Studio Open Day at MGLC Švicarija

Twice a year, MGLC Švicarija opens its doors to visitors interested in the work that goes on in the art studios. Damijan Kracina, Miran Mohar, Silvan Omerzu, Tanja Pak, Silvester Plotajs Sicoe, Ana Sluga, Zora Stančič and Miha Štrukelj will present what they are working on at the moment. Several pop-up exhibitions will also be on view: Anja Jerčič Jakob, Heliotropism, Marija Mojca Pungerčar, interactive installation Singer and Tanja Lažetić, Untitled.

Artists Klara Debeljak and Tisa Neža Herlec, currently on a two-year residency for young artists, will set up Radio Švicarija in cooperation with Radio Študent.

 

PROGRAMME  

13.00–18.00

RADIO ŠVICARIJA

Large Hall

Resident artists Klara Debeljak and Tisa Neža Herlec will host conversations with Švicarija users and other guests. The focus will be on questions about the importance of spaces for artistic production at the intersection between officially established frameworks and DIY community practices. The conversations will be broadcast live on Radio Študent.

 

14.00–16.00

OPEN STUDIOS

Damijan Kracina, Miran Mohar, Silvan Omerzu, Tanja Pak, Silvester Plotajs Sicoe, Ana Sluga, Zora Stančič, Miha Štrukelj

 

14.00–16.00

POP-UP EXHIBITIONS

 

Tanja Lažetić: Untitled

“When I acquired the use of a studio at MGLC Švicarija three years ago, I envisioned it as a photography studio. Today, I create paintings here. The transformation happened because the house in the park is special and also because of the artists who work in the studios next to mine. In my thirty-year career in the visual arts, I have engaged with various mediums, from photography, video, ceramics, books, performance, to online projects. I work conceptually, meaning that each piece begins with a specific subject in mind, and this is also how I work within the field of painting. On Studio Open Day, I will present a brand new series of paintings entitled Untitled.”

Tanja Lažetić lives and works in Ljubljana. After completing her studies in Architecture (in 1994 at the University of Ljubljana), she turned to art, focusing on photography, video, performance and ceramics, and creating hybrid works that primarily explore representations of women in society. Her work has been widely exhibited in Slovenia and across Europe, including in France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Austria. She has received several awards for her practice, among them a Bronze Award at the Nanjing Festival in China, Third Prize at the Unicum International Ceramics Triennial in Ljubljana, and the Jakopič Recognition. Over the past ten years, Tanja Lažetić has published more than twenty artist's books. Her photobooks are held in the collections of the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York, the Tate in London and the Bibliothèque Kandinsky at the Centre Pompidou in Paris.

 

 

Marija Mojca Pungerčar: Singer

Marija Mojca Pungerčar presented her project Singer at the City of Women festival in October this year. In her studio at MGLC Švicarija, she will present an expanded version of the original interactive installation Singer, along with new additions to her archive of memories of the Slovenian textile tradition, in an "after" pop-up exhibition. The project, which addresses the decline of Slovenia's textile industry during the period of transition, was created by the artist between 2002 and 2003, and continues to evolve. It was first presented at the Ante Trstenjak Gallery in Ljutomer and later shown twice at the City of Women festival and in the exhibition The Schengen Women at the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana. Project website: www.3via.org/singer

Marija Mojca Pungerčar lives and works in Ljubljana. She is a visual artist, costume designer and editor. She graduated in Painting from the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana and, as a Fulbright scholar, obtained a master's degree in New Genres at the San Francisco Art Institute in California. In the 1980s, she was a member of the alternative art group Lines of Force, for which she also designed the costumes for the cult performance Baptism Under Triglav. Her work has been exhibited in Slovenia and hosted in numerous countries across Europe and the United States. She has created several participatory projects, such as Socialdress, Books, are you cold?, Personal Dress Code and Real Runo Wool, and has received several awards, including the Ivana Kobilca Award, the Kranj Festival of Fine Arts Award and the Jakopič Recognition. She also manages and edits Novičnik, a newsletter for self-employed cultural workers.

 

Anja Jerčič Jakob: Heliotropism

Premiere presentation of Anja Jerčič Jakob's latest paintings, completed in early 2025. Executed in ink, egg tempera and oil on canvas, these works represent a continuation and development of her practice within the painting medium.

Artist's book at BIEN 2025

Project presentation

Presentation of the project by students and alumni of the Department of Art Pedagogy at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, who worked in the medium of the artist's book under the mentorship of project leader, Assoc. Prof. Anja Jerčič Jakob. The project presentation includes an exhibition of works in which students, through the medium of the artist's book, interpret and actualise themes related to textiles, engaging with intangible cultural heritage, craftsmanship and skills that are inseparably linked to past, modern and contemporary clothing culture. The project was supported by the University of Ljubljana Fund for the Arts, Škofja Loka Museum and Carnica Institute.

Anja Jerčič Jakob (1975, Slovenj Gradec) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, where she received her BA and went on to complete an MA in Printmaking and an MA in Painting. Since 2000, she has been actively present on both the Slovenian and international cultural scenes as a visual artist working in the fields of painting, printmaking and book illustration. Her works are included in many collections of national importance.

Since 2016, she has been employed at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, where she currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Painting. Through her teaching, mentoring and project work, she expands the applied aspect of art and explores the possibilities of interdisciplinary integration of art with other subject areas. She lives in Ljubljana and has been creating at the MGLC Švicarija residential and creative centre since 2016.

 

15.00–16.00

PUBLIC GUIDED TOUR

 

18.00–20.00

MUSIC PROGRAMME

Large hall

 

10.00–20.00

EXHIBITIONS 

 

The Stojan Batič Memorial Studio

On the ground floor of Švicarija is the Stojan Batič Memorial Studio, which is a reconstruction of the sculptor's studio in Svetčeva ulica in the Rožna dolina district of Ljubljana. The current spatial reconstruction revives the atmosphere and set-up of this very studio. It allows us to become acquainted with the sculptor's oeuvre, his drafts for famous monumental works and his small sculpture pieces.

 

Maria Nikiforaki: Rituals for New Futures. The Descent to the Underworld

Exhibition as part of the Sustainability is in the AiR (SAiR) project

Rituals for New Futures is an art project exploring the transformative power of ritual in shaping political and ecological realities. Featuring a fictional, sci-fi-inspired heroine, the project centres on the elements – air, fire and water – as active forces in envisioning sustainable futures. The final chapter, The Descent to the Underworld unfolds in Ljubljana, where the heroine descends into the underworld through subterranean waters, as she becomes a portal between worlds.

 

The Shadow Is Seen by My Eyes, the Light Is Seen Only by My Heart

Permanent exhibition on Švicarija's history

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 Studio Open Day at MGLC Švicarija is organised in collaboration with the resident artists and Radio Študent. Thank you.