BIEN 2026 is not the Biennial of Textile Art. It is a year dedicated to research, exchange, collaboration, making, and critical reflection. Supported by Ministry of Culture.

BIEN 2027 opens on 29 May 2027.

Cover image: Artist Claire Wellesley-Smith. Photo by Maša Pirc.

EXHIBITIONS

Knots and Patterns 2026: Collective Memory Landscapes
An international group exhibition emerging from artistic research residencies exploring the textile heritage of Pomerania, Epirus, and Slovenia’s Gorenjska region.
20 March–16 May 2026
Škrlovec Tower, Janez Puhar Gallery, Kranj

New Tissue – Rhythm of Interweaving
Olivia Géraud (FR), Kristi Komel (SI), Dominika Gacka and Julia Piekarska (PL)
An exhibition bringing together contemporary weaving practices from France, Slovenia, and Poland.
4 May–13 June 2026
Layer House, Kranj

Claire Wellesley-Smith (UK): Stitch Records
An exhibition considering stitches as traces—material metaphors for place, landscape, memory, and emotion.
28 May–6 June 2026
Škrlovec Tower, Janez Puhar Gallery, Kranj

Knots and Patterns 2026: Textile Landscapes
The exhibition travels to Poland.
26 June–30 August 2026
National Museum in Gdańsk, Department of Ethnography, Gdańsk

Borjan Litovski (SI/MK): Soft Records of Heritage
Textile installations carrying stories that endure even after words have faded.
25 August–22 September 2026
Attic Gallery, Gorenjska Museum, Kranj

Tomer Laham (DE): Looming Matter
An exhibition exploring alternative approaches to weaving and expanding the possibilities of material expression.
5 November 2026–12 January 2027
Škrlovec Tower, Janez Puhar Gallery, Kranj

BIENmake 2026 Mentorship Programme Finale
An exhibition of contemporary textile patterns developed in dialogue with the textile patterns collections of the Gorenjska Museum.
13 November 2026–12 January 2027
Layer House, Kranj

PROJECTS

BIENmake 2026 – Mini Textile Incubator: Patterns
A mentorship programme supporting the development of contemporary textile pattern design.
19 March–13 November 2026
Layer House, Gorenjska Museum, Kranj City Library

Where Is the Place for Local Wool? 
WOOLthREADY: Gathering
A day of lectures, conversations, and workshops laying the groundwork for BIEN’s long-term research into wool.
20 March 2026 | 2.00–5.30 pm
Škrlovec Tower Hall, Kranj

Kranj City Library × BIEN × make-a-thek
Spring Textile Making
A series of free workshops welcoming everyone interested in textile making.
10 March–16 June 2026
Youth Room, Kranj City Library

reTHREAD 2026: Art and Sites
A four-day retreat fostering an intimate dialogue between textiles, landscape, and ourselves.
Observing and recording landscapes, impressions, and traces of time and place through embroidery and other textile techniques.
28–31 May 2026
Layer House and its surroundings, Kranj

reTHREAD 2026: Slow Looking
Naira Bloss (DE) and Jasmina Ferček (SI): Slow Looking
Guided encounters, mindful walks, and processes of self-inquiry through art-based dialogue.
5–8 November 2026
Kranj, Škofja Loka, Tržič, Jesenice

DEVELOPMENT

Transdisciplinary International Artist Project
Tunnels: Tanja Boukal, Lili Panjtar, Nina Vastl Štefe, Silva Horvat, Anja Musek, Claire Wellesley-Smith
A collaborative artistic research project deconstructing and remapping collective and personal perceptions of unresolved histories and sites of memory.
June–October 2026
Ljubelj, Tržič

Marielle MacLeman (IE) and Nika Batista (SI): Artist Residency in Collaboration with Fuji Textile Week
An artistic exchange exploring the heritage of sericulture, spinning, dyeing, and weaving at the foot of Mount Fuji.
14 October–14 November 2026
Fujiyoshida, Japan

The organizer reserves the right to make changes. Any changes will be added here and communicated on social media.
Unless otherwise indicated, events are free of charge.