Studio 6
Artistic actions, exhibitions, performances, discussions between diverse protagonists of the contemporary art world

Studio 6 (from 2004) offers a platform for conversations about modes of working, cooperation and networking among the diverse protagonists in the field of contemporary arts (artists, curators, critics, theorists) and space for presentation of artistic actions and ensures their reflection.

Programme is prepared by: Miha Kelemina and Lara Plavčak.

Saša Nabergoj was the head of the Studio 6 programme from 2004 until 1st August 2015 with help of coordinators: Simona Žvanut, Sonja Zavrtanik, Maja Lozić and Tevž Logar.
Simona Žvanut was the head of Studio 6 programme between 1st August 2015 and June 2016 with help of coordinator Miha Kelemina.

PROGRAM in 2017
 
With Studio 6 as part of our visual arts program of fourteen years, we continue to test different models of cooperation, present artistic projects and encourage their reflection. In 2017, we prepared two events, one at the SCCA Project Room, and the second traditionally in cooperation with another regional exhibiting venue of contemporary art.

The group exhibition Somethin's Written was the second exhibition project prepared by SCCA-Ljubljana at the Vodnikova domačija Gallery and the sixth project to explore the merging of the written word and image in contemporary art production. As one of the ways of their expression, participating artists Bojan Mijatović, Horrid Habits, Leon Zuodar, Maks Bricelj, Mina Fina and Nevena Aleksovski explore various approaches in combining text and images. They are active in drawing, graphics, painting, photography, assemblages, some are intervening a space with installations and other interventions or are creating artists' books, (fan)zines and similar art publications.
 
In the Curator's Visit series the artist Dalibor Bori Zupančič and curator Maja Antončič carried out a workshop at the SCCA Project Room, which approached the methods of art therapy through group dynamics. By articulating artistic elements/works/practices/theories, it moved closer to the collective curating of a specific artistic situation and its layout. The implementation didn't directly involve individual psychological analysis, but created an experiment of either artistic or therapeutic manifestations of various actors, both from the art world and by other interested participants.

Somethin's Written
Group exhibition
2 March – 2 April 2017
Vodnikova domačija Gallery, Vodnikova cesta 65, Ljubljana
Artists: Nevena Aleksovski, Maks Bricelj, Mina Fina, Horrid Habits, Bojan Mijatović, Leon Zuodar
Curator: Lara Plavčak
Advisor: Miha Kelemina
The exhibition was prepared and realized with the help of the participants of World of Art, School for Curatorial Practices and Critical Writing.

The house where I live has many rooms… or ''art therapy contact''
Artist talk and workshop
30 November 2017
Project Room SCCA, Metelkova 6, Ljubljana
Author: Dalibor Bori Zupančič
Organisation and curating: Maja Antončič

PROGRAM in 2016

For the twelfth year now, Studio 6 has been exploring various models of cooperation between artists, curators, critics and theorists. What ties us together is the space and context of the SCCA Project Room where we develop art projects and encourage their reflection while occasionally testing collaborations in new environments as well.

At the beginning of the year, we have prepared the exhibition Words as Colours, Colours as Words. Art Walk Through Poetry in Vodnikova domačija Gallery. The exhibition, conceived for the Ptuj’s festival Days of Poetry and Wine 2015, was a cross-section between the literary and artistic creation and has presented artists that explore the relationship between the visual and the verbal artistic expression. The exhibition was presented in a modified form in Vodnikova Domačija Gallery because of the gallery program guidelines, which aims to connect visual art and literature. The exhibition was adapted to the requirements of the new exhibition space and was accompanied by guided tours, workshop and lecture Poetry in the gallery by Dušan Dovč.

Within Studio 6 we want to open a space also for the curators of the younger generation. In a series of collaborations with invited curators we will offer them the Project Room SCCA space, financial resources and assistance in the preparation and execution of the exhibition project. Curator himself/herself will determine the content of cooperation – the invitation is open, it is possible to test formats of presentation, exhibition, as well as other experimental projects in the field of contemporary visual art.

First invited curator Domen Ograjenšek will develop his curatorial dialogue with the artist Tjaša Pogačar Podgornik. The project, entitled How Much Ignorance Does the Art Still Retain?, will try to analyse the educational practices that place themselves in the intersection between artistic, pedagogical and curatorial domain and critically reconsider their stakes, potentials and impacts. In last ten years it is possible to observe the tendency in institutional programs towards more and more emphasised educational side also in local milieu, which brings about the growth of self-organised and usually unofficial educational activities integrated in exhibition and pedagogical programs of contemporary arts institutions. 

Words as Colours, Colours as Words*
Art Walk Through Poetry
21 January–14 February 2016
Vodnikova domačija Gallery, Vodnikova cesta 65, Ljubljana

Artists: Maja Burja, Avgust Černigoj, Primož Čučnik & Gregor Podlogar & Žiga Kariž, Matjaž Hanžek, Andrej Hočevar & Jaka Železnikar, Alenka Pirman, Srečko Kosovel, Anton Podbevšek, Zoran Srdić Janežič, Valérie Wolf Gang
Curators: Dušan Dovč, Mihael Kelemina, Simona Žvanut
Exhibition designer: Vesna Bukovec
Advisor: Saša Nabergoj

*From the poem ‘’The Principle’’, Ode on Manhattan Avenue, Čučnik, Podlogar, Kariž, 2003

How Much Ignorance Does the Art Still Retain?
The status of alternative production of knowledge and its conditions in local contemporary visual arts
Thursday, 5 May 2016, at 6pm
Project Room SCCA, Metelkova 6, Ljubljana

Curator: Domen Ograjenšek
Artist: Tjaša Pogačar Podgornik

PROGRAM in 2015

For the past 11 years, Studio 6 has been exploring various models of collaboration between artists, curators, critics and theorists. What ties us together is the space and context of the SCCA Project Room where we develop art projects and encourage their reflection while occasionally testing collaborations in new environments as well.

On behalf of the invitation of Beletrina Academic Press publishing house is Studio 6 team in 2015 preparing two events that examine the relationship between artistic expression in visual arts and in words, and which can be placed among research projects that transcend the boundaries of a single art form. Both events will be part of Days of Poetry and Wine 2015 festival programme.

On 24 August 2015, in the framework of the Evenings before the Days, a documentary presentation of the poetry and visual project Ode on Manhattan Avenue (Čučnik, Podlogar, Kariž) will be held in the SCCA Project Room (Metelkova 6, Ljubljana). The authors, poet Primož Čučnik and visual artist Žiga Kariž discussed the project with Dušan Dovč, explaining its background, the impulses behind its creation, its conclusion and potential future impact, as well as their great amazement at New York City, where the poetry published in Ode on Manhattan Avenue was created. The discussion in the Project Room will be accompanied by a presentation of conserved documentary materials that were created at a series of readings, as well as by audio-visual recordings made in Ljubljana and on a tour of the United States.

Two days later, on 26 August 2015, we will prepare the main festival exhibition Words as Colours, Colours as Words*in Ptuj's Old Glassware Workshop. Exhibition will be conceptualised by thinking of the festival's poetry program and events – as well as the city of Ptuj as the host. Authors who have on the one hand searched for visual value in words or on the other hand space for words on the canvas will present themselves. The exhibition will, in three complete sections, offer a selection of quotes from the manifestos of visual and literary artists, which will initiatively lead visitors through the history of experimenting with form and word; it will present artists of the Slovenian avant-garde, a reference for both Slovenian visual and literary creativity; and it will be concluded with artistic works and multimedia installations by contemporary artists.
On Saturday, 29 August, at 18.00, when the festival draws to an end and the exhibition closes its doors, Dušan Dovč will hold a lecture Missing Poem is a Poem on visual poetry and poetic texts aimed more at viewing than reading.

Both events represent a continuation and advancement of Studio 6’s mission, which is based on the creation of spaces for art projects and their reflection and on the encouragement of discussion of contemporary practices in visual arts.

Ode on Manhattan Avenue
Documentary presentation of a visual-sound-semantic project
24 August 2015, at 8 p. m.
SCCA Project Room

Artists: Primož Čučnik, Gregor Podlogar, Žiga Kariž
Curators: Dušan Dovč, Mihael Kelemina, Simona Žvanut

Words as Colours, Colours as Words*
26–29 August 2015
Old Glassware Workshop, Ptuj

Artists: Maja Burja, Avgust Černigoj, Primož Čučnik & Gregor Podlogar & Žiga Kariž, Matjaž Hanžek, Andrej Hočevar & Jaka Železnikar, Alenka Pirman, Srečko Kosovel, Anton Podbevšek, Zoran Srdić Janežič, Valérie Wolf Gang
Curators: Dušan Dovč, Mihael Kelemina, Simona Žvanut
Exhibition designer: Vesna Bukovec
Advisor: Saša Nabergoj

*from the poem ‘’The Principle’’, Ode on Manhattan Avenue, Čučnik, Podlogar, Kariž, 2003

PROGRAM in 2014: Uni-form and On Our Backyard

In 2014, we are planning two events: in May, the project Uni-form in collaboration with the artist Damijan Kracina and the National Museum of Slovenia and in August, the project On Our Backyard with the Croatian artist collective PLEH (Kata Mijatović, Zoran Pavelić, Vlatko Vincec, Marijan Molnar).
With these two projects Studio 6 continues and evolves its mission in offering a platform for presentations of artistic projects and their reflection and encouraging discussion on contemporary arts. Studio 6 is constructively connecting various protagonists in the field of contemporary arts (artists, curators, theorists, critics) – especially when it goes for a new, unusual and unexpected coming -together. 

Namely, Uni-form connects two at the first sight completely different organisations: National Museum of Contemporary Art (the oldest of all the Slovenian museum institutions which in its six departments collects, documents, preserves, and investigates the mobile cultural heritage of Slovenia and presents it to the public) and SCCA–Ljubljana which is an interdisciplinary and support organisation that operates in the field of contemporary arts.
Together with curators of National Museum of Slovenia, invited participants at the panel discussion and artist Damijan Kracina we will discuss the question of ceramic art in Slovenia; its historical context, the level of education and critical writing; and last but not least, tackle also the role of the material/technique of an art work in contemporary arts. What actually determines whether an art work is perceived as contemporary or not?
On the other hand, In Our Backyard: Pleh References in Ljubljana, the exhibition, conversation and a performance, continues our collaboration with the International Centre of Graphic Arts which has been the host of our exhibition Print! already in 2012. The artistic practice of the PLEH artist collective is based in an in-depth monitoring of their surroundings, context and exhibition space specifics. We hope that their exhibition placed in our biggest museum for research and presentation of graphic arts will open new references and relations to our cultural milieu.

Uni-form
Exhibition and panel discussion

Thursday, May 29, 2014, at 4 pm (panel discussion, National Museum of Slovenia – Metelkova, Maistrova 1) at 6 pm (exhibition opening at Project Room SCCA, Metelkova 6)

Panel discussion
Participants: Dragica Čadež Lapajne, Mateja Kos, Iztok Maroh, Tanja Pak, Saša Rudolf, Vera Stanković and Ina Širca / Moderators: Zora Žbontar and Simona Žvanut

Exhibition Uni-form
Damijan Kracina presents:
Projection of the video I'm Not There (author: Sebastjan Vodušek)
and
radio play
Marn nemarn (PISOAR WITH HORNS AND OTHER PROJECTS)
Text: Jani Pirnat
Actors: Ivan Jakac, Ajda Toman, Rok Kunaver
Sound: Sašo Kalan
Premiere at 6.15 pm
Curators: Saša Nabergoj and Simona Žvanut

The exhibition and panel discussion are the first two events accompanying the International Ceramic Triennial UNICUM 2015 (May 15–September 30, 2015), organised by the National Museum of Slovenia.

In Our Backyard: PLEH References in Ljubljana
Exhibition and performance
August 28–September 26, 2014
International Centre of Graphic Arts, Pod turnom 3, Ljubljana

Artists: Kata Mijatović, Zoran Pavelić, Vlatko Vincek, Marijan Molnar
Curator: Saša Nabergoj
Coordinator: Simona Žvanut

Exhibition opening and the performance:
Thursday, 28 August 2014, at 8 pm
At the opening, the PLEH artist collective will carry out individual actions and performances under the joint title of PLEH Responsibility.

Program in 2013: Liminale and Cirkulacija 2

In 2013, we prepared two events: in June, in collaboration with artists' initiative OFFTIR project Liminale and in August with Cirkulacija 2. They both use various formats of expression and deal with diverse concerns due to their loose structure that is based on the principles of collective work and is open for different – also international – collaborations. Among other aspects, OFFTIR and Cirkulacija 2 – likewise the Studio 6 team – focus on evolving new modes of collaboration between protagonists of the contemporary art scene, differentiated from the standard practices. They encourage exchange of knowledge, confrontation of different opinions, equality of all participants of the artistic process, and set-up of international collaboration or production. While observing the modes of operation of the OFFTIR and Cirkulacija 2, we have discerned several links between them, among them also two modes of operation, DIY (do it yourself) and DIWO (do it with others). With linking different knowledge and capabilities, re-usage and recycling of the material and mostly with flexibility in search for new possibilities of artistic creation, these two practices enable a certain point of intellectual independence and self-sufficiency. In the time, when one feels that work space in the world of (contemporary) art is shrinking, modus of operation of these two initiatives offer new possibilities of its opening.   

Participating artists in 2012: Erik Mavrič, Edvin Dobrilovič

Exhibition project in 2011: Studio 6 presents: CAC Bukovje (SLO) and Studio Golo Brdo (CRO), 23 November–11 December 2011, Vžigalica Gallery, Trg francoske revolucije 7, Ljubljana

Participating curators and artists in 2010: Nevenka Šivavec and Andreja Džakušič, Jurij Krpan and Polona Tratnik, Andrej Medved and Emerik Bernard

Participating curators, critics, theorists in 2009: Božidar Zrinski (MGLC, Ljubljana), Petra Kapš (curator, writer, author)

Participating artists in 2009: Simon Macuh (Curator: Petra Kapš), Alenka Pirman (Curator: Petra Kapš), Matej Košir (Curator: Božidar Zrinski), (Franc Purg as invited artist cancelled the participation)

Participating curators, critics, theorists in 2008 and 2007: Bojana Piškur, Mateja Rot, Maja Lozić, Alenka Gregorič, Božidar Zrinski, Iztok Hotko.

Participating artists in 2008: BridA, Vuk Ćosić, Matej Andraž Vogrinčič, Marija Mojca Pungerčar

Participating artists in 2007: Jože Barši, Janez Janša, Duba Sambolec, Son:da

Project Room plan (pdf)