The annual event celebrating art.
Slow Art Day is Saturday, April 11, 2026 Join Us!
Photo by Greg Neville
Ukraine’s National Museum of Decorative Arts Reflects on Memory, Community, and War
March 22nd, 2026For their first Slow Art Day, the National Museum of Decorative Arts of Ukraine hosted a deeply reflective session centered on memory, community and war via the series “Meals” by Ukrainian artist Olena Pryduvalova.
The featured works, “Beginning of the Buffet” and “Festive Dinner” (2019, acrylic on canvas), explore the emotional significance of gathering around food and shared meals. Pryduvalova originally created the Meals series while reading the book “Yes, but…” by Ukrainian writer Taras Prokhasko. Rather than illustrating the text directly, the artist used the reading experience as a catalyst for reflection, allowing the works to emerge from months of personal memories and contemplation.
According to Pryduvalova, the series explores what unites people and what remains in memory over time: moments of gathering, conversation, and shared meals that mark both joyful and difficult experiences. The ten paintings in the series depict a range of occasions, including weddings, buffets, festive dinners, memorial meals, and quiet conversations between two people.
The diptych shown for Slow Art Day captures two distinct moments within this theme. “Beginning of the Buffet” depicts a quiet scene before guests arrive, when the table is prepared and anticipation fills the air. In contrast, “Festive Dinner” celebrates the joy of coming together.
During the Slow Art Day session on April 5, museum visitors were invited to spend time carefully observing the works and then share their reflections. The discussion soon moved beyond the paintings themselves and into the personal experiences of participants.
Visitors spoke openly about how life in Ukraine has changed in recent years following the Russian invasion. The conversation turned to the meaning of family gatherings and how precious shared meals have become during the war. Participants reflected on how moments around a table—sometimes joyful, sometimes sorrowful—continue to bring people together and strengthen community.
Through these conversations, the artworks became a catalyst for dialogue about memory, resilience, and human connection.
We at Slow Art Day HQ are deeply grateful to the team at the National Museum of Decorative Arts of Ukraine for sharing this moving program and for demonstrating the power of art and slow looking even — and especially — during wartime.
We look forward to what they come up with for this year’s Slow Art Day, which is coming up on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
— Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl
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P.P.S. If you have not yet registered your museum of gallery for Slow Art Day 2026, please do.
Slow Looking and Slow Walking at Museo Universidad de Navarra in Spain
March 21st, 2026For their third Slow Art Day in 2025, the Museo Universidad de Navarra in Pamplona, Spain organized two free events — one for adults and another for children — both exploring different ways of slowing down with art.
Featured works included:
• “Incendi” by Antoni Tàpies
• Walking route map artwork by Hamish Fulton
First, nine adults gathered in front of the abstract painting “Incendi” (1991) by Antoni Tàpies for a slow looking session guided by a museum educator. Participants spent extended time contemplating the work before sharing their observations and reflections together in discussion.
The museum also hosted a Slow Art Day workshop for nine children aged 8-12, inspired by the work of the “walking artist” Hamish Fulton, who has walked the Camino de Santiago several times.
The workshop had two parts. First, participants carried out a “slow walk” exercise inside the museum inspired by Fulton’s artistic practice. Then the group went outside and walked a small section of the Camino de Santiago, which passes through the University of Navarra campus near the museum.
Through this combination of walking, observation, and conversation, the children explored how movement and place can become part of artistic experience.
At Slow Art Day HQ, we love seeing hosts expand the idea of slow looking in creative ways. By combining careful observation with walking and place-based exploration, the Museo Universidad de Navarra created two thoughtful experiences that helped adults and children connect with art in different ways.
We look forward to seeing what Museo Universidad de Navarra comes up with for Slow Art Day 2026.
– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl
See–Think–Wonder at Museum of Chelmsford
March 21st, 2026For their first Slow Art Day, the Museum of Chelmsford in Essex, United Kingdom invited visitors to slow down with art using a simple framework: See – Think – Wonder. The activity took place within the exhibition Shifting Perspectives: Exploring Art Together, which ran in the museum’s temporary gallery space through November 2, 2025.
To guide visitors, the museum created a set of “See Think Wonder” cards that guests could pick up in the gallery. The cards encouraged people to slow down and consider different ways of engaging with artworks — an approach that works not only in museums but whenever people encounter art in daily life.
Visitors were invited to explore artworks through three stages of looking.
See — what catches your eye? Look at the colors the artist used. Explore the atmosphere of the picture. Can you copy the pose or expression of any figures you see?
Think — can you imagine yourself inside the picture? What might the artist be trying to say to us? Does the title change how you see the picture?
Wonder — what might happen next in the picture? What conversations might be taking shape? What unanswered questions do you have about the picture?
This simple structure gave visitors permission to take their time and engage with artworks through curiosity rather than expertise.
Featured works included:
• “Cecil Collins at the CSA” by Rosalind Cuthbert
• “Point of View” by Doris Boulton-Maude (1892–1976)
The museum’s See–Think–Wonder cards were inspired by the I Picture This toolkit developed by the The Wallace Collection, a past Slow Art Day participant.
At Slow Art Day HQ we love the simple See–Think–Wonder cards – they are easy to use with any artwork, and help shift the experience from passive viewing to active discovery. We encourage other museums and galleries to copy these.
Since this was the Museum of Chelmsford’s first Slow Art Day, we’re especially happy to welcome them to the global Slow Art Day movement and look forward to seeing what the Museum of Chelmsford comes up with for Slow Art Day 2026.
– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl
Meditation, Tea, and Slow Looking at Frederiksbergmuseerne in Denmark
March 20th, 2026For Slow Art Day 2025, Frederiksbergmuseerne in Frederiksberg, Denmark invited participants to step into a slower rhythm of being through a sensory-rich morning program at Bakkehuset (one of four museums) centered on art, presence, and reflection. The program gently guided visitors toward deeper awareness, encouraging attentiveness to both inner experience and artistic detail.
The day began with a softly guided morning meditation, held in the atmospheric rooms of Bakkehuset, where light and shadow played across historic interiors. This session opened the senses and prepared participants for a mindful encounter with art and environment.
Next, guests took part in a tea experience that activated taste, smell, and touch — deepening sensory awareness and setting a calm, attentive tone. While briefly introduced to the cultural background of Matcha, the focus remained on being fully present with the experience.
The morning culminated in a session of Slow Looking and creative reflection, where participants engaged deeply with the museum’s art and design elements. In a quiet, unhurried atmosphere, they explored visual details and textures, allowing time for intuitive insights and personal resonance. The experience was extended through writing exercises that captured impressions, emotions, and thoughts stirred by the art.
Each element of the program supported the others, with sensory openness cultivated in the meditation and tea experience enriching the final artistic encounter. The day as a whole emphasized slowness as a method for connecting more profoundly with both art and oneself.
Frederiksbergmuseerne’s contribution to Slow Art Day was also part of a national phenomenological slow looking research project, “From Challenge to Opportunity.” This initiative explores how Slow Looking can promote well-being and deeper cultural engagement.
At Slow Art Day HQ, we especially appreciate Frederiksbergmuseerne’s thoughtful integration of meditation, tea, and reflection. Programs like this show how slow looking can engage multiple senses and deepen the experience of art.
We look forward to seeing what Frederiksbergmuseerne comes up with for Slow Art Day 2026.
– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl