Tag Archives: slow art club

Slow Art Week and Slow Art Club at Galleria l’arte di seta in Slovenia

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For their fifth Slow Art Day, Galleria l’arte di seta in Ljubljana, Slovenia, hosted a weeklong series of slow-looking experiences titled Beyond Visible, held April 5–14, 2025. Facilitated by executive coach and gallery founder Lidija Drobež, the event invited small groups to engage in quiet reflection and guided discussion while viewing works of abstract art. This marked the gallery’s first time featuring abstract art for Slow Art Day, expanding from a prior focus on figurative works.

Juraj Dobrović, second abstract painting. (Photo courtesy of Galleria l’arte di seta)
Juraj Dobrović, abstract geometric work. (Photo courtesy of Galleria l’arte di seta)

The exhibition featured two works by Croatian artist Juraj Dobrović (b. 1928), a key figure in Geometric Abstraction and Neo-Constructivism. Dobrović’s art explores structured geometries across painting, sculpture, and graphic media. He has exhibited at major international venues including the Venice Biennale (1972) and São Paulo Biennale (1973). Though the gallery also included figurative works, guests naturally gravitated toward Dobrović’s abstract pieces for their slow-looking sessions.

Each session began with 15 minutes of silent viewing, followed by a guided group discussion. Participants were encouraged to remain in quiet reflection even after completing their own viewing. The works inspired rich personal interpretations:

  • “I noticed how I hang on lines, these lines here, not to be pulled through… I slowly moved with my eyes along the white line. This was a safety line.”
  • “I am used to geometrical forms. They are beautiful,” shared one guest, an architect.
  • Others reported joyful transformations: seeing toys dance or birds singing in a garden.
  • One called the experience “a pure harmony. A mathematical solution, the highest form of mathematics.”
Visitors slow looking at Juraj Dobrović’s work. (Photo courtesy of Galleria l’arte di seta)
Participant observing a single piece. (Photo courtesy of Galleria l’arte di seta)

Beyond this annual event, Galleria l’arte di seta has expanded its commitment to slowness through a year-round series called Meetings with Art, now part of the Slow Art Club Galleria l’arte di seta. These sessions are built on a shared structure:

  • 30 minutes of gathering and small talk
  • 60 minutes of slow engagement (art, poetry, embodiment)
  • 30 minutes of group reflection and farewell

The themes range from slow poetry readings to embodied responses to artwork, yet all share the values of facilitated dialogue, mindful presence, and deep connection.

Galleria l’arte di seta’s thoughtful curation of abstract art and their expanding year-round programming reflect a deep and evolving commitment to slow looking. We are grateful for their creative leadership and look forward to seeing what they design for Slow Art Day 2026.

– Ashley, Johanna, Jessica Jane, and Phyl

P.S. View them on Social Media:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/galleria.si/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Galleria.si/

Italian Slow Art Club Visits Venice

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For their second Slow Art Day, Piero Consolati’s Slow Art Club, an independent group of slow looking art lovers in Italy, decided to focus on the Peggy Guggenheim Collection in Venice, Italy.

The Peggy Guggenheim Collection is packed with amazing 20th-century European and North American art, all thanks to Peggy Guggenheim‘s passion for collecting art and running galleries. The museum itself, once Peggy’s home, is in the stunning Palazzo Venier dei Leoni on the Grand Canal.

Slow Art Club members engaging with art

For the event, the Slow Art Club decided to focus on five works that they had selected from the museum’s website (below you can see the images of three of them).

Willem de Kooning, Nude-Woman on the Beach, 1963, Oil on paper mounted on canvas
René Magritte, The Empire of Light, 1953-54, Oil on canvas

Yves Tanguy, The Sun in His Jewellery Box, 1937, Oil on canvas

After slow looking at the selected artworks, participants shared their thoughts and rated the pieces using a subjective scoring system. Participants were thrilled to see the wide range of emotions and aesthetic opinions that slow looking brings out in everyone engaging with art. They really enjoyed discussing what they had observed, but what they appreciated the most was museum visitors joining their discussions and wanting to share their thoughts too.

Over the past 18 months, Piero Consolati’s Slow Art Club has visited nine different museums practicing the art of slow looking, and he reports that their membership is steadily growing.

At Slow Art Day HQ, we celebrate Piero and his Slow Art Club. We love what they are doing not just on Slow Art Day but throughout the year. Amazing!

– Jessica Jane, Johanna, Ashley and Phyl

P.S. Slow Art Day 2025 is coming up on April 5. If you have not done so, please register your museum, gallery, church, sculpture park or movie theater here: https://www.slowartday.com/be-a-host/

New Slow Art Club in Rovereto, Italy

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For their first Slow Art Day, The Slow Art Club, a recently-formed-group of Italian slow-looking enthusiasts in Italy, organized a trip to the region of Emilia-Romagna at the Fondazione Magnani Rocca in Mamiano (Parma) and to the Collezione Maramotti in Reggio Emilia. These collections, which are privately owned, showcase both national and international artwork.

While the Club is based in Rovereto, Italy, members come from all over Italy and visit museums to apply the slow looking approach.

For the event, the Club had two people from the group select three works from each collection for everyone to spend time with. They posted the artworks in their WhatsApp group. Members then went to the museums for a series of slow looking sessions. They then made notes and uploaded those to WhatsApp for a club-wide discussion.

Below are three of the six selected artworks:

Nicola De Maria, Sera, 1981 (front), Collezione Maramotti
Nicola De Maria, Sera, 1981 (back), Collezione Maramotti
Eric Fischl, The Philosopher’s Chair, 1999, Collezione Maramotti
Slow Art Club members looking and taking notes.

Several days after their slow looking sessions, they convened on Zoom to share their notes with each other and discuss their experience. They used Zoom’s breakout group feature to create small groups of 3-4 to talk in depth.

At Slow Art Day HQ we would like to thank Piero Consolati and the Slow Art Club for organizing the first such club that we know of in the world. And we hope they are launching a movement in Italy and other countries where art lovers will come together in clubs to support the slow looking movement.

– Jessica Jane, Johanna, Ashley and Phyl