Workshops

SCULPTURE WORKSHOP – DOWN BY THE RIVER 2 // Marijan Mirt

The workshop is part of the residency program of the project “Down by the River”, which is included in the official programme of the European Capital of Culture Nova Gorica – Gorizia 2025.

“We understand sculpture as an interpretation of material reality into a new expressive form, which affects us visually, tactilely, spatially, and communicatively. By using real materials, it enables the physical representation of intangible concepts or ideas.”

In this multi-day sculpting workshop, participants will learn the technique of modeling. The foundation of the sculpture will be a welded iron armature, covered with Teraton clay. Participants will create based on a pre-prepared skeleton structure, which will be provided in advance by the mentor.
The small sculpture that emerges from this process will demonstrate the uniqueness of sculpture, as each participant will take home a three-dimensional object representing the realization of their own idea.
The workshop is open to complete beginners as well as those with prior sculpting experience.

More about academic sculptor Marijan Mirt: MIRT.SI

NUMBER OF PARTICIPANTS IS LIMITED.
Workshop fee: 40€
For more information and to register: office@sajeta.org

MUSIC WORKSHOP – Sajeta Lab Arkestra

The Sajeta Lab Arkestra is open to all instrumentalists and singers who wish to be part of an orchestra of improvisers. In it theoretical and empirical musical practices will be proposed with the aim of deepening the practice of collective intuitive improvisation.

Through non-formal musical writing techniques aimed at building a score that will be performed during the final performance as a restitution of the work done.

A special section on the preparation of instruments and extended techniques for wind instrumentalists is planned.

Duration: 20 hours (3 – 4 days), Mentor: Carlo Mascolo

Contribution for Sajeta Lab Arkestra workshop: 40 EUR or 20 EUR with a festival ticket

Registration: To register for the workshop, please contact: office@sajeta.org (Subject: Registration for the Sajeta Lab Arkestra workshop)

TRADITIONAL SCULPTURE WORKSHOP WITH WOOD

The Sculpture Workshop is the oldest in terms of seniority and a loyal companion of the Sajeta Festival. We explore and create, remaining faithful to a material that is very poorly represented in contemporary world sculpture: WOOD. We discover the endless laws, abilities, and possibilities of WOOD, and in doing so, of ourselves as well. You will be able to create a unique gift for yourself or your loved ones. Although you can get the essential tools from the mentor, we advise you to also bring your own wood shaping tools (saws, chisels, files, carving tools, etc.). Wood will be provided.

As Sajeta evolved, so did her participants. After many years of carefully following the distinct artistic guidance from world-class art mentor Dušan Gerlica and in recent years artist David Luznik, this year we are introducing an additional mentor Miha Plohl, a local sculptor, artist and programmer, who found his passion for art in participating the woodworking workshop for the first time in 2007. Together with David Luznik they will provide mentoring, tools, materials, and a watchful eye, so you can be successful in creating your art and work safely with sharp tools.

The leitmotif for the workshop is going to be: Roots. We will explore “carving into the primal forces” that bond the tree and the wood into the bedrock.  We will look into combining wood with pottery, stone or other materials.
The workshop is of a more free type, but for advice and support, you can turn to your mentor. Compensation for wood, tool rental, and mentors’ time: 20€

eliXir – triple workshop

(Friday, 4th July at 12AM)

eliXir is an art-sci-tech research project that combines local foraging, artistic practice, ancient wisdom, and modern technological innovation, connecting communities through the exchange of food and knowledge about it. Hosted on the xMobil platform, it invites you to a triple helix of workshops at Sajeta 2025 – which will take place simultaneously, and at the end we will share the accumulated knowledge and other goodies …

Jatun Risba – After reconnecting with the collective wind-mind of the world through the Nine Breaths purification practice from Tibetan Yoga, we will reconcile with the first and most fundamental eliXir that sustains life on Earth: fresh air. Then, through a series of participatory performances, we will dive into the ecology of perception to rewild, awaken, and expand our senses and awareness.

Jatun Risba (they) is a transmedia artist who weaves ecofeminist and posthumanist discourses through performance, conceptual and relational art. Their practice fosters reciprocity between species by awakening sensory awareness through Vajrayana Buddhist practices and unconventional uses of technology. It evolves along two paths: Arts for Health and Art as Nourishment for the Bodymind.

Uroš Brezavšček – n our daily lives, we are using limited natural resources for heating, cooking, clothing and transportation. But do we know how to efficiently use them? We will take a closer look at the rocket stove and how it allows us to harness all the energy that is stored stored in the wood, and think about the potential of solar energy and how we could use it beyond solar cells.

Uroš Brezavšček is a mechanical engineer passionate about growing his own food and living in harmony with nature and loves to design and build devices that support his vision of self-sufficiency.

Vita Matjac (FloraVita) – On a walk in nature, we will find, observe, pick wild edible plants, immerse ourselves in their scents, tastes, textures, colors and thus get to know them in their fullness.Because they  without human influence, they are of much higher quality compared to cultivated ones, and therefore invaluable for humans today, because in addition to their medicinal properties, their collection and learning about them has a beneficial effect on the individual.

Vita Matjac, MA in Sociology, passionate forager, certified herbalist, farmer, has been studying the use of edible wild plants, herbs and mushrooms in everyday nutrition and medicine for many years, and explores the diversity of their use and storage. Through her practice, she explores the process of “domestication” of wild plants, herbs and mushrooms as part of the modern eco-movement and rediscovery of nature’s hidden potential.

FIELD RECORDING WORKSHOP

This workshop is designed for anyone interested in recording sound in natural or urban environments – both beginners or those with some prior experience. This edition will be fully dedicated to practical work, emphasizing field recording and the subsequent editing of captured material.

Under the guidance of experienced mentors Simon Šerc and Martina Testen, participants will carry out on-site recording using modern equipment (portable recorders, microphones, mobile devices), followed by collaborative editing and analysis of the recordings using audio software. The workshop will cover sound selection, basic noise cleaning, and the use of sonograms for removing noise and other interferences.

The workshop is led by Simon Šerc and Martina Testen, internationally recognized audiovisual artists whose work has been featured in media such as The Guardian, BBC, and The Wire. Their albums have repeatedly been ranked among the best field recording releases.

Recommended equipment: a portable recorder or mobile recording device, a laptop (if available), and headphones.

Contribution: 20 EUR

Registration: To register for the workshop, please contact: office@sajeta.org (Subject: Field recording workshop – Sajeta 2025)