Sara Rman’s work emerges through a constant transition between mediums. Photography, printmaking, and sculpture create a non-hierarchical interweaving of materials, in which analogue and digital approaches form equally integral parts of a cyclical creative process. The exhibition Kjer prepleta derives from the project and artist’s book Kjer pomni, first presented in 2026, and extends its exploration into a spatial installation. While Kjer pomni draws on observations of the space along the Gradaščica River and the relationships between memory, landscape, and material traces, Kjer prepleta emphasises the network of relationships among these elements. The works materialise through transitions between image, object, and space, unfolding across layers of time, memory, and transformation.

Exhibition curator: Julija Hoda

The exhibition draws on street photography as a practice that places ordinary people at the centre of visual narratives. Scenes constantly unfold in public spaces, yet often go unnoticed. Recognising them as carriers of meaning, the project translates these moments into images in which each individual steps briefly into the role of protagonist – without direction, intervention, or staging, solely through the power of the gaze and the choice of the moment. In Slovenia, street photography remains markedly underrepresented and is often understood merely as spontaneous observation. The exhibition instead presents it as a conscious, long-term, and methodologically considered practice grounded in observation, repetition, and selection. The photographs are not random snapshots, but the result of sustained work within the same urban environment, where scenes with inner tension, dramatic structure, and visual weight gradually emerge over time. Cankarjev dom’s Small Gallery is conceived as an extension of the street, and the exhibition layout responds to the Gallery’s transitional function – a space through which people pass, not necessarily intending to view the exhibition.
 

Exhibition curator: Nuša Podgornik

Janez Korošin (1935), recipient of numerous national and international awards – most notably the Janez Puhar Award for lifetime achievement in photography (1996) – has participated in several Slovenian and international group exhibitions and held numerous solo exhibitions. To mark his 80th birthday, Cankarjev dom presented a retrospective exhibition of his black-and-white photographs in 2015. In January 2026, Small Gallery will host an exhibition of colour and black-and-white photographs from the artist’s series The Decline of the Agglomeration – Jesenice Ironworks. While the black-and-white photographs prominently evoke Vanitas – the iconographic motif reminding viewers of the transience of life and the futility of earthly pleasures – the colour photographs carry more optimistic connotations, transforming destruction into reconstruction and metamorphosis, and investing the motifs with a different perception and undertone. Despite the decline of the agglomeration, the works also convey the resilience and continual renewal of life.
 

The Monsters of Spring project explores the ancient carnival customs of northwestern Slovenia, where some of Europe’s oldest rituals for driving away winter have survived. Originally commissioned by National Geographic, photographer Ciril Jazbec – captivated by the power of these communal rituals – has continued returning to the villages at the foot of the Julian Alps. Every February, festival participants dress as frightening characters symbolising various social roles, reenacting age-old scenes to banish winter and usher in spring. The series documents both portraits of the characters and intimate moments from the ritual itself, in which participants immerse themselves in their masked personas, reviving nearly forgotten traditions. The photographs reveal the bizarre beauty of this festival, combining folk imagination, communal spirit, and the ancient desire to renew the cycle of life.

Exhibition opening: 30 June at 19.30, Small Gallery
Curator Žiga Koritnik in conversation with the photographer: 30 June at 20.00, First Foyer


After completing his studies, Ssirus W. Pakzad (1961) turned to music journalism and began publishing regularly in the German press and on radio. He began taking portrait photographs of his interviewees at the suggestion of colleagues; these images not only appeared in newspapers and magazines alongside the interviews but also featured on the album covers of numerous acclaimed musicians. In the late 1990s, he hosted a public radio show with live guests (Bayerischer Rundfunk, SWR) and served as artistic director of the Jazz an der Donau festival in Vilshofen from 1996–98. His photographs have been presented in eleven solo and four group exhibitions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the Netherlands.

The exhibited works reveal the photographer’s dedication and deep engagement with music, from his earliest pieces (the oldest, for example, is a portrait of Don Cherry, 1990) to concert photography over the years and a more recent series of silhouettes. These are primarily carefully considered, sometimes improvised compositions that capture the musician’s soul without slipping into glorification. While the portraits are calm and quiet, the concert photography is more dynamic and “louder,” acquiring even greater intensity when accompanied by the interviews.
 

Exhibition curator: Jernej Čuček Gerbe

Through the practice of two artists from Austria, the exhibition traces the relationship between humanity and landscape. The featured dialogue raises questions about representation, the role and specific position of landscape, and those inhabiting it. The works address the interrelation between mankind and space, with landscape shaping our experience and our transient role in it.

CD in cooperation with Zavod Membrana (co-production with Schaumbad – Freies Atelierhaus Graz)

The Speed Limit 30 exhibition presents Birthday Maypoles (2015–), an ongoing, decade-long photography project in which the artist Lucija Rosc has been systematically documenting a phenomenon that at first sight seems marginal, even banal, but on closer inspection emerges as a complex social and spatial phenomenon in present-day Slovenia. Decorated spruce trees, banners, and improvised sculptures placed outside houses, along roads, or in the middle of towns as temporary interventions are a means of publicly announcing a personal celebration of a community member. The exhibition raises questions about how personal holidays interact with the public space and how contemporary rituals spontaneously take shape outside institutional frameworks.

In her practice, visual artist Lucija Rosc (1995) combines a research-based approach with a playful interpretation, deriving inspiration from childhood memories, family archives, and the environment she grew up in. She has held several solo exhibitions locally and internationally, and has participated in group exhibitions across Europe and the United States. Her work has been shown at contemporary photography fairs Unseen Amsterdam and Photo Basel, as well as contemporary art fairs Viennacontemporary and Art Salon Zürich. Rosc is a recipient of the UL ALUO (Academy of Fine Arts and Design, University of Ljubljana) Prešeren Award, a nominee for the OHO Group Award, and a winner of the PhMuseum Women Photographers Grant.

As part of the Visible-Invisible cycle — dedicated to presenting photographic projects that address themes often found “on the margins,” pushed aside and overlooked, frequently stigmatized and misunderstood by society — this year’s exhibition features Taiwan-born photographer Simon Chang, who lives and works in Slovenia.

The exhibited photographic series continues a multi-year project that the artist began in 2021 by photographing the Slovenian drag queen and drag king scene. Over the years, this sustained engagement has deepened his understanding of the community and its members, as well as his own personal experience of perceiving society, individual, and collective identity.


Simon Chang: Dolls of the Valley
Free Portfolio Review with Simon Chang 
(As part of the programme accompanying Simon Chang’s solo exhibition, Dolls of the Valley, at Mala Galerija, Cankarjev dom)
18 December 2025 and 8 January 2026 at 6:00 PM
M2, Mala galerija, Cankarjev dom  

You are warmly invited to a free portfolio review with Simon Chang. We will focus especially on your personal, long-term projects. If you’d like to take part, please sign up below. Each participant will have about 15 minutes to discuss their work, show photographs, and receive feedback. If you have any questions, please feel free to DM or contact Simon directly at spotsonscreen@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing your stories soon.


Guided Tours and Portfolio Review with  Simon Chang

• 11.12.2025 at 5:00 PM  – Guided Tour 
• 18.12.2025 in M2 at 6:00 PM  –  Free Portfolio Review with Simon Chang Portfolio Review 
• 8.1.2026 in  M2 at 6:00 PM -  Free Portfolio Review with Simon Chang Portfolio Review 
• 15.1.2026 at 6:00 PM- Guided tour 
• 22.1.2026 at 6:00 PM  -  Guided Tour
•  29.1.2026 at 5:00 PM – Guided Tour
• 5.2.2026 at 5:00 PM – Guided Tour
• 8.2.2026 (Prešeren Day) at 5:00 PM – Guided Tour

Please be informed that guided tours of the exhibition and free portfolio reviews will be conducted in English. 
For further information visitors may refer to the Slovenian-English exhibition brochure.

As part of the Visible-Invisible cycle — dedicated to presenting photographic projects that address themes often found “on the margins,” pushed aside and overlooked, frequently stigmatized and misunderstood by society — this year’s exhibition features Taiwan-born photographer Simon Chang, who lives and works in Slovenia.

The exhibited photographic series continues a multi-year project that the artist began in 2021 by photographing the Slovenian drag queen and drag king scene. Over the years, this sustained engagement has deepened his understanding of the community and its members, as well as his own personal experience of perceiving society, individual, and collective identity.


Simon Chang: Dolls of the Valley
Free Portfolio Review with Simon Chang 
(As part of the programme accompanying Simon Chang’s solo exhibition, Dolls of the Valley, at Mala Galerija, Cankarjev dom)
18 December 2025 and 8 January 2026 at 6:00 PM
M2, Mala galerija, Cankarjev dom  

You are warmly invited to a free portfolio review with Simon Chang. We will focus especially on your personal, long-term projects. If you’d like to take part, please sign up below. Each participant will have about 15 minutes to discuss their work, show photographs, and receive feedback. If you have any questions, please feel free to DM or contact Simon directly at spotsonscreen@gmail.com. Looking forward to seeing your stories soon.


Guided Tours and Portfolio Review with  Simon Chang

• 11.12.2025 at 5:00 PM  – Guided Tour 
• 18.12.2025 in M2 at 6:00 PM  –  Free Portfolio Review with Simon Chang Portfolio Review 
• 8.1.2026 in  M2 at 6:00 PM -  Free Portfolio Review with Simon Chang Portfolio Review 
• 15.1.2026 at 6:00 PM- Guided tour 
• 22.1.2026 at 6:00 PM  -  Guided Tour
•  29.1.2026 at 5:00 PM – Guided Tour
• 5.2.2026 at 5:00 PM – Guided Tour
• 8.2.2026 (Prešeren Day) at 5:00 PM – Guided Tour

Please be informed that guided tours of the exhibition and free portfolio reviews will be conducted in English. 
For further information visitors may refer to the Slovenian-English exhibition brochure.

For the Kranj Foto Fest 2025 exhibition, a professional jury selected 15 outstanding projects from a record 1,523 submissions by photographers from more than 80 countries. Among them were two winners, one special mention, and twelve finalists.
The exhibition at the CD Small Gallery presents a selection of six projects, offering a small but significant insight into the exhibitions that took place in Kranj’s old town centre this summer.

The group exhibition features works by the following artists:
Pasha Kritchko (Belarus) – Winner of Kranj Foto Fest 2025, Balázs Turós (Hungary) – Winner of Kranj Foto Fest 2025, Emilia Martin (Poland) – Special Mention, Marcia Beltrão (Brazil), Mohamed Hassan (Egypt), and Marianne & Katarzyna Wasowska (Poland).

Jury of the Kranj Foto Fest Open Call 2025:
Carol Körting (Photo Editor at Leica Fotografie International, Germany), Emese Mucsi (Curator at Robert Capa Contemporary Photography Center, Hungary), Krzysztof Candrowicz (Co-founder of Fotofestiwal, Poland), Sandra Križić Roban (Head of the Office for Photography, Croatia), and Fernanda Prado Verčič (Director of Kranj Foto Fest, Slovenia).