We had a wonderful festival in Nova Gorica, which was not spoilt by the changeable weather. Even though it wasn't Wednesday, we went for a walk around the city to see what was going on 🙃. The R.o.R. Festival has just finished, a prelude to next year, when the cities of Nova Gorica (Slovenia) and Gorizia (Italy) will jointly host the European Capital of Culture event. The R.o.R. Festival is an international contemporary arts festival that has once again brought a lively atmosphere to the city. This was the sixth edition of this festival in my city, which means it is becoming a tradition. The exhibition called The Path of Light was the central thread of the event, and there was also an accompanying programme.
That's why the Light Trail exhibition once again shone in the city centre, guiding visitors through colourful light art installations. The medium of light was chosen because it is in the evening that people can take some extra time to visit cultural events, and if it is outdoors, many more people can experience the art projects, including those who do not normally go to galleries and museums. This year, the outdoor exhibition featured 15 art installations in 11 locations, created by local and international artists from ten countries (Austria, Italy, Japan, Hungary, Macedonia, Norway, Slovenia, the Netherlands, New Zealand and the UK), mainly light installations, but also interesting events, a lecture on Mars, interactive performances, laser projections, concerts, dance points and multilingual poetry readings.
This magnificent Mars project was created by UK artist Luke Jerram in collaboration with Nasa. The project has so far toured to venues around the world. The artist of the Mars Project says "that when we look up at the night sky, Mars is the most enchanting of our celestial neighbours, embodying both the warrior spirit and the possibility of new beginnings. Wrapped in rust-coloured dust, the planet evokes nostalgia for ancient myths in which it was the guardian of soldiers and a symbol of valour. In modern times, Mars serves a dual purpose: it forces us to confront current dilemmas such as global conflicts and environmental degradation, while stimulating our imagination and ambitions for future exploration".
From the central square, we walked to the Municipal Palace, where a picturesque projection was projected on the façade.
From here we walked through the city park, where two light installations were set up.
The second installation was particularly interesting to me because, in addition to the light effects showing lightning, it also had sound effects representing thunder. Occasionally, however, the atmosphere was obscured by smoke. I felt like I was in a disco 💨
The city's second square was coloured by beautiful patterns made with old analogue projectors in which artworks were painted on foils.
Individual trees in the city centre also came alive and were illuminated in beautiful colours.
The children were also entertained, using paint that was only visible under UV light to create a real work of art with their own hands.
In one of the galleries, there were installations that reminded me of light robots, at least that's how I understood this modern art.
The last stop of our walk was at the Youth Centre, where we had the opportunity to play a very special musical instrument. A cube-shaped structure was set up, with laser beams emanating from the edges. When we broke the laser beam with our hand, we heard a musical tone. Wonderful, what a great idea. I even saw one lady playing with the laser beams as if she were playing the harp. And it worked, she got a nice melody out of the instrument.
It was a really fascinating and invigorating artistic walk through the city.See you next year at the R.o.R Festival and the European Capital of Culture events.
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