Pivka House of Culture

Exterior of Pivka House of Culture.

The story of Pivka House of Culture (Hiša kulture) began in 1998 when a group of artists occupied an empty space in the center of Pivka and arranged it in such a way that a wide range of cultural activities became possible. Here, a program began to unfold that covered the entire field of contemporary urban culture, and the gallery has consistently been a focal point of these activities. The new team that took over Hiša kulture in 2013 put the gallery program at the forefront and began to develop and expand it with various funding programs. Today, Pivka House of Culture is the most important contemporary art gallery in the region between Ljubljana and Koper.

The programs of Pivka House of Culture present contemporary trends in the visual arts, with a focus on unconventional and progressive authorial approaches. Special attention is paid to young and independent artists whose work shows an interest in social issues, a critical attitude towards the existing, and an exploration of alternative worlds. In this way, the gallery aims to contribute, within its means, to creating a better society.

The gallery's guiding principles for its programming are relevance, independence, critique, and freedom.

Gallery programme

The "Hiša kulture" programme presents contemporary visual art with the emphasis on unconventional, progressive, and innovative approach, following the principles of immediacy, social criticism, and freedom.

The gallery usually sets up about 8 exhibitions that are often accompanied by various educational activities for school children, workshops, etc. From October to May, they host the current production of Slovene visual artists in the central exhibition space. From June to September, retrospectives or various thematic group exhibitions take place.

Some of the artists who presented their illustration, new media, sculpture or painting installations in Pivka have been Petra Varl, Marko Gavez, Zoran Pungerčar, Evgen Čopi Gorišek, Mina Fina, Damijan Kracina, Ana Čigon, Matej Stupica, as well as the photographer Tadej Vaukman.