Between sea and stone
This exhibition cycle, developed in collaboration with Prešeren Award Winners of Fine Arts Gallery Kranj, and The City Gallery of Nova Gorica, places the work of Trieste-based Slovene visual artists, recipients of the Prešeren Award and the Prešeren Fund Award, at its centre. This multilayered exhibition not only celebrates visual art, but also subtly intertwines it with literature, especially poetry.
The works of artists Avgust Černigoj, Lojze Spacal, Klavdij Palčič, Franc Vecchiet and Silvester Komel are brought into dialogue with selected poets and writers: Srečko Kosovel, Igo Gruden, Miroslav Košuta, Marko Kravos, Renato Quaglia, Boris Pahor, Alojz Rebula and Dušan Jelinčič.
All of these artists and writers emerge from the shared landscape of the Karst, Trieste and the Gorizia region, a space shaped by related geographical features and the common historical experience of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. From this profound sense of belonging grew a rich interweaving of visual art and literary expression.
The entire project is also connected to the Year of Kosovel, which is why Srečko Kosovel is included as one of the key cultural figures of the Littoral region, whose work left an indelible mark on twentieth-century Slovenian literature. Through the participation of painter Silvester Komel, recipient of the Prešeren Fund Award and member of the 2 × GO group, the exhibition cycle expands both conceptually and geographically toward the Gorizia region.
To accompany the exhibition, a bilingual Slovenian-Italian publication has been released, bringing together for the first time all Prešeren Award laureates from the Trieste area and documenting the connections between the visual and literary worlds. Alongside visual artists and writers, the publication also presents award recipients in the fields of music and theatre.
Exhibition Between Sea and Stone brings together artists of diverse styles who have been shaped by a shared cultural landscape and historical experience. Through their works, the invaluable role of the Littoral region’s cultural landscape in the development of Slovenian art in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries clearly emerges.
Photo: Ana Rojc
Location: Kromberk Castle
From:
18 Jun 2026
Till:
28 Feb 2027
Curators:
Katarina Brešan, Davor Kernel
Partners:
Galerija Prešernovih nagrajencev Kranj in Mestna galerija Nova Gorica