Forma Viva Open Air Sculpture Collection, Maribor

Forma Viva Open Air Sculpture Collection, Maribor is one of several in Slovenia which arose out of the International Symposia of Sculptors called Forma viva, an initiative of sculptors Jakob Savinšek and Janez Lenassi. Through two decades it was created by 19 Slovene and international artists coming from Japan (4), Italy (2), Poland (1), Serbia (2), and from the in USA (3).

Modelled after a symposium held in St Margharethen (Austria, 1959), the first two symposia were organised in Kostanjevica na Krki (wood) and in Seča near Portorož (stone) in 1961. Later, two other venues were included: Ravne na Koroškem (1964, steel) and Maribor (1967, reinforced concrete).

The Forma Viva in Maribor was based on its urban context, thus concrete was chosen as the basic material and the objective of the installation of sculptures was to humanise new urban spaces.

The first three participants in the Maribor International Symposium were Tone Lapajne, Lino Tiné and Kudo Takeshi, who installed sculptures different in expression and concept, indicating the variety of design concrete offers. Particularly fruitful was the engagement of Bradford Graves (1970), whose organic forms visually elevated the unarticulated space near Gradišče. In the same year the Maribor sculptor Vlasta Zorko Tihec enlivened the area in front of the Second Grammar School with a massive block featuring contrasting softly modelled details. The optically varied layered ball of Slavko Tihec (1973) attractively dominates the municipal park with its harmoniously elaborated floor area.

Outside the town, on one bank of the Drava, stands a minimalist sculpture of the Polish artist Macie Stankowski (1977), whose design of a 'door' effectively blends with the river landscape. An interesting sight is Lujo Vodopivec's fountain (1977), situated in front of Hotel Slavija, which was later removed and today stands in front of Maribor's RTV building, although it is no longer a fountain.

In 1983 a concrete spiral by Japanese artist Harunori Fujimote rose among the high blocks of flats, and in front of the new VEKŠ building a more intimate sculpture by Mojca Smerdu was erected. Three years later participants in the International Symposium included Dragica Čadež, the American sculptor Will Nettleship, who created the 'walk-over' floor sculpture beside the Art Gallery, and Robert Adzema, who marked a 'sunny' spot near the cemetery in Pobrežje with an original sundial.

Forma Viva Open Air Sculpture Collection, Maribor

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