Švicarija Open Day

Twice a year, Švicarija opens its doors to visitors curious to find out about the work that goes on in the art studios.

Participating artists: Tisa Neža Herlec, Anja Jerčič Jakob, Damijan Kracina, Tanja Lažetić, Miran Mohar, Silvan Omerzu, Tanja Pak, Silvester Plotajs Sicoe, Marija Mojca Pungerčar, Ana Sluga, Zora Stančič, Miha Štrukelj

Programme:

17.00: OPENING OF THE EXHIBITION

Klara Debeljak, Stone upon Stone, a Palace. Speculative Infrastructures

18.00–18.40: READING

Tanja Lažetić: Dialogue in the Kitchen, Volume II

“In the summer of 2025, I got curious and asked ChatGPT a question about my work – and then sort of fell into writing with it. I lost track of roles and identities, while he (after a few polite and accommodating replies, could obviously no longer be just ‘ChatGPT’) kept finding solutions, offering analyses and drawing conclusions. It would sometimes take me hours, even days, to shape a question, and the speed of his responses became unnerving. I’d watch how he connected everything as I fed in new starting points, trying to understand how he was translating thought into language, wondering whether he could discern what really mattered. And every now and again, there’d be an answer that surprised me, which would come as a source of amusement to me. At a certain point, I became curious about where I ended and his interpretation of me began – and unsurprisingly, there was less and less of me in it. Towards the end, I was mostly just choosing between the options he offered. And eventually, I was simply reading the interview summaries. ChatGPT was meant to be my shadow, but in the end, it felt like I’d become the shadow instead.” Tanja Lažetić

Tanja Lažetić (1967) lives and works in Ljubljana. After completing her studies in Architecture (in 1994 at the University of Ljubljana), she turned to artistic practice in the field of photography, video, performance and ceramics, producing hybrid works through which she primarily explores modes of representing women in society. Her work has been exhibited on numerous occasions in Slovenia and elsewhere in Europe, including France, Germany, Spain, the United Kingdom and Austria. She has received many accolades for her work, including a bronze award at the Nanjing Art Festival in China, third prize at the Unicum International Ceramics Triennial in Ljubljana and the Rihard Jakopič Recognition. Over the past ten years, she 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, Tate Gallery in London and the Kandinsky Library at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, amongst others.

18.00–20.00: OPEN STUDIOS

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

18.00–20.00: Tisa Neža Herlec: The Gathering: An Insight, audio-visual archive of the first non-performance

As part of the Young Artists Residency, Tisa Neža Herlec initiates the communal experimental anti-choir The Gathering (Zborovanje), which is an extension of her vocal, performative and community-based multidisciplinary artistic practice.

You are invited to the studio for a chat with the artist and an insight into the audio-visual archive of the first non-performance “Spring”, a sound-and-voice walk that took place on the March equinox in a forest and urban clearing in Ljubljana. The visual documentation was created by Peter Fettich and Sara Rman (KELA).

The Gathering is an anti-choir for all voices, open to everyone. No prior experience is required, courage to overcome the fear of using one’s voice is desirable, as is an openness to exploration, improvisation and experimentation in sounding and community.

Preparations for the non-performance “Summer” are well underway. The event will take place by the River Mura on 21 June 2026, co-produced by Pavlova hiša / Pavelhaus and Zavod Sploh.

You are warmly invited to join our (almost) regular meetings on Sundays from 18.00 to 20.00 at Švicarija and Tivoli Park. For exact dates and times, please write to world.tisa@gmail.com.

Tisa Neža Herlec, aka Tisa World (1996, Ljubljana), is a multidisciplinary artist whose practice interweaves voice, language, print-making, performance, composition and collective endeavours. She loves sharing her artistic methods and empowering collaborative creation and expression, most often within the performing arts, which she consolidates with the printed word, images and printmaking. More: https://tisa.world/

18.00–20.00: Anja Jerčič Jakob: News, documentary exhibition

An overview of current and upcoming exhibitions by artist Anja Jerčič Jakob, together with a presentation of the awards and recognitions she has received for her artistic and research work over the past two years.

Anja Jerčič Jakob (Slovenj Gradec, 1975) studied at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, where she graduated and went on to complete master's degrees in Printmaking and Painting. Since 2000, she has been actively present in the Slovenian and international cultural arena as a fine 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 taught at the Faculty of Education, University of Ljubljana, where she currently holds the position of Associate Professor of Painting. In her teaching, mentoring and project work, she is concerned with expanding the applied aspects of art and exploring the possibilities of cross-curricular integration of art with other subject areas. She lives in Ljubljana and has been working at the MGLC Švicarija residency and creative centre since 2016.

18.00–20.00: Marija Mojca Pungerčar: Message to the Lost Half in New York, presentation of the New York project

In her studio, Marija Mojca Pungerčar will present her fresh impressions from a recently undertaken project in New York. In April 2026, she took part in the open-air cultural event Sunnyside Rhythm Block in Queens, where she carried out the participatory art action Message to the Lost Half. Using pairless gloves and a sewing kit, she directly addressed visitors and invited them to take part in the creative process.

The project in New York represents a continuation and development of an idea that the artist first presented in 2025 as part of the MGLC Švicarija Open Day. The New York project was supported by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia in the form of its artist-in-residence programme.

Marija Mojca Pungerčar (1964, Novo mesto) 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 received her master’s degree in New Genres from the San Francisco Art Institute in California as a Fulbright scholar. In the 1980s, she was a member of the alternative art group Linije sile (Lines of Force), as part of which she also created the costume design for the cult production Krst pod Triglavom (Baptism under Triglav). Her work has been exhibited in Slovenia and presented internationally across Europe and the United States. She has also created numerous participatory projects such as Socialdress, Books, are you cold?, Personal Dress Code and Real Runo Wool. She has received many accolades, including the Ivana Kobilca Recognition, the Kranj Festival of Fine Arts Award and the Rihard Jakopič Recognition. She is also involved in managing and editing Novičnik, a newsletter for the self-employed in culture.

More about the project: https://www.3via.org/trivia/?p=4043

19.00–20.00: Miha Štrukelj: On the Residency in Shanghai and the Exhibition Cooling Down, presentation as part of the guided tour

This year, Miha Štrukelj took part in the three-month Swatch Art Peace Hotel Artist Residency programme in Shanghai. Dancers, musicians, photographers, filmmakers, writers, painters, conceptual artists and many other creators from all over the world live and work in the studios and apartments of the Swatch Art Peace Hotel, exploring contemporary art in China’s most vibrant city. Alongside his residency experience, Miha will also present his latest exhibition, Cooling Down, at the Ravne na Koroškem Gallery, where he exhibited paintings and drawings featuring motifs from the Carinthian iron and steel industry.

Miha Štrukelj is a painter whose practice explores the process and limits of painting and is particularly concerned with urban environments and their perception. In 2026, he was an artist-in-residence in Shanghai (Swatch Art Peace Hotel Artist Residency) and, most recently, showed his work in the solo exhibition Cooling Down (16 October 2025–31 January 2026, Ravne Gallery). Selected group exhibitions include Svelaerivela (Gagliardi e Domke, Turin, 2025), Experimentum Crucis (Ex Caserma Cassonello, Noto, 2024), (Everything Is) Not What It Seems (Piran Coastal Galleries, 2023), The Figurative: Selected Examples in Slovenian Art (Cukrarna, 2023), Momental-mente: Vivid Paintings (Moderna galerija, 2022), ARTIST – COLLECTOR – PUBLIC. The Hilger Art Collection (City Art Gallery Ljubljana, 2022), The Wonderfulness of Memory (Cukrarna, 2021), Living in Interesting Times (European Parliament, Brussels, 2021) and A Thousand Ways to Say City (Gagliardi e Domke, Turin, 2021). More: https://mihastrukelj.myportfolio.com/cv