The project seeks to explore the intersection between intangible cultural heritage and geological heritage through carbonization, which is a way of fossilising organisms. On the exhibition paintings by students are exhibited alongside the works of France Mihelič, one of the key figures in Slovene painting in the second half of the 20th century. When creating their works, the students drew inspiration from selected Mihelič's paintings and tried to interpret them in their own way. The Slovenian Institute for Building and Civil Engineering, which participated in the project, encouraged the students to use charcoal and geotextiles in their works. Charcoal, which is produced through carbonization, was regularly used by Mihelič. Some of the works highlight the motif of Kurent, which appears in the works of France Mihelič and is inscribed on the UNESCO List of Intangible Cultural Heritage.
Photo: Maša Pirc / BIEN 2023
The title of the exhibition Carbonisation (or charring) functions as a hub where the exhibiting students connect with the guidelines of the institutions involved in the project. The central theme of BIEN 2023 is the Sun, and its thematic orientations are heritage, preservation, sustainability, patterns, migration, dualism (sun/shadow). The group of students, in conceiving their paintings, drew on selected works from the collection of France Mihelič’s works in the Loka Museum in Škofja Loka, and attempted to interpret certain themes found in Mihelič’s works in various authorial ways.
The Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute was invited to participate and they talked to the students about the use of geotextiles in painting – a material that is primarily used in construction – and about the research on those natural materials with which civilisations have been creating since prehistoric times. The present exhibition project highlights also charcoal, which is produced by carbonisation, a process in which oxygen is not present, i.e. the basic condition for life is not guaranteed. It is a form of fossilisation where an organism is charred while retaining its original form (an example is coal from the Carboniferous Period around 300 million years ago). Charcoal was, among other things, the material for the first cave paintings, and since the Renaissance it has been a widespread drawing technique, flourishing in 19th century drawing. It was used also by France Mihelič, whose oeuvre of works is distinctly “dark”, both on the conceptual and the formal level. The Loka Museum holds some of Mihelič’s charcoal drawings, including the well-known Chronicler (1974) recording the horrors of war. In the technique of compressed charcoal, the artist created his famous motif of the wild carnival character, the kurent (in the collection of the Ptuj Regional Museum), which is also highlighted in some of the paintings by our students.
On a symbolic level, the artists in this exhibition are therefore using art to link geological heritage with cultural heritage; they are highlighting charcoal as a drawing material and, at the same time, the costume of the kurent, which appears in the works of France Mihelič and is inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List. Assoc. Professor, MSc. A
nja Jerčič Jakob, dr. Mateja Golež
The project is supported by the University of Ljubljana Fund for the arts.
Project partners: Carnica Institute, Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (Mateja Golež, Ph.D), Museum of Škofja Loka
