ART Expo Ljubljana 2023

NEVERMIND THE SOUND OF CHAMPAGNE

Congress Centre Brdo, Kranj, Slovenia

12 October – 15 October 2023

curators: the amazing AAMI team

I guess I should start this text by praising the amazing ART Expo Ljubljana 2023 and to tell you how beautiful and exciting it was. And that is what I am doing!! Not because I was a part of the team that made it happen, but because it truly was an incredible experience: for the team, the exhibitors, other performers and visitors as well. Honestly, our AAMI team is not singing praises for themselves (we are not that vain *wink wink*), but those were the words that came out of everyone’s mouth that we have spoken to. I can say we still get teary-eyed when thinking about the wonderful words we have been hearing (and still are). I am so so so happy I was a part of the dream team that organized this event, and it was one of the best weeks I had in a long while – it literally brought me back to life!

ART Expo Ljubljana was held in a beautiful Congress centre at Brdo (see the pics – it was as beautiful outside as it was inside).

I joined team AAMI as a project coordinator at the beginning of the year and it all led to this event I am describing (but don’t worry, we have many more events happening simultaneously, we are busy bees).

Institute AAMI, which translates to Atelje Art Murn International, was established in 2015 by Slovenian artist and businessman Miha Murn. The Institute is not present just here in Slovenia, but also in Prague, Hong Kong and London. Our aim is to help artists establish themselves in the art market. We offer them space for exhibiting, promoting and selling their artworks and we support them on their path of being able to actually survive while doing what they love.

One of the biggest things for us is raising awareness and educating the general public about the role the art has in our world and show them ways on how they can support the artists.

And that is one of the reasons we built this international art fair, celebrating art in all forms and trying to build a proper art community. ART Expo was created just for that – to offer the participants media exposure, new contacts and also potential business opportunities.

We gathered together individual artists, galleries, art societies and associations, cultural institutions and companies that all strive to connect art with different industries and businesses. And what is best, we gave a shot to young and emerging local and foreign artists to be presented among established ones from all over the world. A walk through the art fair was like walking into a real-life catalogue of works you want to have on your walls – I know I have a loooong list…. Actually, I have to admit some new artworks actually do adorn my walls. But that is the beauty of it – the accessibility of the artworks one might never be able to see/buy otherwise. And so much of versitility on display, literally everyone could find something that made their heart sing. Also, a big shout out to the great Alex Knapic who was the winner of ART Expo – his art really made everyone speechless and stop in their step.

This was our 3rd edition of the ART Expo. The 1st one was in 2017 in an ‘art village’ in BTC City in Ljubljana and was running for two weeks. The 2nd edition in 2019 was held in Ljubljana Exhibition and Convention Centre and after years of preparation we then moved here to Brdo, which will also host an even more upgraded version in two years. Wooohooo, are you going to be a part of it?

In the four days the event lasted we shared with our visitors more than 100 different events for everyone to enjoy, not just visual art. There were art talks, music, dance and other live performances, workshops and even a fashion show. This was such an amazing idea to connect other events with visual art, as it brought in even more people – you know, not everyone goes to the gallery, but they might come to something different and at the same time see some art (and maybeee change their mind on how non-threatening art institutions actually are and could visit them more times in the future?).

We had a huge grand opening with loads of visitors and a great party with a DJ in the evening and in the days to come there were a lot of opportunities to really mingle with us and be properly entertained. Though, it was something else to really dress up and walk the red carpet – now I got the taste and I want moreeeee!

We also had a Rotary event opening in the main hall, with live music, followed by the evening of Argentine tango, where visitors were also able to get some dance lessons.

As said before, we hosted a fashion show with the World Top Model Slovenia Finals and many music performances, including Chorchyp and Davor Radolfi. There was also an electronic music performance, together with hula hoop and pole dancing presentations. And many many many more things – sadly, I have to say I missed quite a lot, as I spent most of my time entertaining visitors with my guided tours (I still got it!!) and sharing information on the Info point.

On our closing day we had many interesting performances happening, even Miha Murn, president of AAMI, presented his new monography, which was also a thing not to miss (oh, yeah, we are going to London to do his solo exhibition – as I said, exciting times ahead!).

I feel the best part of ART Expo was that most of the artists exhibiting (they each had their own wall partition + we also had a group wall exhibition) were present for the whole 4 days. That meant walking around and actually talking to them, discussing their work and seeing them in person – what a great experience and oh, how many amazing people I met. I could say many new friendships formed hihihi

So, yes, these are just my ramblings after the event. I did not go into any details, because, as usual, you should have been there to experience it fully (*wink wink*). For me, it still feels like a dream and those few days flew by like nothing. We laughed, we cried, we bonded, we had fun, we made lasting memories and met amazing people. What more could one want. Oh yes, and of course, we enjoyed looking at amazing art (did I even mention the fashion and custom jewellery booths we had, as well as craft items? Oh, oh, and artisan chocolates? Yes, we literally represented everything there is and much more.) What a great event!

See you next autumn at ART Expo Trieste – mhm, yes, we are already brewing new stunning things! By the way, if you are an artist and want to apply, applications are already live hihihi Hit me up for more details, we would love for you to exhibit with us.

Peaceeeee

ps: If you want more videos from the event and see the walk through, head to my Instagram page.

Exhibitors: