We have extended the Batičeria exhibition

The Batičeria project was developed in 2022 by the students of the Department of Textiles, Graphic Arts and Design under the mentorship of Boris Beja. They explored which pictorial elements and themes in the work of Batič appealed to them personally. The exhibition that shows a selection of completed student projects is on display at MGLC Švicarija until May 14.

Stojan Batič (1925–2015) worked in Švicarija from 1954 to 1959, when he moved to his studio at Svetčeva ulica in the Rožna dolina district of Ljubljana. In 2018, as part of Švicarija's renovation and on the initiative of his heirs, his studio in Rožna dolina was reconstructed. As a museum set-up, the studio offers an insight into the artist's body of work and is also a space that inspires creativity. On display are drafts of famous monumental works and small sculptures to which Batič paid particular attention.

BATIČERIA

The course Fundamentals of Artistic Expression is concerned with the search for new forms or expressions, with inspirations and processes of creating new artwork and how to add a fresh, interesting, engaging statement to a world that seems to be overflowing with images. We looked for these statements in the Stojan Batič Memorial Studio and in the urban space where the artist accosts us with his numerous works in clay or bronze.

The studio offered us a glimpse into the past through the sculptures, installations, paintings, drawings, prints and photographs. Alongside the sculptor's oeuvre, which we viewed on a projection screen, we entered into an intimate research relationship with the sculptures in the studio.

Our task was to think about and come up with visual proposals for souvenirs. We also included the user experience in the visual artwork, which is something the students of Graphic and Interactive Communications and Graphic and Media Technology are concerned with at all times. The eyes of the young people lingered on various sculptures and visual details that we were able to look at in an updated way by transforming and learning about the sculptor's work, as well as analyse in a visually accurate manner in the public space. In these reflections and visualisations, as well as in some realisations, we pursued sustainable considerations on how we can see materials that are no longer considered useful in production as materials with new content.

The experience of reading and looking is valuable because by tracing, imitating and interpreting the handwriting of Batič we gained a better understanding of his pictorial form. These different formats are presented in the selected projects in dialogue and with respect for the artist's work.

Batičeria is the Švicarija that we have transferred from Tivoli Park to the premises of the Faculty and the homes of many students, just as the art of Stojan Batič was borne from the outskirts of Tivoli Park to various places in Slovenia. But there is another connection and reason for choosing Batič to work with on our premises. It is his experience as a miner that left an artistic mark on the towns of Zasavje. So our students were in dialogue with their colleagues from across the street who still study mining with an eye to the light in places where we may never find it. After all, we always carry it within ourselves, as the sculptor himself said to me: "You work from within yourself, from the people for the people".

Boris Beja