Slovenian artist transforms Soča Valley into laboratory

Acclaimed Slovenian artist Marko Peljhan has transformed the Soča Valley into a laboratory as part of the Nova Gorica-Gorizia European Capital of Culture (ECoC) programme.

Under the project Isolabs, more than 30 artists and researchers are exploring the river's natural and cultural heritage, CE Report quotes The Slovenia Times.

Exploring the Soča River's contribution to ecological thought

The term Isolabs originates from the English phrase insulation/isolation, which is conceptually linked to Peljhan's Makrolab project. Simultaneously, Isolabs relates to the Greek term isos (equal, the same) and to Isonzo, the Italian and international name for the Soča, while the term labs refers to the entire Soča River system as a living laboratory.

The starting point of the project is the question "how can an Alpine river flowing into the Mediterranean Sea contribute to ecological thought with its material and cultural sedimentary deposits," the Isolabs website says.

The project includes fieldwork from the source to the mouth of the Soča, remote sensing with drones and satellites, mapping the valley, reflecting on the river's present and past, meeting with local people, and connecting these themes with global communities and challenges.

A series of artworks and performative events are being created; some have already been presented, while others are yet to come. "Seven works of art will be presented at the end of the project at a group exhibition, which will open in the first half of next year at a currently undisclosed location in the Soča Valley," Peljhan, who works at the intersection of art, technology and science, told the Slovenian Press Agency.

"The laboratory and the work I'm developing together with my collaborators Matthew Biederman and Pierce Warnecke will be presented on 3 December during the closing events of the ECoC in Nova Gorica. More about a documentary film director Sašo Podgoršek is recording as a chronicler of Isolabs will also be presented then.

"The final group exhibition in 2026 will conclude the Isolabs activities for the ECoC and announce its continuation, including at the ECoC 2026 in the Finnish city of Oulu, to which the SPEKTR-Z laboratory, a part of Isolabs, has already been invited," the internationally established artist explained.

The heart of the project are Embedded S3 events

The central part of Isolabs is a series of situations with shamans, sorcerers and scientists, titled Embedded S3, within which several artworks are being created that Peljhan calls the beacons of Isolabs. Among the international artists, Lana Čmajčanin, who was born in Sarajevo, is creating a work related to the valley's traumatic history.

The Argentinian duo Qoa and Primeiro are creating a spatial installation with video and music. Dmitry Morozov, a Moscow-born artist, is releasing "travelling rocks" down the river - sensor probes that record images, sound and data on physical and chemical events in the water.

Finnish artist Antti Tenetz has based his work on researching heavy metal sediments in the valley, a consequence of mercury mining in the nearby town of Idrija. The artists are paying special attention to pollution in the valley, which is most chronic in its middle course due to the Anhovo cement plant.

Slovenian visual artist Jasmina Cibic is filming a movie which is connected to the heritage of the power stations on the Soča and their sociopolitical and historical deposits.

Peljhan's work is based, among other things, on incorporating satellite and other remote sensing technologies, and he is also known as one of the first in Slovenia to focus on the development of drones, having been a co-founder of the company C-Astral. He is now creating an installation from high-resolution data of the Soča Valley.

"I don't want to reveal too much, but together with my colleagues Biederman, Warnecke and collaborators from the Ronin Institute, we're creating an audiovisual installation that will have a very specific public presence and will be presented on 3 December," he said.

Digital data on the Soča Valley

A high-resolution "digital twin of the Soča Valley" is also being created by compiling extensive sensor data, sound and images. Peljhan confirmed this will become a "publicly accessible database that can be used by various artists and scientists for their needs in the future".

Part of Isolabs is also DIALECT, a segment dedicated to mapping the rich linguistic reality of the wider river basin and the topography in the area. Among other things, a publicly accessible digital map of toponyms is being created.

The inspiration for mapping the Soča came from Peljhan's work during the 2022 Karst region wildfire. He used his mobile lab, SPEKTR-Z, and drones to create a high-resolution map of the area, a tool still used in recovery efforts. This experience directly inspired his artistic project OSIVV, a part of Isolabs.

How did Isolabs project come about?

The project is a personal one for Peljhan, a professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, who was invited to the ECoC as a prominent artist "returning home" to his native Nova Gorica. He explained that his initial concept for a single event transformed when he began "thinking about the Soča as the central part of what really interests me".

His tribute to the river is fuelled by a deep emotional connection, drawing on childhood memories, early environmental activism against power plants, and the First World War "remains that we constantly encountered".

Peljhan then merged this personal history with his professional expertise in remote sensing and satellite data. He concluded that this "epic river," also called the "sacred river" in Italy, "deserved a comprehensive approach".

Since launching last September, Isolabs has already involved several events, including an exhibition of his OSIVV project in Nova Gorica, festival collaborations, and over 200 days of intensive fieldwork by researchers and artists from the river's source in the Julian Alps to its mouth in the Trieste Gulf.

Photo: Zavod Projekt Atol