The School of Arts of the University of Nova Gorica marks its 30th anniversary with the exhibition WE ARE HERE

The School of Arts of the University of Nova Gorica Opens This Year’s Exhibition Season at the Nova Gorica City Gallery with the Multimedia Exhibition WE ARE HERE. To mark its 30th anniversary, the School of Arts of the University of Nova Gorica is opening this year’s exhibition season at the Nova Gorica City Gallery with a multimedia exhibition titled WE ARE HERE.

The exhibition will showcase selected works by students from recent years, spanning contemporary artistic practices, photography, animation, and film. On display in the gallery will be spatial multimedia installations, photographic works, and set designs for animated films. In addition, the cinema of the Kulturni dom Nova Gorica will screen live-action, animated, and documentary films.

In 2025, the University of Nova Gorica celebrates an important milestone – 30 years of its existence. This year, special attention is also given to the School of Arts, which has been part of the university for the past sixteen years, although its origins also reach back three decades. In 2012, the School of Arts moved from Ljubljana to the Goriška region and operated for seven years in the old town of Gorizia. 

The curator of the exhibition, professor Rene Rusjan, program director of the School of Arts at the University of Nova Gorica, explains: “Under the umbrella of the University of Nova Gorica, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, the School of Arts has found its home for the past sixteen years. The School is increasingly active internationally while also participating in the local cultural scene in various ways.

It opens its doors widely to the public through annual and semester exhibitions, collaborates with the Pixxelpoint festival, and presents student film and animation selections at the Kulturni dom Nova Gorica. 

This autumn, however, we are proud to present a broader selection of student works from recent years — including photography, installations, and set designs for animated films — for the first time at the Nova Gorica City Gallery. 

The exhibition, titled We Are Here, addresses questions of the young generation in today’s world and also acknowledges the fact that, after many relocations, the School has finally put down future roots right here, in the twin towns of Nova Gorica and Gorizia and their surroundings.” As part of the exhibition, a number of free guided tours will be offered to the general public. 

On October 22, within the framework of the Cultural Bazaar, which this year takes place in Nova Gorica, a guided tour will be organized for educators from all over Slovenia. In addition, there will be guided tours and workshops for primary and secondary school students during Children’s Week. As part of the accompanying program, we invite you to a screening of selected student films from recent years on October 15 at 7:00 p.m. at the Kulturni dom Nova Gorica cinema. Several additional screenings will follow by the end of the year: New Perspectives, a program featuring student films from the past academic year, will be screened on November 18 at 8:15 p.m. A selection of short films for children, as part of the Short Film Night event, will take place on December 21 at 5:30 p.m.

The School of Arts of UNG is also the initiator and host of the Slovenian-Italian-Japanese project of the European Capital of Culture GO!2025, titled The Persimmon Tree of Life (Kaki drevo življenja), which will take place during the exhibition, between October 7 and 9, with the main event happening on October 8 in the afternoon and evening hours at the EPIC area.

Participating Artists (Students): Luka Carlevaris, Ana Evtić, Miha Godec, Ivana Kalc, Anastasia Kojić, Aljaž Lavrič, Ana Logar, Primož Lukežič, Tijana Mijušković, Martin Peca, Miha Reja, Anja Resman, Domen Sajovic, Melita Sandrin, Tamara Taskova, Ajda Varl, Gašper Rebernik, Špela Klavora.