EKO 8
INTERNATIONAL TRIENNIAL OF ART AND ENVIRONMENT
2020-2021
Former MTT Factory, Maribor


EKO Triennial Maribor was established in the then Yugoslavia in 1980. It saw 7 editions, presented over 300 artists from around the globe and was curated by International curators. The editions addressed topics from environmental concerns of the day to an active and deeper engagement with ecological and social issues. After a decade with no editions taking place, this 2020 edition will start in a new location within a new framework.

A Letter to the Future is an exhibition of the EKO 8 triennial, thematically evolved from a memorial plaque by the people of Iceland marking a specific moment in time and the loss of the Okjökull glacier in Borgarfjörður.
The words read, “Okjökull is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier. In the next 200 years, all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path. This monument is to acknowledge that we know what is happening and what needs to be done. Only you know if we did it.” Championed by the Icelandic writer Andri Snær Magnason together with geologist Oddur Sigurðsson, this event captured international media attention in August 2019. It is a powerful plea.
This edition of the EKO triennial is conceived as a barometer of change. It presents ecologically aware films from the 1960s, as well as artworks, environments and sound installations raising awareness of species extinction, human ecosystem fragility and the necessity of species co-existence. With the precarity and uncertainty created by a global pandemic, there is a new and heightened sense of urgency to read the signals and to learn from history.
Presented in this project are the collected visions and propositions by more than 20 international and Slovenian artists – all alert to the central question being posed by the Letter.

Curated by Alessandro Vincentelli
Organised by UGM