KAMNITA DREVESA – VARUHI

Gozd je ogrodje življenja od ledu severa do puščav juga. Danes je ta debel, topel plašč poln lukenj, skrčil se je in drevesa so marsikje izgubila domovinsko pravico. A Kočevsko se še ponaša z najbolje naravno ohranjenimi godovi, ki pokrivajo skoraj devet desetin dežele. Tu je dom medveda, volka in risa, ohranjenih je celo nekaj pragozdov, v katerih še nikoli ni pela sekira. Drevesa tu lahko sežejo do petdeset metrov visoko, sto petdeset centimetrov v debelino in doživijo kar pet stoletij.

Na sprehodu med skrivnostnimi drevesnimi orjaki vidim skulpture. Kamnita drevesa – Varuhi so zahvala, spomin in opomin.

Že kot otrok sem se potepal po gozdu, zbiral kamenčke in zanimive koščke lesa … Tam sem se počutil varnega in občutek se ni izgubil niti potem, ko sem si nadel gozdarska očala. Koščki, spominki iz gozda, z morja, potovanj... so se povsem nepričakovano pričeli zlagati v nekakšne mozaike in skulpture. Potepanja po gozdu in kamnitih obalah morja so postala iskanje tistega pravega koščka, ki lahko v hipu vzbudi zamisel za novo zložbo. A to se ne zgodi vedno, pravzaprav redko. Običajno zamisli najprej skiciram, jih prenesem v računalnik, da jih lažje prilagajam, nato poskusno zložim, preložim ... Zlaganje koščkov je postalo strast, a tudi stalen dvom in iskanje z opazovanjem umetnin, listanjem knjig, poslušanjem umetnikov … učenje, ki mu nikoli ne bo konca.

Kamnita drevesa so prišla nenadoma, ko sem med morskim prodom našel staro ladijsko zagozdo, in ostala kot simbol narave. Obraze, človeka pa sem iskal mnogo dlje. Vem, da naravo doživljamo samo skozi sebe, vsak drugače, a največkrat jo kar spregledamo. Bomo kdaj postali varuhi?

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STONE TREES – GUARDIANS

From the ice of the north to the deserts of the south, forests are the backbone of life. Today this thick, warm mantle is full of holes, it has shrunk and in many places, the trees have lost their rightful home. But in Kočevje, there are still the best preserved natural god trees, covering almost nine-tenths of the country. It is home to bears, wolves and lynxes. There are certain primaeval forests that have never seen an axe. The trees here can grow up to fifty metres high and one hundred and fifty centimetres thick and live up to five centuries.

I see sculptures as I walk among the mysterious giant trees. Stone Trees – Guardiansare a sign of gratitude, a memory and a warning.

Even as a child, I wandered through the forest collecting pebbles and interesting pieces of wood ... I felt safe there and this feeling was not lost when I put on my forester's glasses. Pieces, souvenirs from the forest, from the sea, from journeys ... unexpectedly came together to form a kind of mosaics and sculptures. Walks in the forest and on the rocky shores of the sea became a search for the right piece that could immediately trigger an idea for a new composition. But that does not always happen, in fact, it rarely does. I usually sketch out my ideas first, then transfer them to the computer to make them more adaptable, and then experiment with folding, transferring ... Putting the pieces together has become a passion, but also a constant questioning and searching, looking at artworks, leafing through books, listening to artists ... a learning process that will never end.

Stone Treessuddenly appeared when I found an old ship's wedge in the sea gravel, and have remained as a symbol of nature. I had been looking for faces, people, for much longer. I know we experience nature through ourselves, each of us in a different way, but most of the time we just overlook it. Will we ever become its guardians?

Razstava je del projekta, ki vključuje dve različni postavitvi. Ena je galerijska in poteka od 8. do 29. 9. 2023 v Galeriji Hiše kulture v Pivki. Druga je virtualna na tej strani in je na ogled od 8. 9. 2023 dalje.

Kuratorici: Lela Angela Mršek Bajda, Mojca Grmek.
Podobe in spremna besedila: Nina Čelhar, Tomaž Hartman, Jože Marinč, Mia Paller, Plateauresidue (Aljaž Celarc in Eva Pavlič Seifert), Nina Slejko Blom.

Urejanje besedil: Mojca Grmek.
Lektoriranje besedil: Lela Angela Mršek Bajda.
Prevodi v angleščino: Arven Šakti Kralj.
Oblikovanje in programiranje virtualne razstave: Jure Šajn.

Vse avtorske pravice pridržane.

Projekt sofinancirajo Ministrstvo za kulturo Republike Slovenije, Občina Pivka in Občina Kočevje.  

The exhibition is part of a project that includes two different set-ups. One is a gallery set-up and takes place from 8 to 29 September 2023 at Hiša kulture gallery in Pivka. The second is a virtual set-up on this website and can be viewed from 8 September 2023 onwards.

Curators: Lela Angela Mršek Bajda, Mojca Grmek.
Images and accompanying texts: Nina Čelhar, Tomaž Hartman, Jože Marinč, Mia Paller, Plateauresidue (Aljaž Celarc and Eva Pavlič Seifert), Nina Slejko Blom.

Text editing: Mojca Grmek.
Proofreading of texts: Lela Angela Mršek Bajda.
Slovene-to-English translation: Arven Šakti Kralj
Design and programming of the virtual exhibition: Jure Šajn.

All copyrights reserved.

The project is co-financed by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, the Municipality of Pivka and the Municipality of Kočevje.