Fear, climate change in focus of art triennial

It features 36 artists from the region, mostly Slovenia, Austria and Hungary, who responded in their works of art to the menacing atmosphere in nature and society.

"If we think of the Earth as our home, then it's a haunted house. Extreme weather events, mass extinctions, fires and floods, earthquakes: the planet seems to be taking revenge on its inhabitants," EKO 9 artistic director Jure Kirbiš said as the gallery presented the triennial on Wednesday.

"Since there is no way out of this house, and exorcism is not an option, we must learn to live with these restless spirits. We enter this villa of fears, this planet of terror, in order to better understand and come to terms with the spirits awakened by our presence on Earth," he said in reference to the venue.

The exhibition has been put up at the Old Sanatorium, which used to be the first private hospital in Maribor, said the gallery's director Simona Vidmar Čelik.

Locals meanwhile remember it as the modernist villa that used to house a children's hospital and the community health centre's pulmonary unit. It is currently owned by the University of Maribor, but it has not been used for more than a decade.

Among the participating artists is Slovenian Ana Pečar, who based her work on Ajdovska Deklica, a legend about a fairy whose face is "seen" in a rock formation in the Julian Alps and who is associated with Golhorn, a legendary white chamois that had his realm in Mount Triglav.

She said her work deals with death. "In this culture where youth is celebrated, death is very little talked about."

Ajdovska Deklica, sometimes translated as Heathen Maiden, is also one of the symbols of the triennial. "Her gaze, her persistent observation, puts under scrutiny our action in her sphere, in the realm of Goldhorn," said Kirbiš, who was joined on EKO 9 by Dominika Trapp (Hungary) and Markus Waitschacher (Austria) as artistic advisors.

"At the same time, we can recognise ourselves in her curse. Despite the many warnings, we watch helplessly, as if trapped in stone, the consequences of man's encroachment on nature. The immovable, stony presence of Ajdovska Deklica in the midst of an environmental catastrophe creates an ominous atmosphere," he said.

EKO 9 draws parallels between contemporary artistic practices and the horror genre, especially in film, so a number of horror films will be screened. "From folk tales and the origins of modern horror in literature and film to contemporary art, the horror genre represents a potential for addressing human and social fears," he said.

EKO 9 was created under the umbrella of EMPACT, a European project which addresses creative sustainability, compassion for nature, and compassionate artists under the slogan The Art of Thinking Like a Mountain. As part of it Eyes in the Rock was conceived as an example of a sustainable contemporary art exhibition.