21st ART STAYS Festival | VOYAGE | 2023

PUNTO SULL’ARTE is pleased to announce that Artists Brian Keith Stephens, Jernej Forbici, Marika Vicari and Igor Molin will participate in the 21st edition of ART STAYS, the renowned international contemporary art festival, that will be held in Ptuj, Slovenia, from July 6 to September 10, 2023. The program of the festival will be enriched with many collateral events, including Postcards in which Alice Zanin and Alex Pinna will take part.

The title for the 2023 edition is Voyage, the review is in fact entirely dedicated to the desire for direct knowledge, to travel, to find a sense of things, our going or perhaps just our wandering. Voyage is also a metaphor of the human condition, of tradition, of the itinerary, of the journey, of relationships, of connections, of our discoveries and our expectations. All the selected artworks and artists use their art to explore the complex ways in which travel can change, involve and affect human beings. The dense program of the festival involves the main public and private institutions of the Slovenian town by opening the doors of prestigious historic houses such as Ptuj Castle and the Dominican Convent.

Inspired by the story of Noah’s Ark, Brian Keith Stephens’ vibrantly colored animals will be presented at the Galerija Magistrat and will offer the opportunity to objectify nature to rethink contact with the natural world.
Jernej Forbici and Marika Vicari will be present with the installation Shipwreck inside the gardens of Ptuj Castle and with a group exhibition hosted by Galleria Luna. The Galerija Miheliceva, a historic defense tower dating back to the Renaissance period, hosts Overturism, a group shhow that will also involve the artist Igor Molin and whose theme focuses on the overcrowding of tourist destinations.
Postcards is the collateral event in which Alice Zanin and Alex Pinna will take part. The exhibition will lead to Strnišče, outside the town of Ptuj, on a journey through the history of Art Stays Festival, which has brought artists from all over the world to Ptuj for the past twenty years. It is an ongoing project that wants to emphasize the geography and memory of their passage.

ART STAYS is the leading contemporary art festival taking place in Slovenia, an opportunity to take a journey into contemporary and international arts in the company of artists, gallerists, curators and musicians. Since its launch, the Festival has emerged as one of the most important events for contemporary art lovers, hosting over the years famous names such as Yoko Ono, Ai Wei Wei and Bill Viola.

In addition, we are happy to announce that Marika Vicari and Jernej Forbici, as art curators, have won the prestigious ITALIAN COUNCIL 2023 award with the project The Big Archive by Perino & Vele for the Real Sito di Carditello (CE). The award, which is now on its 12th edition and which was established by the General Direction for Contemporary Creativity of the Ministry for Cultural Heritage and Activities and Tourism, supports Italian art abroad, financing  projects presented by Italian artists, art critics, art curators, museums, public and private non-profit organizations, universities and foundations.

VOYAGE | 21st ART STAYS Contemporary Art Festival, 2023
Opening Weekend: 6 July – 9 July 2023
Dates: 6 July – 10 September 2023
Organiser: KUD Art Stays, Prešernova ulica 1, 2250 Ptuj, info@artstays.si
Festival info point: Art Stays Gallery, Slovenski trg 1, 2250 Ptuj.