EKO 9 Triennial of Art and Environment: Eyes in the Stone
Old sanatorium, Tyrševa ulica 19, Maribor
17 May−28 July 2024
opening: Friday, 17 May 2024, 19:00
artists: Saša Bezjak, Lan Breški, Ana Čavić, Ines Doujak, Herman Gvardjančič, Andrea Éva Győri, Thomas Hörl & Peter Kozek with Alexander Martinz, Kier-La Janisse, Vid Koprivšek, Nina Koželj, Gašper Kunšič, Ana Likar, Eva-Maria Lopez, David Nez, Ludvik Pandur, Mila Panić, Edith Payer, Ana Pečar, Oton Polak, Janko Ravnik, Līga Spunde & Aleksandrs Breže, Dominika Trapp, Ádám Ulbert, Matjaž Wenzel and othersartistic director: Jure Kirbiš
artistic advisors: Dominika Trapp (Hungary) and Markus Waitschacher (Austria)From folktales and the origins of modern horror in literature and film to contemporary art forms, the horror genre has always possessed the potential to address human and societal fears. With the exhibition Eyes in the Stone, we give power to the primary emotion of fear to jolt us from our numbness to seemingly failing warnings of science. The artists in the exhibition respond in form and narrative to the threatening atmosphere in nature and culture. In the new venue of the EKO Triennial – the old sanatorium of Dr Mirko Černić in the centre of Maribor – we present artworks which through use of shock, a sense of dread, disquiet and despondency, as well as critical reflection, offer a chance at catharsis in the face of environmental collapse. The old sanatorium, a modernist villa and its surrounding garden, becomes a metaphor for home. If we think of Earth as our home, then this is a house that is haunted. Freak weather events, mass extinctions, fires and floods, earthquakes, it’s as if the planet is waging revenge on its inhabitants. When moving out of this house or an exorcism is not an option, we must learn to dwell with these restless spirits. We enter this haunted house, this planet terror in order to understand and to make peace with the troubled spirits our presence on Earth has awakened. Come with us. If you dare.