From July 9 to 12, 2026, Ptuj, Slovenia, will host the opening of «Thank you for the flowers», the 24th edition of Art Stays, International Festival of Contemporary Arts.

«Thank you for the flowers», the title of the festival, is both a dedication and a deliberate provocation. We often wonder how many times this phrase is uttered with a smile that is not entirely sincere. How many times is it a simple gesture of courtesy that hides more than it actually expresses?

The 24th edition of the Art Stays festival takes its cue from this short expression, which is both cynical and ironic. The project Thank you for the flowers offers itself as an open space, a question posed sometimes through body language more than with words; a doubt expressed, perhaps, by nothing more than a simple, slight raising of the eyebrows.

Flowers are a gift. Flowers are an excuse. Flowers are also an alibi: a decoration covering cracks, both internal and external. A gesture of kindness that sometimes arrives too late. In the contemporary world, full of ephemeral gestures that are increasingly devoid of substance, «thank you for the flowers» sounds like a response to something that has never really been addressed. The festival explores precisely this tension between appearance and reality, between the symbolic and the concrete, between sincerity and performance.

The artists invited to this edition venture into the realms of irony, the absurd, and subtle humor. Their works lay bare the mechanisms of daily relations – personal, social, and political – in which gestures are often empty, yet at the same time necessary. Through photography, installations, performances, video, and other contemporary artistic practices, a space opens up in which flowers no longer smell only of beauty, but increasingly of silence, suspension, and unease.

«Thank you for the flowers» is therefore not an arrival point, but an open situation. What do we actually accept when we welcome a gift? What do we remain silent about when we say thank you? And how much truth can be hidden in a single, apparently innocent phrase? The Art Stays festival invites visitors to look beyond the surface, to direct their gaze not only at the flowers, but to recognize a spark of truth in that subtle irony.

Opening Program

  • Thursday, July 9, 2026, at 18:00 | Dominican Monastery The inaugural event of the festival will take place in the suggestive setting of the Dominican Monastery. This will be followed by the opening of the exhibition featuring Annalú (IT), Krištof Kintera (CZ), and Rafel Košec Tekavc (SI): three esteemed artists coming from very different experiences, but united by a profound link with nature, metamorphosis, and the desire to create a collective cultural memory, suspended between elements stolen from biology and artificial materials.
  • At 20:00 | Ptuj City Gallery Opening of the main international collective exhibition, which presents a careful and diverse selection of works by established international artists, including: Olasunkanmi Akomolehin (NG), Eelco Brand (NL), Paolo Campa (IT), Giacomo Cossio (IT), Natalija Črnčec (SI), Jiří David (CZ), Nick Dawes (ZA/UK), Dušan Fišer (SI), Pavel Forman (CZ), Gabriele Grones (IT/US), Rusudan Khizanishvili (GE), Franziska Klotz (DE), Gašper Kunšič (SI), Matthias Langer (DE), Tanja Lažetić (SI), Matteo Massagrande (SI), Ondrash & Kašpárek (CZ), Luzia Simons (BR), Ukn Lee (KR). Their works explore the constant tension between the superficial beauty of things and their deepest meaning.
  • At 21:00 | Performance ControNatura by Giacomo Cossio (IT) A surreal metamorphosis and an intervention in the exhibition space that is as unexpected as it is radical. Exploring the dialectical relationship between nature and artifice, the performance will make way for a dynamic, evolving installation that will fully reflect the cynical and ironic poetics of the festival. The plant element will slowly reclaim its own living space, as nature’s response to human action.

Exhibitions in the Town and Surroundings

The festival offers a diverse series of collective and solo exhibitions located in various points of the town and its surroundings:

  • Miheličeva Gallery (historical Renaissance defense tower): Hosts an interesting collective dialogue Thanks for the flowers, featuring Elisa Bertaglia (IT/US), Mario Branca (IT), Daniele Cestari (IT), Nina Čelhar (SI), Ottorino De Lucchi (IT), Letizia Fornasieri (IT), Tommaso Giusti (IT), Petra Kapš (SI), Maurizio L’Altrella (SI), Lara Jeranko Marconi (SI), Tilyen Mucik (SI), Giuseppe Perina (IT), Silvio Porzionato (IT) and Marek Schovanek (CZ/CA).
  • Ptuj Castle (Baroque Gallery): Solo exhibition by Chiara Lecca (IT). The Italian artist chooses the sculptural medium to invite us to reflect on our relationship with the animal element and its presence in contemporary society.
  • Ptuj City Library: Slovenian artist Janez Bogataj presents Bagatelles, a careful visual narrative focused on fragments of nature.
  • Luna Gallery: Slovenian painter Anja Jerčič Jakob with the exhibition Hvala za detelje (Thank you for the clovers), whose work moves on the border between the human and the natural world, will present new and older installations.
  • Art Stays Narrow Gallery (Ozka galerija): A space dedicated to a photographic dialogue with photographer Rok Golob and the Art Stays festival.
  • Borl Castle: New projects and exhibitions featuring works by Mario Branca (IT) and Gani Llalloshi (SI).
  • Ormož Castle: Special exhibition with the participation of members of the Chinese Academic Alliance for Animation: DengQiang, Yang Bo (Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts), Xue Feng (Nanjing University of the Arts), Yu Chunna (Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts), Ye Youtian (Hubei Academy of Fine Arts), Zhong Yuanbo, Gan Lin (Chengdu University), and the established Slovenian artist Gani Llalloshi.
  • Breg Creative Center: Solo exhibition dedicated to the multifaceted German artist Manfred Moorkamp.
  • VI Gallery: An exhibition meaningfully titled Herbarium, which explores the multifaceted meaning of flowers in the works of ana artist Jernej Forbici.

Collateral Events and Activities

The rich program will be complemented by concerts by Drama Queen, Banda Haloška, and the young group All Generations, as well as lectures and panel discussions. The Small Summer Academy workshops for children and families will also return to the Ptuj City Gallery, and, as per tradition, a series of scheduled guided tours will be available.

Information and Organization

The program, directed and curated by Jernej Forbici and Marika Vicari in collaboration with co-curators (DengQiang, Wang Binyu, Marek Schovanek, Nina Šardi, and Doroteja Kotnik), was created in close contact with the invited artists:

Olasunkanmi Akomolehin, Annalú, Elisa Bertaglia, Janez Bogataj, Mario Branca, Eelco Brand, Paolo Campa, Daniele Cestari, Giacomo Cossio, Tereza Čapandova, Nina Čelhar, Marek Čihal, Natalija Črnčec, Jiri David, Nick Dawes, Ottorino De Lucchi, DengQiang, Dušan Fišer, Jernej Forbici, Pavel Forman, Letizia Fornasieri, Gan Lin, Tommaso Giusti, Rok Golob, Gabriele Grones, Anja Jerčič Jakob, Petra Kapš, Rusudan Khizanishvili, Krištof Kintera, Franziska Klotz, Tomaš Koudela, Gašper Kunšič, Maurizio L’Altrella, Matthias Langer, Tanja Lažetić, Chiara Lecca, Gani Llalloshi, Martin Mainer, Lara Jeranko Marconi, Matteo Massagrande, Manfred Moorkamp, Tilyen Mucik, Ondrash & Kašpárek, Giuseppe Perina, Silvio Porzionato, Marek Schovanek, Luzia Simons, Rafel Košec Tekavc, Ukn Lee, Xue Feng, Yang Bo, Yu Chunna, Ye Youtian, Zhong Yuanbo.

Special thanks go to the international partner galleries and institutions: Studio la Città (Verona, IT), Galleria Fumagalli (Bergamo, IT), Galleria Punto sull’Arte (Varese, IT), Galleria Nuovo Spazio (Piacenza, IT), Galerija Fotografija (Ljubljana, SI), Galerie Kornfeld (Berlin, DE), XI’An Academy of Fine Arts (CN).

The ART STAYS festival program is supported by the Municipality of Ptuj and numerous partners and sponsors.

  • Title: THANK YOU FOR THE FLOWERS
  • Directors and curators: Jernej Forbici and Marika Vicari
  • Co-curators: DengQiang, Wang Binyu, Marek Schovanek, Nina Šardi, Doroteja Kotnik
  • Opening weekend: July 9 – July 12, 2026
  • Festival dates: July 9 – September 6, 2026
  • Organizer: KUD Art Stays, Prešernova ulica 1, 2250 Ptuj | info@artstays.si
  • Info Point: Galerija Art Stays, Slovenski trg 1, 2250 Ptuj

 

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