Silk miniatures in Solkan (2025)

Solkan local community center
Unwinding the precious silk thread

The tradition of sericulture in Goriška died out after the Second World War, but its legacy still lives on among the people. From locally produced cocoons, we unwound precious silk thread and used it to weave feather-light, mesh-like fabric. In the Gallery of the Solkan Local Community, we placed several neutral pyramidal structures made of mulberry branches in the window recesses, between which we stretched black knitted pieces across the space. White walls all around were overgrown with a flat pattern composed of such woven silk miniatures.

Students: Urban Dereani, Zarja Pertoci, Sara Petruševska, Eva Strnad, Zala Šoškič

Art director and Co-author: prof. Marija Jenko

Mentors: doc. dr. Brigita Tomšič,  prof. dr. Tatjana Rijavec, doc. dr. Rebeka Lucijana Berčič, dr. Silvia Cappellozza

Technical assistants: Veronika Vidmar, Nina Glavič

Faculty of Natural Sciences and Engineering, University of Ljubljana, Department of Textiles, Graphic Arts and Design, Chair of Textile and Fashion Design

Support: Nova evropska svila (NES) Univerze v Ljubljani

Collaboration : Veterinarska fakulteta P4-0092, R. L. Berčič

Thanks to: dr. Katarina Šrimpf Vendramin, dr. Petra Kolenc (ZRC SAZU Nova Gorica)

photo: Matej Pirkovič