Art, in its purest form, can achieve seemingly impossible feats. With a few strokes of a brush, carvings in a stone, or molding of clay, transcendent objects can be created that speak across lines of class, of nation states, of politics and ideology, uniting people in ways that few others mediums can. It is with these ambitious ideas in mind that Austrian sculptor Karl Prantl initiated the world’s first international sculpture symposium in 1959 in St. Margarethen im Burgenland, Austria. It all began the year before in 1958 when Prantl was commissioned by the regional government of Burgenland to erect a sculpture along the old imperial border between regions of Austria and Hungary, along the historic path between Vienna and Budapest, not far from what was then the “Iron Curtain” that divided Europe. In doing this, he began to ponder on the idea of sculptures as a mechanism for cultural exchange, as markers within the landscape and as a means of forcing sculptors outside their studios to connect them with nature, with new materials and with new people. Prantl felt that petty things such as international politics, ideological divisions and national borders should not serve as hindrances to the pursuit of art. With the Cold War raging through the world at that time, Prantl believed there should be event could that could penetrate these barriers and operate to bring artists together who might not otherwise ever meet or encounter each other’s work, potentially facilitating artistic exchange, cultural cooperation an supra-national collaboration.
With these ideas in mind, he founded in 1959 the first ever global assemblage of sculptors aimed at working together to create art, an event that came to be known as the “Symposion of European Sculptors”, which centered around an old Roman limestone quarry at St. Margarethen, Austria. Outside of the requirement that only the quarry’s limestone could be used, the participating sculptors were offered complete artistic freedom as to the shape of their works. Yet, of the works created here, nearly all of them were in variations of the modernist style, which many describe as a visual language that speaks in universal gestures and emotions.
Fourteen sculptors from across Europe participated in this first symposium at St. Margarethen. Among them was Slovene sculptor Janez Lenassi [profile page], who was not only the sole representative from Yugoslavia but also the sole representative from a communist country. As such, this made Lenassi’s participation all the more symbolic and significant. In fact, Lenassi was so moved and inspired by this experience, upon returning to Yugoslavia, he immediately began working towards the formation of a similar event for his country. Working with Jakob Savinšek, who was Yugoslavia’s representative for the subsequent 1960 symposium at St. Margarethen, Lenassi created in Yugoslavia (from what I can establish) the world’s second international sculpture symposium event, called “Forma Viva”, which convened two simultaneous events in 1961 in Slovenia, one at Portorož and one at Kostanjevica na Krki, both exploring modern sculpture in two different mediums: stone and wood. However, in 1961, modern sculpture was only just beginning to be accepted in Yugoslavia. Even in 1962, during a speech Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito made at the 1962 Youth Congresss, he says “Does not our reality supply sufficient subject matter for creative artistic activities? But the majority of young artists have been paying the least amount of attention to this reality. They escape into the field of abstract art, instead of showing our reality.”
As such, this action of Lenassi and Savinšek establishing an international sculpture symposium celebrating modern art was certainly a defiantly bold move. The level of artistic and cultural exchange (and dissemination) that occurred at these symposiums can not be overstated. And with the success of Forma Viva, similar international sculpture symposiums sprung up all across Yugoslavia, in Macedonia in 1963, in Serbia in 1966, in Bosnia i Hercegovina in 1967, in Croatia in 1969, and so on. These events, which were attended by many of the country’s greatest sculptors along side some of the most famous international sculptors, were unquestionably pivotal in spreading modern artistic tendencies across Yugoslavia. Such modernist stylings found their way out of the symposia and into the country’s wider artistic culture, even, one can venture, influencing the country’s creation of monumental art as well, as the rise of Yugoslav monuments in the modern style tracks closely with the rise of international sculpture symposia in the country.
While the creation of these international art symposia in Yugoslavia were a largely bottom-up affairs and had little direct promotion from the government, they very much came to reflect the political aspirations the communist government had for class unity and establishing the country in a global cultural context. As each new international sculpture symposium sprung up across Yugoslavia, each one focused on a different sculptural medium, whether it be marble, wood, metal, concrete, clay, etc. As such, as a sculptor would participate in each new symposium, they would be forced to work in a medium that they, in many cases, have never worked in before, especially in relation to industrial materials such as concrete, steel and iron. Consequently, this situation resulted in sculptors needing to work, often, side by side with skilled workers, technicians, and other industrial laborers through the course of creating their sculptures. This created a sense of partnership and collaboration between the artist and the worker, allowing both parties an insight into the lives and processes of the other, effectively breaking down the bourgeoisie class biases of the “elitist artist” and the “uncultured worker”. In fact, for numerous symposia, the collaboratively created sculptures were put on display in such a way as to enhance the industrial environment within which the laborers toiled, such as at Sisak and at Ravne na Koroškem.
Meanwhile, beyond just the workers, these symposia were meant to capture the imaginations of the general public as well. In traditional art symposia of the past, created artworks were usually meant to be put up for sale after their creation. However, Prantl’s symposium at St. Margarethen and similarly at Lenassi’s Forma Viva, the works of art would remain as permanent fixtures within the landscape, enriching not only the aesthetics of the environment but also all those who came into contact with them, whether it be in the setting of an organized sculpture park or sculptures spread across an urban or natural landscape. Where as art and sculpture were, during previous generations, works that could only be viewed in exalted institutions and museums, these symposiums in Yugoslavia brought sculpture to the people, breaking down the historical class barriers between the artist and the public. Thought was even given to artistically enriching the spaces that many would instinctively believe to be so defiantly public and utilitarian that they were beyond the scope of art: the motorway. As part of an initiative called “Road Art/Cesta umetnosti”, Zagreb artist Vjenceslav Richter placed a large-scale abstract work along the Zagreb-Ljubljana “Brotherhood & Unity” motorway as part of the 1965 Forma Viva at Kostanjevica na Krki. In fact, Lenassi himself was so interested in the idea of “road art” that he participated in the very first international sculpture symposium on the East Coast of America in 1968, which was a road art beautification project along the US Interstate System of Vermont called “Sculpture on the Highway” (organized by American sculptor Paul Aschenbach, who also took part in the 1969 St. Margarethen symposium).
Considering the mediumish size of Yugoslavia and its limited budget for such endeavors, the scale to which efforts were put towards international sculpture symposiums is truly unprecedented. By the 1980s, there were no fewer than eleven such events operating across the country in annual or semi-annual capacities. Such a fact is reflective of not only Yugoslavia’s dedication to artistic exploration and experimentation but, further, it is indicative of its desire to exist as a “Third Way” nation between the global East and West. It served an international stage for sculptors from the Eastern Bloc, from NATO nations, as well as from countries of the Non-Aligned Movement (which Yugoslavia was integral in assembling), to come together, share knowledge, collaborate, and create sculpture, regardless of their citizenship, politics, or background.
The following section of this article will explore each of the international sculpture symposia that existed during the Yugoslav-era, examining their creation, their significance, their influence and their current status. They are organized in the order of which were they were first established and convened.
Kostanjevica na Krki, Slovenia
Name: Forma Viva
Location: Galerija Božidar Jakac, Kostanjevica na Krki, Slovenia
Symposium established: 1961
Sculptural medium: oakwood
Coordinates: 45°50'05.1"N, 15°24'56.4"E
Along the Krka River in southeastern Slovenia within the rolling hills of the Gorjanci region is the tranquil town of Kostanjevica na Krki. It was here in this sleepy community that two Slovene sculptors, Janez Lenassi [profile page] and Jakob Savinšek, decided that they were going to initiate Yugoslavia’s first international sculpture symposium in 1961. Naming the artistic gathering “Forma Viva” (as a reference to the “living form” of sculpture), the pair was inspired to establish this symposium after they both had just participated in the first-ever convened international sculpture symposium in 1959, held at St. Margarethen, Austria (which continues to this day). The first two Forma Viva symposium sites to be established in 1961 were here at Kostanjevica na Krki, on the lawn of the 13th-century Kostanjevica Monastery, with the second site located at the seaside town of Portorož, Slovenia. As the St. Margarethen symposium centered around the sculptural medium of sandy limestone (a material that had been quarried there locally since Roman times), Lenassi and Savinšek decided that each Forma Viva symposium site would focus on a culturally distinct locally-sourced material. For Kostanjevica na Krki, the sculptural medium of oakwood was chosen, which is sourced from the famous nearby Krakov Primeval Forest, the most significant oak forest in Slovenia that has long been cultivated by loggers and foresters in this region for centuries. In fact, Savinšek, who chose this site personally, originally wished to employ local stone as the material of choice, but seeing the ease of availability of oak logs (and the poor quality of local stone), oakwood was instead chosen as the symposium’s artistic medium. Meanwhile, the symbolic quality of celebrating wood as a sculptural material was not lost on its organizers, with it being aptly pointed out that not only is wood a “living” material, a “Forma Viva” in itself, but also, wood is a material that literally accompanies humanity from (wooden) cradle to our grave (in a wooden coffin).
The first eight participants of this first Forma Viva symposium at Kostanjevica na Krki, which kicked off on July 4th, 1961, were Slovenian sculptor Peter Černe, Macedonian sculptor Petar Hadži Boškov, Japanese sculptor Eisaku Tanaka, French sculptor Jean Marie Touret, Canadian sculptor Robert Roussil, Swiss sculptor Silvio Mattioli, Israeli sculptor Kosso Eloul, and Indian sculptor Sankho Chaudhuri. Over the decades, roughly 100 sculptural works in oakwood have been created and are presently on display here (which were created by sculptors from more than 40 countries), while more are added all the time, as the symposium continues up to the present day, held every other year during the month of July (though, it is important to note that there was a 10-year interruption of the event between 1988 and 1998). In addition to the lawn of the monastery, some sculptures are also exhibited in the town center of Kostanjevica, as well as along the river. One of the most unusually placed works of the symposium's history, well outside the realm of its normal procedure, was the installation in 1965 of a sculpture called “Road Art/Cesta umetnosti” by Zagreb artist Vjenceslav Richter at the exit off-ramp for Kostanjevica along the Ljubljana-Zagreb Motorway (almost like a mysterious advertisement for the symposium seen by passing cars).
The cultural importance of the Forma Viva sculpture parks and art events cannot be overstated, with them being not only popular as tourist destinations but also as crucial pathways for creative inspiration. Even the term itself “Forma Viva” is so influential that it is now used colloquially to refer to any collection of outdoor sculptures in a park-like setting. The symposium is organized by the Božidar Jakac Art Museum, which operates out of the Kostanjevica Monastery, while the sculpture park that sits upon its lawns is on Slovenia’s register of immovable cultural heritage. The official website for the Forma Viva symposium at Kostanjevica na Krki can be found HERE, while a catalog of all of the works located at this sculpture park can be found at THIS link. Access to the sculpture park located at the Kostanjevica Abbey is free and open to the public.
Portorož, Slovenia
Name: Forma Viva
Location: Seča, near Portorož, Slovenia
Symposium established: 1961
Sculptural medium: Istrian limestone
Coordinates: 45°30'05.9"N, 13°35'34.0"E
Perched on a steep scenic peninsula overlooking the waterfront of Portorož along Slovenia’s short but beautiful Adriatic coast is the small village of Seča. Along the north-facing slopes here, among the olive groves and cypress trees, Janez Lenassi [profile page] and Jakob Savinšek established the second “Forma Viva” sculptural symposium in Slovenia, which opened in 1961 at the same time as the previously mentioned event at Kostanjevica na Krki. However, while the Kostanjevica event employed local oakwood as its sculptural medium, at Seča, the choice was made to employ Istrian limestone. This choice of stone conformed to the local traditions of the region, which have a heritage of employing Istrian limestone in their stonemasonry, home construction and artistic creations. In addition, large blocks of the stone are readily available to this site from nearby Istrian quarries at locations such as Marušići, Valtura and Kanfanar. Just as with the Kostanjevica symposium, the event at Seča was officially initiated on July 4th, 1961.
This first 1961 symposium on the slopes of Seča was attended by eleven sculptors from around the world, with such names represented as the Italian sculptor Sangregorio Giancarlo, American sculptor Patricia Diska, Japanese sculptor Yasuo Mizu, Japanese sculptor Hajime Togashi, Austrian sculptor Josef Pillhofer, Serbian sculptor Ana Bešlić [profile page], Croatian sculptor Ivan Sabolić, Italian sculptor Carlo Ramous, French sculptor Eugène Dodeigne, Dutch sculptor Carl Kneulman and Polish sculptor Olgierd Truszyński. Over the decades, the symposium grounds at Seča have turned into an impressive sculpture park with over 150 sculptures, representing sculptors from over 30 countries. In addition to the park at Seča, sculptural works are on display in urban centers along the Slovenian coast, such as at Portorož, Piran, Izola and Koper. Altogether, this legacy of stone sculptures along the country’s Adriatic coast operates not only as an important touristic feature, drawing in thousands of visitors a year, but it also is a deep expression of the region’s cultural heritage, with artists from around the globe literally carving their souls into the bedrock of the Istrian landscape. Today, the symposium is operated and organized by the Piran Coastal Galleries and the sculpture park is on Slovenia’s register of immovable cultural heritage. The official website for the Forma Viva symposium at Seča can be found HERE, while a catalog of some of the works found within the sculpture park is available at THIS link, as well as THIS one.
Prilep, North Macedonia
Name: “Marble” Sculpture Symposium
Location: Prilep, North Macedonia
Symposium established: 1963
Sculptural medium: white Sivec marble
Coordinates: n/a
After observing the success of the Forma Viva sculpture symposiums in Slovenia that began in 1961, the art and cultural community in the small Macedonian town of Prilep, located high on the Pelagonia plain, became dedicated to the goal of establishing a similar sculpture symposium of their own. Prilep already had an art colony centered around painting, called the Center for Contemporary Fine Art (CSLU), which was established in 1957 by local archeologist Bosko Babić and painter Risto Lozanoski, (making it one of the oldest art colonies in southeastern Europe). As such, the addition of sculpture to this colony was a natural fit. Thus, after striking upon this idea, Babić & Lozanoski began organizing the logistics for such an event starting in 1962. In establishing a sculptural material for this symposium, the decision was made to utilize the plentiful local resource of white Sivec marble, which is quarried not far away by the company “Mermeren Kombinat”. This elegant bright stone creates elegant sculptures and is known the world over for its quality and beauty. With marble chosen as the sculptural material, it was thus decided to name the event the “Marble/Mermer” International Sculpture Symposium.
The first participants of this symposium, which convened in July of 1963, were a group of five artists: Croatian sculptors Mirko Bracun & Nenad Krivić, Macedonian sculptors Dimo Todorovski & Dragan Poposki-Dada, and Serbian sculptor Milija Nešić.. When completed, the sculptures are not placed in a communal sculpture park, but instead spread out at key locations across Prilep and the greater area. In doing so, Prilep was the first city in Yugoslavia to adorn the community’s open spaces with public sculptures. Through the decades, over 60 sculptures have been placed around the city center area, while 30 have been placed within the city’s wider region. These dozens of works were created by sculptors from not only the Yugoslav-region, but also by sculptors from America, Russia, Spain, Argentina, Bulgaria, Italy, Japan, Switzerland, among other locations. The activity of the symposium itself it held in various venues around Prilep over the years, such as at the old “Hotel Yugoslavia” (on Metodija Andonov-Čento Sq.), at Treskavec Montastery, among other locations. The CSLU began work on a tailor made facility for the symposium next to the Church of St. Archangel Michael (on the mountain of Marko’s Tower) in the 1980s, but by the 1990s, the center was forced to cede the land back to the church.
The “Marble” Sculpture Symposium continues up to the present day and acts as a pivotal cultural event for the city, while the sculptures it has produced over the years serve as an intrinsic component of Prilep’s artistic heritage. The Center for Contemporary Fine Arts in Prilep (which is based out of the Marko Cepenkov Cultural Center) has an official website that can be found HERE, while a catalog of all the symposium’s sculptural works can be found in THIS CSLU document, which was published to celebrate the event’s 55th anniversary. In addition to the sculpture symposium, the CSLU convenes international art workshops focused on other disciplines such as painting, stainted glass, ceramics, mosaic art, photography, etc, making Prilep one of the most significant centers in the country for art creation and collaboration.
Ravne na Koroškem, Slovenia
Name: Forma Viva
Location: Ravne na Koroškem, Slovenia
Symposium established: 1964
Sculptural medium: steel
Coordinates: n/a
In the north of Slovenia, right near the Austrian border, is the small mountain community of Ravne na Koroškem (formerly known as “Guštanj” prior to 1952). The overwhelmingly dominant industry in this community is that of steel production, which is a trade that has been associated with this region since the early 1600s. After the success of the first two Forma Viva symposiums at Portorož and Kostanjevica in 1961, Janez Lenassi [profile page] was looking to expand to other communities and explore new sculptural materials. However, he would be without the help of Jakob Savinšek in this effort, as he passed away during the middle of the first symposium in August of 1961. Numerous locations around Slovenia were investigated, such as Jesenice (for its iron), Radenci (for its clay), Ptuj (for its aluminum), among others. However, in 1963, after being reached out to by the director of the steel mill Železarna Ravna at Ravne na Koroškem, Franc Fale (an art lover himself), the board of Forma Viva chose this town as its next symposium site. Fale was further integral in arranging the steel mill’s cooperation in hosting the artists and allowing them to collaborate with their workers towards the creation of steel sculptures. As a result of the difficulty and danger of the production of steel, the creation of such large-scale steel sculptures would truly be impossible outside of a close partnership between the artist and the industrial laborer of the mill.
The first symposium was convened at Ravne na Koroškem in August of 1964, with seven sculptors invited to participate: Polish sculptor Jerzy Jarnuszkiewicz, Montenegrin sculptor Stevan Luketić [profile page], Italian sculptor Giancarlo Marchese, Japanese sculptor Jo Oda, Serbian sculptor Zoran Petrović, Slovene sculptor Slavko Tihec [profile page] and Canadian sculptor Yves Trudeau. However, in contrast to Portorož and Kostanjevica, when the sculptures were completed, instead of arranging them all around one central exhibition park, they were instead placed in distinct locations all around the community. Originally, this Forma Viva event at Ravne was organized as a special one-time affair, however, with its resounding success, four more sculptors were invited the following year and the symposium evolved into a regular event (though, held much less frequently). Over the decades, the placement of the sculptures expanded outside just Ravne, with works being placed in the further reaches of the Meža River valley, such as in Črna, Poljana and Prevalje. In 1984, the symposium convened under the theme of “Peace, Never Again War”. Dwelling on this theme, participating American sculptor Gary Dwyer created a sculpture at Poljana that operated as a monument to the last battle of WWII which occurred there (with it standing as the only monument in Yugoslavia created by an American). Dwyer writes a detailed diary about his time at the symposium, which can be found at THIS link.
The last time the Ravne symposium was held was in 2014, however, there are indeed ambitions to convene further events. As the symposium and its legacy of steel sculptures scattered across the town is a deep part of Ravne’s identity and heritage, it seems likely that forces will indeed coalesce to bring sculptors here together once more, continuing not only the tradition of Forma Viva, but also the town’s 300-year tradition of steel making. Since 1997, the sculptural works in Ravne have been managed and maintained by the Carinthian Regional Museum. The official website for Ravne’s Forma Viva symposium can be found HERE, which provides an expansive history, interactive map, sculptor profiles, catalogs and more.
Maribor, Slovenia
Name: Forma Viva
Location: Maribor, Slovenia
Symposium established: 1967
Sculptural medium: concrete
Coordinates: n/a
As the Forma Viva symposium network had expanded to Ravne na Koroškem just three years before, the next phase of its growth was opening up Maribor, Slovenia as its next venue. The city of Maribor sits upon the Drava River in the eastern region of Slovenia and is the country’s second-largest urban zone. While the idea for this expansion had been investigated by the leadership of the Forma Viva board since the establishment of the Ravne symposium in 1964, as considerable efforts were necessary in coordinating agreements with the industrial partners who would assist and collaborate with the artists in the creation of their works. As the sculptural medium chosen for the Maribor symposium was raw concrete, Forma Viva partnered with the Maribor construction company “Stavbar”, as well as with the companies “Gradis” and “Konstruktor”. In fact, it was Stavbar that reached out to the Forma Viva board in the first place to initiate the symposium, as they wished to find a way to beautify and enhance the bare concrete apartment buildings they were creating for the city’s workers. Artists would collaborate directly with industrial workers from these companies towards the creation of their sculptures. The choice of concrete as a sculptural material for the Maribor symposium had several purposes, which were practical, artistic and symbolic. Firstly, Maribor had (and still has) a well-developed construction sector, making concrete the most plentiful material available in this urban setting and, thus, the natural choice as a sculptural material. Secondly, concrete is a difficult material to work with sculpturally, so, therefore, it would serve to test the skills of the sculptor, as well as to incite him to closely collaborate with his industrial partners. And thirdly, as Maribor was the first urban environment that Forma Viva would operate, concrete thus presented itself as a symbolic representation of Yugoslavia’s 20th-century urbanistic efforts, in addition to acting as a sign of Maribor’s growth and its developing modern image.
In speaking of the progression of materials used in the Forma Viva symposiums, the Slovene art historian Zoran Kržišnik made the following remarks in 1980 (translated here into English):
“If, in Seča, the emphasis was on confronting the artist with raw material given by nature in a natural environment, in Kostanjevica, the emphasis was on merging with tradition, on the enrichment of tradition by grafting foreign elements into the native trunk in an artistically transformed environment, while, in Ravne, the artist faced the demands of modern life in the industrial process itself, while, finally, in Maribor, its material of concrete is by far the greatest challenge to all those who hold close to the ideals of Forma viva and who are convinced of its longevity.”
The first Forma Viva symposium convenes in Maribor in August of 1967, which included the following three participating sculptors: Japanese sculptor Takeshi Kudo, Slovene sculptor Tone Lapajne and Italian sculptor Lino Tine. Similar to Ravne, as the sculptures were completed, they were not amassed at a central exhibition park, but, instead, were artfully placed at key locations around the city (a process overseen by Maribor architect Branko Kocmut). After this first iteration, it reconvened regularly every three years, up until 1986, at which point, the symposium came to an end. During its run, exactly 19 sculptures were created, with sculptors from six countries represented. However, sources relate that more energy on the part of the city could be spent highlighting these works, as little effort has been spent over recent years promoting (or appreciating) these internationally important works as a touristic attraction and as part of the city’s artistic/cultural heritage. Today, the Forma Viva collection in Maribor is managed by the Maribor Art Gallery. A catalog of the sculptures made during the Maribor Forma Viva, as well as a map and list of locations, can be found in THIS document. For a more in depth examination of the Maribor Forma Viva event, much more info is available on the subject in the excellent 2017 paper by Marjeta Ciglenečki, which can be found at THIS PDF link (pages 113-161). To conclude, here is an excellent quote from Ciglenečki's paper in reference to Maribor's Forma Viva: "The sculptures mark the neuralgic points of the city, impacting strategically upon the structure of the urban area and uniting the tissue of the old town center on the left and the newer part on the right bank of the Drava River. The local authorities have tried countless times to connect the left and right river banks in vain; Forma viva has been able to achieve this."
Aranđelovac, Serbia
Name: Park Bukovičke Banje
Location: Aranđelovac, Serbia
Symposium established: 1966
Sculptural medium: white Venčac marble
Coordinates: 44°18'29.9"N, 20°33'12.2"E
Located at the center of the beautiful Šumadija region town of Aranđelovac, Serbia is Park Bukovičke Banje. For centuries, the town has been cherished for its mineral waters, which resulted in the creation of numerous spa facilities here, most notably the Bukovička Banja Spa. These have been enjoyed and developed extensively over the years, particularly during the 19th century by the Serbian royal family. It was during this time that a vast and beautiful 22-hectare park was created in front of the summer palace of King Aleksandar Obrenović (which was built in the 1860s). Among the first artistic works placed in the park was a sculpture of a lion by Austrian artist Peter Gunter that was crafted from white “Venčac” marble. The impressively bright marble was quarried the mountain “Venčac”, located right next to Aranđelovac. Since the late 1800s, one of the main industries of the town has been the mining of Venčac, a marble that sources cite has been used in numerous important international projects around the globe, such as the American landmarks of the White House and the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty.
In 1966, the "Beli Venčac" Sculpture Symposium was established and organized in Aranđelovac by a group of seven artists: Matija Vuković, Angelina Gatalica, Mira Jurišić, Oto Logo, all from Belgrade, as well as Raja Nikolić from Aranđelovac, Jovan Soldatović from Novi Sad and Šošana Hejman from Israel. The focus of this first symposium was for all works of art to be crafted from local white Venčac marble, with the seven artists collaborating with local workers from the quarry towards the creation of their chosen forms. After their creation, these first seven sculptures were placed around Park Bukovičke Banje. The placement and landscape design of this sculpture park was laid out by a team of Yugoslav artists and architects, including Štefika Cobelj, Bratislav Stojanović and Ranko Radović. Today, the park is populated with over 60 sculptural works made of white Venčac marble, with several hundred more sculptures placed in the greater area around Aranđelovac. Over 200 artists are represented at the park, including not only some of the greatest artists from Yugoslavia but also from all five continents of the world. In 1968, an art and music festival called “Marble & Sounds” has also been held at the park every summer (with more information about it being found at the festival’s official website). The tourism board of Aranđelovac has put together a YouTube channel catalog of the park’s sculptural works, which can be found HERE. This unique open-air collection of abstract and figurative sculpture is among the largest in Europe and is free and open to the public.
Ostrožac, Bosnia i Hercegovina
Name: Ostrožac Sculpture Park
Location: Ostrožac Castle, Ostrožac, BiH
Symposium established: 1967
Sculptural medium: Bihacite limestone
Coordinates: 44°54'20.8"N, 15°56'14.0"E
About 15km north of the city of Bihać, right along the Una River, is the small settlement of Ostrožac, BiH, with the grand 13th-century Ostrožac Castle standing as its central attraction. In 1967, an international sculpture symposium named the “Colony of Sculptors” was established in Bihać. The intention of the art colony and the sculpture symposium was to commemorate the first meeting of AVNOJ and the creation of the Bihać Republic during WWII. For this first symposium in 1967, which was organized by and held at the 1st Session of AVNOJ Museum in Bihać, the first six sculptors chosen to participate were Serbian sculptor Savo Sandić, Croatian sculptors Milena Lah, Marija Ujević, and Ratko Petrić, Australian sculptor Ante Dabro and BiH sculptor Petar Jelisić. The medium in which all sculptures were to be crafted was locally quarried “Bihacite” limestone, a material well-known for its ease of sculpting. The second 1968 symposium was held in Bišćani, BiH (near Prijedor), while the third symposium in 1969 was convened at Ostrožac Castle, a site that was finally settled on as the colony’s permanent location into the future.
Of the hundreds of sculptures produced during the symposium here at Ostrožac since 1969, about 150 sculptures remain at the castle premises. Of the many sculptures produced here over the decades by dozens of the greatest Yugoslav and world sculptors, many found their way into museum collections domestically and around the globe, making Ostrožac one of the most significant creative and productive regions of modern sculpture in Bosnia. Meanwhile, in addition to Ostrožac Castle, works from the symposiums were also placed at the nearby Hotel Sedra in Ostrožac, as well as in public spaces in the nearby towns of Cazin and Bihać. The grounds of the sculpture park are in excellent condition and the symposium here continues to be held annually up to the present day. The sculpture park is protected by the government of Bosnia i Hercegovina as a cultural heritage property. Today, the symposium is organized by the “Center for Culture & Tourism” in Cazin, BiH. Access is free and open to the public.
Labin, Croatia
Name: Dubrova Sculpture Park
Location: Labin, Croatia
Symposium established: 1969
Sculptural medium: Istrian limestone
Coordinates: 45°06'56.7"N, 14°07'02.2"E
Situated just north of the scenic Istrian town of Labin, Croatia is the Dubrova Sculpture Park. It was at this location, adjacent to the Baroque-style stately villa “Stancija Dubrova” (of the aristocratic Franković family), that in 1969, the “Mediterranean Stone Sculptors’ Symposium” was established, organized by the Croatian artists Josip Diminić, Milena Lah, Quintin Bassanio and Josip Faraguna. The symposium was initiated as a way to honor the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Labin Republic, which was a short-lived socialist uprising in 1921 by Labin miners and stone workers against the Kingdom of Italy. It is often described as the first anti-fascist uprising in history. Employing the medium of locally sourced white Istrian limestone, the symposium’s first three participants (which were Croatian sculptors Milena Lah & Ivan Kožarić, along with Italian sculptor Antonio Paradiso), created ambitiously abstract sculptures that were subsequently placed in 1970 within the 33-hectare grounds of the rolling and picturesque Istrian landscape in such a way to mark the historic borders of the old Labin Republic that crossed this area. Over the decades during following symposiums, the wide space between these first three works was filled in with dozens of more sculptures by artists from Yugoslavia and around the world.
Symposiums have been held here (mostly) annually since its inception in 1969 and continue up to the present day. Currently, nearly 70 sculptural works in Istrian stone are presented across the park. Numerous sources describe Dubrova as the most significant open-air sculpture collection in Croatia, with it being protected on a national level as an official cultural heritage site. The park is expertly maintained and in pristine condition. One can visit the official website for Dubrova Sculpture Park at THIS link. The website includes a catalog, artist profiles, a park map and much more. The park is free and open to the public.
Sisak, Croatia
Name: Ironworks Sculpture Park
Location: Sisak, Croatia
Symposium established: 1971
Sculptural medium: steel
Coordinates: 45°27'20.4"N, 16°23'24.3"E
In the central Croatian town of Sisak is a sculpture park situated within the neighborhood of Caprag. It was here in 1971 that an artists' colony was established by organizers and artists from the Center for Culture of the Moša Pijade Workers' University in Zagreb. This art colony was centered around the town's substantial ironworks factory (the “Sisak Ironworks”). All of the sculptural works made as part of this colony were cast from the factory's iron-smelting operations, which resulted in the artists collaborating side-by-side with steelworkers, welders, machinists and other industrial technicians. The convening of the first symposium at the Ironworks, which lasted from July to September of 1971, hosted the following participants: Croatian artists and sculptors Ljubomir Bašić, Ema Bursač, Ivan Lesiak, Zvonimir Melnjak, Đurđica Plemić-Radić, and Nadina Vatovec. After the sculptural works were completed, they were placed within a verdant park setting adjacent to the factory’s entrance, allowing the factory’s workers (of which there were 14,000 during the facility’s zenith) to be inspired and connected to the works they took part in creating. It was during the second session of the symposium in 1972 that Croatian sculptor Ivan Kožarić created what would come to be the trademark work, known as “Antipodes”. Scores of the most notable artists from across Yugoslavia took part in the annual artistic workshops and symposiums organized at this colony between 1971 and 1990.
Over the decades, these artists created dozens of outdoor sculptures in a large park next to the factory for them to always be on public display. The efforts of nearly 200 Yugoslav artists were originally on display around the park’s sprawling green grounds. However, as the area around Sisak fell into conflict during the years after the dismantling of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, the factory was largely dismantled and thus the artists' colony came to an end. Sources relate that many hundreds of these sculptures were destroyed during the 1990s Yugoslav conflicts, with only about 50 remaining up to the present day, of which most reside in poor condition as the result of years of neglect. However, efforts are currently underway by local government to protect and restore the artistic heritage of the Sisak Ironworks Sculpture Park. More information about the park can be found in an academic publication about the history of the park put out by the City Museum of Sisak. A catalog of many of the works still existing at the sculpture park can be found at THIS website.
Danilovgrad, Montenegro
Name: Danilovgrad Art Colony
Location: Danilovgrad, Montenegro
Symposium established: 1972
Sculptural medium: white Garač marble
Coordinates: 42°33'12.2"N, 19°06'19.7"E
Nestled along the banks of the scenic Zeta River is the town of Danilovgrad, Montenegro, which sits placidly in the shadow of the dramatic mountain Garač. At the center of the town just on the edge of the river is a modest sculpture park, positioned in front of the local Cultural Center, that operates as the grounds for the Danilovgrad Art Colony. Established here in 1973 by local artist Srdan Kovačević with a sponsorship by the local stone quarry “Mermer”, the colony set about hosting an annual sculptural symposium centered around the medium of Montenegrin white Garač marble, which is sourced locally from the surrounding foothills of Garač Mountain. The participants in the first symposium in July of 1973 were Serbian sculptor Ante Gržetić [profile page], Slovene sculptor Drago Tršar and Montenegrin sculptor Stevan Luketić [profile page]. Over the subsequent decades, dozens more artists from across Yugoslavia (and from around the world, thanks to additional funding from the Montenegrin Academy of Science & Art) participated in the annual symposiums held here, creating over 100 works packed into the tight space of the urban park.
The Danilovgrad Art Colony continues to operate its annual symposium up to the present day, with its professional staff taking great care to preserve and take care of its vast collection of sculptural works. This facility is unique in Montenegro and operates as a significant repository for Yugoslav-era sculpture and modern sculptural tendencies. Today, the sculpture park is managed by the Danilovgrad Center of Culture. The official website for the complex can be found at THIS link, with a catalog of its works listed HERE. Access to the park is free and open to the public.
Kikinda, Serbia
Name: “Terra” Sculpture Park
Location: Kikinda, Serbia
Symposium established: 1982
Sculptural medium: terracotta
Coordinates: 45°48'49.6"N, 20°27'41.1"E
Located in the north of Serbia in the upper reaches of the Vojvodina region of Banat is the town of Kikinda. The production of terracotta pottery and art in this region of Serbia goes back centuries, even as far back as the ancient Roman period and earlier. As such, this rich cultural history made it seem natural to local Kikinda artist Slobodan Kojić to establish, in 1982, an art colony in his town dedicated to terracotta art. Naming it the “International Symposium of Large-Scale Terracotta Sculpture” (or “Terra” for short), Kojić set up the colony in an old disused “Toza Marković” brick factory on the edge of town (which was built in the 1890s and had formerly been the largest brick factory in Yugoslavia until new modern facilities were constructed in the early 1980s). The clay from the nearby clay pits (from which the terracotta works are made) is so pure in its composition that it can be taken right from the ground without processing, making it a rare resource. The first symposium was attended by just one artist, Serbian sculptor Velimir Vukićević, and, with its success, many more followed. Over the decades, the symposium has hosted over 250 artists from over 40 countries, producing over 137 terracotta works in the outdoor sculpture park and an additional 452 works in the indoor gallery inside the old factory. Sources relate that many of the visiting artists attending the symposium have no prior history working in the medium of terracotta, as such, many learn skills on-site from expert craftsmen and industrial technicians on how to work the material.
This symposium is unique in that it is one of the few, if only, focused on the medium of terracotta, while the sculpture collection itself is without a doubt one of the largest in the world. The efforts of Kojić, who continues to promote and operate the colony up to the present day, is pivotal in preserving the cultural heritage of terracotta art and spreading the skills of its creation around the world through his symposium (which are held every July). The official website for the Terra museum and park can be found at THIS link. An excellent detailed article about the Terra Sculpture Park can be found at The Nutshell Times. The museum and park are open to the public and maintain regular hours, Tues-Sat. Admission is 150RSD. You can also purchase clay here to make your own terracotta sculptures, as well as take classes.
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