You are cordially invited to the opening of the group sculpture exhibition Non-Form, which will be held on Friday, 14 August 2026, at 7 p.m. in the multipurpose space KIBLA PORTAL.

Artists: Katja Bogataj, Živa Božičnik Rebec, Samra Buljić, Enej Gala, Anja Kranjc, Miha Majes, Martina Marenčič, Ema Maznik Antić, Tejka Pezdirc, Neja Zorzut, Lara Žagar

Non-Form is conceived as a selective survey of contemporary Slovenian sculpture. Its title refers to the central research question explored by the curators, who invited emerging and mid-career artists working at the intersection of sculpture, installation, experimental materials, new media, and spatial interventions.

The participating artists approach material and form as tools for speculating on the present, the future, and imaginary realities, as extensions of the transformation of an idea into an autonomous entity – one that builds its own environment and functions as an active, reciprocal agent of conceptual inquiry rather than a static object of representation.

For years, younger and mid-career Slovenian sculptors have been challenging the boundaries between object, process, and concept. Their works reflect on the role of materials, social dynamics, and the human psyche, while showing how art actively reflects and responds to the complexities of contemporary society by resisting fixed definitions of what was once known and readily identifiable.

Curators: Tina Gerlec, Sara Nuša Golob Grabner, Peter Tomaž Dobrila

Biographies

Katja Bogataj (1983), known professionally as Unique Venus, is an independent visual artist. She graduated in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana in 2015. During her studies, she received the Academy’s award for outstanding artistic achievement and the Student Prešeren Award for the collaborative project The Waiting. She continued her MA studies in sculpture at the Faculty of Fine Arts (Belas-Artes) in Lisbon. Her practice combines traditional iron and bronze sculpture with video, photography, video installation, and performance. She lives and works in Žiri.

Živa Božičnik Rebec (1991) develops a speculative, object-oriented artistic practice that investigates materiality, technologies, and their transformations in the context of environmental, infrastructural, and planetary change. Her work explores relationships between the human and the nonhuman, ecological processes, and the shifting conditions of contemporary existence. She has exhibited widely in Slovenia and internationally, including at Aksioma, the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, and the 34th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts.

Samra Buljić (1999) explores the expanded field of drawing, printmaking, and installation through processes of formal transformation and material change. Her work draws on morphology, biological analogies, and speculative reflections on the autonomy of materials. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana, where she is currently pursuing an MFA in sculpture. She has exhibited at Aksioma, Maribor Art Gallery, Equrna Gallery, and in numerous contemporary group exhibitions.

Enej Gala (1990) lives and works between London, Venice, and Nova Gorica. In 2014, he participated in an exchange program at the Willem de Kooning Academy in Rotterdam. He earned his BFA in painting in 2013 and his MFA in painting in 2015, both from the Academy of Fine Arts in Venice, and completed a postgraduate program at the Royal Academy Schools in London in 2023. Since 2019, he has directed Studio Tridol in Dolanci. Grounded in a keen awareness of thinking through making, his practice explores experiences of otherness.

Anja Kranjc (1982) studied sculpture at the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana under Professor Matjaž Počivavšek, graduating with honors in 2008. She went on to earn her MFA in sculpture there in 2011 under the mentorship of Professor Matjaž Počivavšek and Assistant Professor Dr. Igor Škamperle of the Faculty of Arts, University of Ljubljana. In 2006, she received the Student Prešeren Award. She lives and works in Vrhpolje.

Miha Majes (1993) is a visual artist working across painting, printmaking, digital media, and installation. Through a multimedia practice that appropriates imagery from everyday life, virtual spaces, mass media, and fiction, he explores contemporary social phenomena and the ideological landscape of contemporary capitalism. By deconstructing familiar visual aesthetics, he critically examines the moral frameworks of consumer society and the power relations embedded in social structures. He earned his BFA in painting in 2019 and his MFA in painting in 2023 from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design at the University of Ljubljana, where he is currently pursuing an interdisciplinary doctoral degree. He has participated in numerous exhibitions, art projects, and international residencies in Slovenia and abroad.

Martina Marenčič (1980) studied graphic design at the Secondary School of Design and Photography before earning her degree in Sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana under the mentorship of Professor Matjaž Počivavšek and Assistant Professor Jure Smole, MFA. As an independent artist, she has worked across sculpture, prop making, and set design for theater, film, and television, as well as in functional ceramics. She currently lives and works in Kranj.

Ema Maznik Antić (1998) is a visual artist working in sculpture, spatial interventions, and site-specific practices. Her work examines the relationships between materiality, space, and perception, with a particular focus on industrial ruins, degraded environments, and their affective dimensions. Bridging physical and digital media, her recent practice has also incorporated sound. She has exhibited at Aksioma, DobraVaga Gallery, MoTA LAB, and in numerous group exhibitions in Slovenia and abroad.

Tejka Pezdirc (1985) graduated in sculpture from the Academy of Fine Arts and Design in Ljubljana in 2011. During her third year of study, she attended the Faculty of Fine Arts in Altea, Spain, where she enrolled in the Spatial Installation program and focused on sculptural space and conceptual art. She received the Academy of Fine Arts and Design’s award for outstanding achievement for the 2008–2009 academic year and the Rihard Jakopič Recognition Award in 2025 for her artistic practice over the previous five years. She has presented her work in solo and group exhibitions in Slovenia and internationally. She lives and works between Bela krajina and Ljubljana.

Neja Zorzut (1992) develops a practice centered on the investigation of hyperobjects, with a particular focus on the porous exchange between the body and its environment. Her work asks how landscape and atmosphere shape embodied experience and examines their potential to transform shared spaces into instruments of manipulation or even weapons. She has presented her work in solo exhibitions at the Museum of Contemporary Art Metelkova, Ravnikar Gallery, Equrna Gallery, and The New Post Office in Ljubljana, as well as at the 10th U3 Triennial of Contemporary Slovenian Art, the 34th Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, the 36th Youth Salon in Zagreb, New Jörg in Vienna, KS Contemporary in Kornberg, SLUG Gallery in Leipzig, and Kunsthalle Bratislava.

Lara Žagar (1993) works across installation, video, photography, light, and sound. Her long-term research projects weave together biomedical practices, field research, and new media approaches. Her work explores environmental, social, and geopolitical transformations and their impact on imaginaries of the future. She has exhibited at Aksioma, Osmo/za, Kino Šiška, the Ljubljana Biennale of Graphic Arts, and in exhibitions throughout Slovenia and internationally.


< Tina Gerlec: Non-Form, digital design, 2026


Production: X-OP Association for Contemporary Art
Co-organized by: ACE KIBLA, TKALKA, Association CODE BLUE
Supported by: Ministry of Culture


KIBLA PORTAL, Valvasorjeva 40, 2nd floor, Maribor
Opening hours: Monday–Friday from 3 to 5 p.m. or by prior appointment (kibla@kibla.org)