24. 10. 2025–15. 11. 2025 Made in Maribor, Novi Sad, Nova Gorica / Gorizia

Made in Maribor, Novi Sad, Nova Gorica / Gorizia
Gallery GONG, Kidričeva ulica 20, Nova Gorica
24 October–15 November 2025
opening: Friday, 24 October 2025, 18:00

A project by the Maribor Art Gallery, which captivated many in 2022, continues its journey. In 2025, the artistic space will be “measured” at a new destination – the European Capital of Culture in Nova Gorica and Gorizia.

After its successful first presentation in Maribor and subsequent move to Novi Sad during the 2022 European Capital of Culture, the cubes will take on a new character. This time, artists from the Gorizia and Nova Gorica region will explore space in its broadest sense – from the geometric to the symbolic and the tangible.

The author of the Made in ... project, Breda Kolar Sluga of the Maribor Art Gallery, has invited Nataša Kovšca, founder and director of Gallery GONG, and Alessandro Quinzi, curator at the Gorizia Provincial Museums, to collaborate. Together, they have selected eight women and eight men artists from different generations and artistic approaches.

The cubes created in Maribor, Novi Sad, and most recently in Nova Gorica and Gorizia will be presented together at Gallery GONG.

Breda Kolar Sluga on the project Made in ...:
Made in ... (Maribor, Novi Sad, Nova Gorica / Gorizia ...) is an experimental initiative that measures the vitality of creative spaces. It began in Maribor and, with the aim of connecting artists through the shared language of creativity, continued in the European Capitals of Culture. In 2025, Nova Gorica and Gorizia also join this “out of the box” reflection and sensibility. 

Conceived during the coronavirus epidemic to strengthen ties within the Maribor art scene, the project received such an enthusiastic response that it has continued to evolve. Even in the post-pandemic period, we still need critique and distance, as well as calm and proposals for how to move forward. By comparing different urban structures, the project highlights the distinctive qualities of the visual arts scene in all its generational and media diversity.

Breda Kolar Sluga on the project Made in Maribor:
Most of the works invite multiple readings, yet they achieve their fullest significance when experienced in the context of the whole. Across the exhibition space they engage in unforeseen dialogues, opening towards one another. Material softness echoes softness, but also serves to highlight hardness. Humour sharpens anger, and darkness brings light into focus. Taken together, the haptic and tactile qualities, the conceptual rigour and the introspective explorations of personal creative space appear to converge above all in a shared search for a lost sense of wholeness.

Maja Erdjanin on the project Made in Novi Sad:
The serial cube, first created in Maribor and then entrusted to artists for further transformation, reflects the idea that we are all part of a shared whole, often facing similar challenges. The personal mark left by each artist demonstrates how art continually discovers paths, dimensions and perspectives that enable it to transcend any frame or limitation. Together, these sixteen individual boxes, combined with the contributions of forty-eight Maribor artists, form a boundless and vibrant visual and conceptual constellation.

“When curiosity dares to look into what lies hidden, when frames are tested and stretched, when boundaries are crossed, it becomes possible – as this exhibition has shown – for interaction among artists, and the reach of their influence, to be permanently deepened and multiplied exponentially.” 

artists contributing to Made in Nova Gorica / Gorizia: Annibel Cunoldi Attems, Tea Curk Sorta, Patrizia Devidè, Enej Gala, Damjan Komel, Lana Kosovel, Anja Kranjc, Alessandra Lazzaris, Jasna Merkù, Vanja Mervič, Anna Pontel, Sandi Renko, Giorgio Valvassori, Franc Vecchiet, Marko Vogrič, Ivan Žerjal

artists contributing to Made in Maribor: Saša Bezjak, Natalija Juhart Brglez, Matija Brumen, Nenad Cizl, Dragica Čadež, Ksenija Čerče, Bogdan Čobal, Andrej Brumen Čop, Natalija R. Črnčec, Irena Čuk, Marjan Drev, Peter Ferlan, Darko Golija, Samuel Grajfoner, Nataša Grandovec, Stojan Grauf, Aleksandra Saška Gruden, Andreja Japelj, Marko Japelj, Metka Kavčič, Mateja Katrašnik in Polona Lipičnik, Jasna Kozar, Anka Krašna, Teja Kovač Lozar, Polona Maher, Katja Majer, Slađana Matić Trstenjak, Marijan Mirt, Manica K. Musil in Karolina Babič, OR poiesis (alias Petra Kapš), Samo Pajek, Marko Pak, Ludvik Pandur, Ana Pečar, Polona Petek, Vojko Pogačar, Polona Poklukar, Borut Popenko, Oto Rimele, Janez Rotman, Toni Soprano Meneglejte, Lucija Stramec, Dorijan Šiško, Jože Šubic, Simona Šuc, Nina Šulin, Matjaž Wenzel + Borut Wenzel, Vlasta Zorko

artists contributing to Made in Novi Sad: Đorđe Beara, Mirjana Blagojev, Saša Dobrić, Jelena Đurić, Gojko Dutina, Dušan Vuletić, Biljana Jevtić, Stefan Kovačić, Lidija Krnjajić, Đorđe Marković, Bojan Novaković, Mila Pejić, Marijeta Sidovski, Duško Stojanović, Danilo Vuksanović, Vera Zarić

Made in … conceived and curated by: Breda Kolar Sluga
Made in Nova Gorica / Gorizia curated by: Nataša Kovšca, Alessandro Quinzi
Project partner: Gallery GONG
Coordination assistant: Aleksandra Saška Gruden
Made in Novi Sad curated by: Maja Erdeljanin
Conceptual design of the mobile cube, 1 x 1 x 1 m, 2018: Simona Šuc
Drawing and coordination of the cube's realisation, 2018: Teja Kovač Lozar