INTERNATIONAL ARTIST RESIDENCY WOOD&STONE&GLASS LOKVE 2025
written by PETRA KOLENC
In the heart of the vast Trnovski gozd, at 965 meters above sea level, lies the village of Lokve – once a famous ski resort in Goriška in western Slovenia. Today, the place offers a variety of active leisure experiences throughout the year: in the center of the village, all generations can relax by playing multi-golf, the first snow delights the youngest on the winter children’s playground and cross-country trail, and by prior arrangement, it is also possible to visit the small museum of woodworking crafts, managed by the Lo-Ko Association. It takes visitors back in time to woodworking and the lives of Lokve woodworkers. A visit to one of the local culinary offerings (Gostilna Lokve, Penzion Winkler, P’r Ukovih Tourist Farm) will not leave the visitor indifferent. Because time flows more slowly in the middle of the Trnovski gozd.
Only 22 kilometers from Nova Gorica and neighboring Gorica, Lokve is a starting point for climbs to nearby peaks – Škol, Prezren, Črni vrh, Mrzovec, Poldanovec and Golake. Numerous forest hiking trails, e.g. circular hiking trail Behind the wall , leading around the village that once protected the state forest from the encroachment of the settled columns of Count Coronini and located until the end of April 2026, the Glazutars’ Path between Lokve, Lazno and Trebuša enchants visitors.
In tribute to the glassmaking heritage, we have added glass to the wood and stone this year. In the difficult conditions of the Trnovski Gozd forest, glassmakers have blown thousands of bottles and other artistic products over the centuries, which have traveled across Europe and even to India.
The international artist residency Wood & Stone & Glass Lokve 2025 is part of a long-term process that develops in close connection with the space. The inspiring environment of Lokve, the stories of the locals about the former skiing tradition, the craft of skafar, the glassmakers, forestry and hunting, and the everyday coexistence with the forest and animals still enrich the collective memory of the place today.
Honey 9. and June 16, 2025 Lokve has been transformed into a space for artistic creation and meeting for the fourth year in a row. In the premises of the Lokve–Lazna local community, in a former school, an exhibition about the glassmakers who settled the forested area between Trebuša, Lokve and Lazna in the mid-18th century has been on display since the summer of 2025. As part of the three-part exhibition Following the paths of the glažuters on the edge of the Trnovo Forest, which is on display in the school as well as in the Lokve Inn and the Winkler Inn, presents the story of mysterious glassblowers of Czech-German origin. They passed down their glassmaking knowledge from generation to generation in a closed guild environment, and only a few locals managed to get close to the masters and become their assistants. Due to the extensive logging of beech wood, which was needed for firewood and the extraction of potash, the craft moved away from the Trnovské gozd after about a century.
We concluded the residency with a demonstration of glass blowing and engraving and an open-air sculpture studio. Since 2022, we have been hosting academic sculptors from different countries at Lokve, who create in wood and stone in the exceptional natural scenery of the village. To date, nineteen sculptures have been installed in the space, and this year the twentieth was also placed for the first time in nearby Lazno. The custodians of the sculptures are locals, as most of the works stand next to homesteads.
In 2022 and 2023, artists from Italy, Spain, Cuba, Belgium, Slovenia, Uruguay, Greece and Ukraine created works in Lokve. In 2024, sculptor Vasja Kavčič worked in the village, and in 2025, under the leadership of a Belgian sculptor and selector, Jorg Von Daele and curator Klavdija Figelj were created by Sara Terpino, Selena Frosini and Valeria Greco from Italy, Damjan Kracina from Slovenia, Klaus F. Hunsicker from Germany and Walid Galid from Tunisia.
As curator Klavdija Figelj emphasized: »Sculpture has a special power in a natural space. When a work of art enters the landscape, it becomes a part of nature – it converses with the forest, light, wind and time. It is this connection between art and the environment that is represented by Forma viva Lokve, an open-air gallery where sculptures are created and remain in nature.
They are placed on meadows, at the edge of forests and among homesteads, so visitors experience them not only as works of art, but as part of the space they live or spend time in. The sculptures invite reflection, learning and experience, while also connecting people with each other.
In their work, the artists explore natural materials, especially stone and wood. Each in their own way reveals their form, structure and meaning. Stone tells the story of the depths of the earth and time, while wood tells the story of life, growth and connection with the forest. The common thread of the created works is inspiration in natural forms and the search for a balance between man and nature.
Forma viva Lokve is also a meeting place. Because the sculptures are created outdoors, locals and visitors can watch the creations, talk to the artists and become part of the process. This way, art does not remain confined to galleries, but lives together with people and space, encouraging respect for the common environment and heritage. “.
The Lo-Ko Lokve Art and Culture Society organizes guided art and history walks through Forma Viva Lokve, by prior arrangement at loko.drustvo@gmail.com
A special focus of this year’s residency was glass. We hosted master glassblower and engraver Remi Kočica, a descendant of Czech glass masters, and master Zvonko Drobnič, who demonstrated the creation of a glass-making masterpiece from glowing mass. In this way, we symbolically paid tribute to the tradition of Czech glassblowers, who settled between Trebuša, Lazno and Lokve between 1722 and 1830 and left a significant mark on this area.
Petra Kolenc, GlassRoutes project coordinator (Interreg SPF)
within which the international art residency Wood&Stone&Glass Lokve 2025 was organized this year