Savič), we ended the day with a round table discussion and continued with the acquisition of new knowledge on 30 May 2015, when a workshop was held with Professor David Gauntlett from the University of Westminster, UK (author of the book Making is Connecting). By organising this symposium, MGLC wanted to highlight the importance of non-formal education, which enriches not only the individuals involved, but also the institutions in which they work and, indirectly, their audiences.

PROJECT TEAM

Yasmín Martín Vodopivec (Project Manager), Aleš Ogorevc (Community Management Coordinator), Sabina Vrhnjak (Digital Content Coordinator).

Producer: International Centre of Graphic Arts
Funded by the Spanish Ministry of Labour and Social Security
With the partnership of the Embassy of Spain in Ljubljana

Photos: Courtesy of David Gauntlett and the participants of the project FORMA MGLC. MGLC Archive.

FORMA MGLC Read More »

The Holy Corner

THE HOLY CORNER

Artists: Jihan El Tahri, Soghra Khurasani, Ibrahim Mahama, Tjaša Rener, Jaanus Samma, School of Mutants (Hamedine Kane, Stéphane Verlet-Bottéro), Janek Simon, Temitayo Ogunbiyi

The exhibition The Holy Corner presents newly commissioned works by selected artists who are taking part in the 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts From the void came gifts of the cosmos. This edition of the Biennale was conceived by Artistic Director Ibrahim Mahama together with curators Patrick Nii Okanta Ankrah, Exit Frame Collective, Alicia Knock, Selom Koffi Kudjie, Inga Lāce and Beya Othmani. The concept for The Holy Corner print portfolio and the selection of artists was developed by curator Yasmín Martín Vodopivec. Her curatorial intervention is based on the idea of how important it is to preserve the values of a bygone era in order to overcome the anxieties of the present day. The diverse themes of the artworks included in the print portfolio form an imaginary altar where the visitor is symbolically compensated for their contribution to the social project, and which can evoke the rebellious power of the collective spirit.

The print portfolio The Holy Corner was published in an edition of thirty copies as part of the 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts From the void came gifts of the cosmos (15. 9. 2023–14. 1. 2024). Following the spirit of the exhibition project, the print portfolio became a travelling exhibition in collaboration with local institutions and artists. After six months on display at La Nueva Fábrica in Guatemala, new dates and destinations are to be confirmed shortly.

Curator: Yasmín Martín Vodopivec

The 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts: From the void came gifts of the cosmos
Exhibition of the Print Portfolio of Artists of the 35th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts

Plečnik’s Kiosk, Prešernov trg, Ljubljana, Slovenia
16 November – 3 December 2023

La Nueva Fábrica, Antigua, Guatemala
16 November – 3 December 2023

Production: International Centre of Graphic Arts
Support: The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Municipality of Ljubljana
Co-production in Guatemala: La Nueva Fábrica (LNF)
Photos: Jaka Babnik. MGLC Archive.
Photos LNF: Ana Werren.

The Holy Corner Read More »

Middleman

MIDDLEMAN

Artist: Honza Zamojski

In Honza Zamojski’s exhibition, the eponymous Middleman plays various roles. He is a viewer who, upon entering the exhibition space, stands in the middle of the symmetrical architecture. He is also an author who mediates between the world of ideas and the material world by creating drawings, sculptures and texts. Middleman is also visualised as a simplified and symbolic puppet that can be moved by various forces.

Essentially a site-specific installation, the exhibition takes place not only within the symmetry of architecture, but often in relation to the symmetry (or asymmetry) of a sheet of paper, a word and a human figure. An attentive viewer will notice that the further one moves away from the centre of the exhibition, the brighter it is and the more there is to see. You could even say that the narrative explodes, and what tries to put it back together again is Middleman holding the collapsing world with all his might.

In the frame of this exhibition, the latest book by Honza Zamojski, which is an illustrative and poetic attempt to describe the Middleman, his everyday life and the reality that surrounds him, was published by the International Centre of Graphic Arts and Nero Editions.

Read more →

Curators: Nevenka Šivavec and Yasmín Martín Vodopivec

MGLC Tivoli Mansion, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia
10 March – 28 May 2023

Production: International Centre of Graphic Arts
Support: The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, Municipality of Ljubljana
Photos: Matevž Paternoster. MGLC Archive.

Middleman Read More »

The shadow is seen by my eyes …

THE SHADOW IS SEEN BY MY EYES, THE LIGHT IS SEEN ONLY BY MY HEART

Artists: Dragica Čadež, Lujo Vodopivec, Drago Tršar

Švicarija has always known how to surprise, connect and boldly reshape its purpose. Many individuals have taken diligent care that the light in it has never been completely extinguished. The unique past of Švicarija, which was granted the status of a cultural monument of local importance in 2013, is summed up by the guiding principle of community, art and nature, which will continue to illuminate its work in the future.

Read more →

Curators: Yasmín Martín Vodopivec and Dušan Dovč

MGLC Švicarija, International Centre of Graphic Arts, Ljubljana, Slovenia
14 May 2022–Ongoing (permanent exhibition)

Production: International Centre of Graphic Arts
In collaboration with: Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia (ZVKDS)
ZVKDS expert advice: Tatjana Adamič, Aleksandra Renčelj Škedelj
Support: Municipality of Ljubljana City
Photos: Jaka Babnik and Katja Goljat. Archive MGLC.

The shadow is seen by my eyes … Read More »