MUSEUM LAPIDARIUM AND RIGO GALLERY
21/ – 28/ 9 / 2024
15th International Festival of Visual Arts – Arteria
divino
Curated by Jerica Ziherl, with guest curator Sabina Oroshi
This year, the Arteria festival is themed divino, a title that merges the meanings of the divine (a nod to Dante’s The Divine Comedy and the drag queen Divine) and “vino” (wine in Croatian/Italian). In the Istrian region, wine has been integral to life, culture, and diet since ancient times. Over the centuries, wine has served as a visual symbol of taste, class, courtship, and divinity.
Our Lapidarium collection includes a limestone fragment adorned with grape motifs from the 4th-5th century, symbolizing the union of believers with Christ, as depicted in John 15:1-6. The vine thus becomes an emblem of divine love, sacrifice, and the mystical unity of the Christian community. The use of vine imagery also reflects the agrarian society of the time, where grape cultivation was a familiar part of life, linking the divine to everyday existence
This multi-layered theme promotes the ethical and aesthetic regenerative development of our ongoing relationship with the ‘culture of wine’. It raises questions: How can this cultural capital be shared with contemporary artists and their diverse practices? How can we address social and environmental issues? How might we restore natural habitats through artistic collaboration, or simply explore design solutions that celebrate the beauty and heritage of vine culture?
All who appreciate divino, visual art, music, and other creative expressions are invited to join us. The Museum Lapidarium will act as an open studio for the public.
Participants in the one-week artist residency program include:
Barena Bianca, Tomislav Brajnović, Đanino Božić, Selin Davasse, Rui Miguel Leitão Ferreira, Sara Graorac, Hanakam & Schuller, Nuša Hauser, KID KIBLA, William Mackrell, Davor Sanvincenti, Agnese Sanvito, and Dragana Sapanjoš.
PROGRAMME SCHEDULE
Saturday, 21 / 9, festival opening
Gallery Rigo, at 16 h
- Sara Graorac
rado: happily, gladly tincture: An herbal medicine offered to guests, a blend of local wild plants that support the nervous system. In collaboration with Lizabeta Kocijančić and OPG MIRAI Aromatica.
diaspora (always) finds a way: a photograph displayed as a wallpaper the herbal brandy that is a folk remedy and tradition in some areas of the Balkans where there is still a belief that what is growing in your backyard can soothe you.
The artist will be present in the gallery until 23 September, from 18 h to 20 h.
Atrium of the Museum, at 20 h
- Barena Bianca
Fishing without Fish: Culinary installation performance (held in Italian and English). A large narrative table encourages a slow approach to food, reflecting on the environmental, social, political, and economic consequences of food choices. The audience will engage in a unique form of fishing that raises awareness of these impacts.
Assistant Lea Legac.
Sunday, 22 / 9, wetlands of Antenal, the Mirna river, 10 h – 13 h
- Barena Bianca, open call for artists and volunteers for the Picnic by the river Mirna (Antenal) walk&bike&drive. Meeting point: Bus station, Novigrad, at 10 h
Il trabaccolo
Taking inspiration from a large, sturdy Venetian boat used to cross the Adriatic and sail in the high seas, first used for fishing and then for commerce, Il Trabaccolo is a journey from Venice to Novigrad in which the Barena Bianca collective will bring with them stories, tastes and smells from the Venice Lagoon towards the other side of the Adriatic, We will celebrate our mutual kinship with a walk around the wetlands of Antenal and a picnic in which we will taste together some delicacies and herbs from the two regions. From the Mirna River, flowing into the Adriatic, our imaginations leap across the Adriatic to discover that the two sides of the Sea are not at all far from each other.
Atrium of the Museum, at 19 h
- Evening Bloody Barena Cocktails: The Bloody Barena is a twist on the classic Bloody Mary cocktail, inspired by the salt-rich brackish waters of the Venice Lagoon. It mixes different herbs and spices in a mixture dominated by homemade tomato juice extracted from the Pomodoro nasone of the Cavallino peninsula and vodka infused with salicornia (samphire) from the lagoon.
PUBLIC LECTURES, PERFORMANCES, AND MUSIC EVENTS
Monday, 23 / 9, Museum’s Park, at 20 h
- Peter Tomaž Dobrila, “Archduke John, Father of Meranovo”: A talk on the hybrid museum exhibition Invisible Maribor abot Archduke John (Johann Erzherzog von Österreich) who was “Loyal to everything old, yet open to everything new.” This exhibition is produced by KIBLA and 2LAB, in collaboration with the Faculty of Agriculture and Life Sciences at the University of Maribor.
Leopold Kupelwieser, Archduke John, 1828, oil on canvas. Neue Galerie Graz Universalmuseum Joanneum, inv. št. I/2184. Foto: N. Lackner © UMJ. AI generated: KIBLA2LAB.
Tuesday, 24 / 9, Museum’s Park, at 19 h
- Markus Hanakam & Roswitha Schuller, “On GROTTO”: A digital trompe-l’œil, featuring water as the narrative voice. This voiceover draws on verses from Ovid’s Fasti, specifically the scene of Egeria, the water nymph who serves as a female advisor and ultimately transforms into a spring. The video work offers a playful commentary on the often-anonymous aesthetics of YouTube relaxation screens.
This project is generously supported by Land Kärnten Kultur and the Austrian Cultural Forum Zagreb.
GROTTO, 3D – Animation, 2022
Wednesday, 25 / 9, city loggia (belvedere), at 19 h
- Selin Davasse, “Permanent Solutions (to Temporary Problems)”: a satirical performance about imaginary suicide letters by art professionals. After opening a group exhibition in a European city, a feeling of emptiness sets in. Each of them corresponds to one of Émile Durkheim’s four types of suicide, the performance artist who performed at the opening [egotistic], a visual artist participating in the exhibition [fatalistic], the curator of the exhibition [altruistic], and an exhibition visitor [anomic] all fantasize about killing themselves. Unbeknownst to each other, they all pick up pen and paper and return to the exhibition site to write their final goodbyes. Who lives? Who dies? Who tells this story?
Thursday, 26 / 9, Museum’s Park, at 19 h
- Sabina Oroshi, “Nourishment Ties”: This talk explores how nourishment, as a tangible and everyday medium, can be utilized in art and community practices to raise awareness of environmental issues by highlighting the material interconnections between human and non-human lives. The discussion will also reference insights from “Can Food Be Art?” exploring the intersection of gastronomy, aesthetics, and environmental responsibility, and considering how creative approaches can inspire broader social and policy shifts toward sustainability.
Friday, 27 / 9, Museum’s Park, at 19 h
- Concert – Dark Jazz:
Nhau: Presenting Vetva, announcing The Dialogues
“Vetva” is conceived as a monologue, an act of introspection, and a release of voice — an exposition. This new cycle, still in progress, presents challenges driven by encouragement and guided by intuition. The interlocutors, unprepared, engage with the topic of conversation, responding from a physical distance through sound and shared experiences of our relationship. The goal is to explore communication through sound, fostering a deeper connection between participants.
From the photography series “Let Me Tell You Something” by Đani Celija, created for Nhau’s “The Dialogues.”
saturday, 28 / 9, Museum’s Park, at 19 h
- Dragana Sapanjoš, Label Design for Ghira Vinery & Damir Mihelić, Ghira Presentation: A narrative highlighting the collaboration between two Novigrad residents: a winemaker and a contemporary artist. For each of Damir Mihelić’s wines — Šćuča, Kalamita, Manera, Tortura, and Tempešta — the artist has created unique labels that visually narrate the stories behind each wine.
- DIVINO FINISHING EXHIBITION BY ARTISTS IN RESIDENCY, IN THE MUSEUM LAPIDARIUM, at 20 h
Exhibition by artists in residency, featuring works by Tomislav Brajnović, Đanino Božić, Rui Miguel Leitão Ferreira, Hanakam & Schuller, William Mackrell, Davor Sanvincenti, Dragana Sapanjoš, and Agnese Sanvito.
William Macrell, Divine Wine, 2024, work in progress
Đanino Božić, What to do when my wife breaks my wine glass, 2024, work in progress
Tomislav Brajnović, Royal Wedding, (foto Marko Ercegović 2022), work in progress
Hanakam & Schuller
Rui Miguel Leitão Ferreira
Agnese Sanvito
Dragana Sapanjoš
This program is made possible by funds from the City of Novigrad-Cittanova, the Ministry of Culture and Media of the Republic of Croatia, the Region of Istria – Department for Culture and Local Heritage, the Austrian Cultural Forum Zagreb, and the Tourist Board of the City of Novigrad-Cittanova.
