The Water and Land project includes three visual essays and
diagrams, with which the artist draws attention to coexistence and the need for
cooperation between people and nature. Two visual essays and diagrams
created in 2022 for the Biennale of Sidney address the issue of the rights of
two watercourses, the Soča River in Slovenia and the Lachlan River in
Australia. The third visual essay The Land of Caretakers: A Ballad of Piran,
which consists of ten drawings of a smaller format, is linked to the eleventh
drawing of a larger format, i.e. a diagram entitled The Land of Guardians.
Both these artworks refer to the current challenges faced by Piran and its
Istrian hinterland.
The artistic work is dedicated to the specificities of the local
environment and it was created during several months of research in
conversations with the inhabitants of Piran. At the same time, The Land of
Guardians diagram functions as an intertwining point and is transferred
onto the central wall of the gallery space in the form of a monumental mural.
The diagram works as well as a hommage to the Slvoene coastal area and
its inhabitants.
Among other things, the exhibition draws attention to the perception of
water as a legal entity that must be respected and, in contrast to the aspect
of exploitation of natural resources, offers a reflection on the importance of
protecting and carefully managing the most imporant natural resources, such as
soil and water.
Marjetica Potrč is an international multidisciplinary artist and
architect who lives and works in Ljubljana. Her work was presented at
numerous exhibitions in Europe, Asia, the United States of America and Latin
America, and was included in the most important manifestations of contemporary
art, such as the Venice Biennale, where she exhibited her works in 1993,
2003, 2009 and 2021. She also exhibited in many prominent institutions around
the world, such as the Guggenheim Museum in New York, Barbican Gallery in
London, Hamburger Bahnhof in Berlin, NTU- Center for Contemporary Art in
Singapore and MAXXI- National Museum of 21st Century Art in Rome.
From 2011 to 2018, she was a professor of Participatory Design at the
Hamburg University of Fine Arts (HfBK), where she led the Design for the Living
World class. She received numerous awards, including the Hugo Boss Prize 2000,
awarded for achievements in contemporary art by the Guggenheim Museum in New
York, and a Vera List Center for Art and Politics fellowship at the private
research-oriented university The New School in New York (2007).
The project has been produced by the Piran Coastal Galleries and was
created with the support of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia
and the Municipality of Piran, in cooperation with Galerie Nordenhake from
Berlin.
The rich public program and
public workshops has been deployed in collaboration and with the kind support
of many civil stakeholders, local associations and students, among others: the local community of Piran;
Abakkum, Institute for Landscape, Culture and Art Piran; University of
Primorska (PF VUO); SWANK, Lucija; Faros Association, University of the Third
Age of Life Piran.