Beauty from Brokenness: Slow Art Day in Ljubljana, Slovenia


For their third Slow Art Day, Galleria l’arte di seta in Ljubljana, Slovenia, partnered with Elnovaspace Education Center to host three events in the period between April 13th – 18th, 2023 on the theme ‘Beauty from Brokenness.’

Artwork by artist Ruth Korthof
Slow Art Day participant, 2023, viewing artwork by artist Ruth Korthof
Slow Art Day participants, 2023, viewing artwork by artist Ruth Korthof

All events took place at the premises of Elnovaspace, Cigaletova 5, Ljubljana, Slovenia.

There were 3 main events:

  • April 13th opening
  • April 14 and 15 slow art looking (in person, individual guests)
  • April 18 conversation with the artist


Each event started with slow looking for 10 -15 minutes. They followed that by asking each participant to share their thoughts and reflections, and then concluded by talking about the ‘beauty of brokenness.’

Gallery founder, Lidija Drobež, said that “the common experience of looking slowly and the intriguing topic of beauty from brokenness jointly led to honest, meaningful and open discussion.”

Artist Ruth Korthof had no active role during slow art looking, but on April 18th she was actively involved as a participant. Later she said the following about the event:

We really like the way Galleria l’arte di seta approached this Slow Art Day and their three-day design with a focus on a single artist could be a good model for how other galleries might want to approach designing their own slow looking events.

Here at Slow Art Day HQ we were ourselves quite taken by the theme, and find Ruth Korthof’s art captivating. Porcelain is fragile, breakable, and beautiful, just like much of our world (and, of course, note the proximity of the Ukraine War and the threats Latvia is itself experiencing).

We look forward to whatever Galleria l’arte di seta and Elnovaspace come up with for their next Slow Art Day.

-Johanna, Phyl, Ashley, and Jessica Jane

PS. Stay up to date with Ruth Korthof and Galleria l’arte di seta through their Instagram.

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