In the historical center of the city of Piran, on December 13, more specifically, the day when St. Lucija, for the fifth time in the winter season a magical interplay of light, sounds, space and fragrances took place – captured in the Magic Points event. The event was designed by landscape architect Romana Kačič from the Institute for Landscape, Culture and Art ABAKKUM, with the support of the Municipality of Piran, as part of promotional projects and the Slovenian-Swedish Association.
Magic points is an event that takes place every year in one of Piran’s streets and aims to show visitors the content of the city center in a different perspective on a day when light has a special meaning. The goal of the event is that with the sound and light interpretation of the contents of the selected street, the physical space is experienced in a multifaceted, unique and unrepeatable way. The event is the result of the process and cooperation of different people, where everyone involves a part of their own interpretation of the street in the event, on the theme of light or sound. It is precisely this diversity of participants who co-create a joint event that gives the event richness and warmth. This year, the magic of Piran with a unique interplay of sound, light and scents was captured in magical spots on Bolniška Street. The discovery of the sound content of the street began with listening to electronic music by Žiga Fabbro, who used sound to show the perception of architectural elements in the space, which are not impressive in themselves, but what is impressive is their content – a former mortuary and a deadly transformation station. The entrance to Bolniška ulica was thus designed with a sound portal, with music linked to the dark content, the audience could feel the author’s view on the concept of death, because he does not take it as an end, but as the beginning of something new “Call of Voices”. When designing the sound for the transformer station “Ko pride Mario”, Žiga associated himself with one of the first, still current computer games, Super Mario. Immersed in the sound, we entered the gymnasium garden, where the girls Nina, Sara, Amelie and Alina chased away anxiety and darkness from behind the bamboo hedge with sounds never heard before. The students of Piran high school Maj, Laura, Sara, Zala, Jan, Emma, Vasja and Emran recited Slovenian idioms on the theme of light from the illuminated windows in eight different languages. Thus, with the help of St. Lucije, this year it was Mojca Fabbro, lit up the temple of learning outside of classical education and for a moment became part of the city. Afterwards, visitors could experience the melody of the bells of the Church of St. Frančiška, which was initiated outside of the normal schedule by brother Robert Horvat, and then they listened to the description of feelings by Zorica Mužinič, who lives in a house where one of the walls is also the wall of the belfry and is therefore imbued with sound vibrations. Gianni Collori, who lives in the same house and is a member of the former pop rock group Faraoni, prepared the song Hush for the visitors, with which they became famous in Tivoli in 1967 as a support group for the Kamaleons. Music and some pictures from the 1970s, projected in the gymnasium, made it possible to get to know the image of the former group, and especially their youth and musical success. From the gymnasium garden, we went down the street until we were stopped by the sound of water, where girls were acting out drinking water from the palm of their hand, on the site of a former drinking fountain that supplied the town with drinking water. Then we entered the 15th-century church of Mary the Snow, clothed in a gentle veil of light, where Piran singers Slavica, Gina, Mimi – who has been singing regularly in this church for 50 years -, Martina and Mirko added a special warmth to the church by singing Advent songs. Enchanted by the song, we continued our journey down the street and entered through the virtual city gate under the hanging Gothic house, which was staged with movement and sound by the girls from Gremo se theater led by Samanta Kobal. A large paper doll hung by Neda stood as a mute sentinel at her window above the arch. This was followed by a tour of the Memento Bed & Breakfast, where through the details and atmosphere it was possible to feel the story of the family and their close connection with photography.
The visit was definitely memorable because of the exhibited cameras from the former photography studio Foto Piran by Marjan and Anamarija Tomšič and because of the large bread braid that we received as a gift. The route then continued towards the square in front of the church of St. Frančiška, illuminated with lamps made by the children of Anis, Teodora and Kristina in Epicenter Piran. Those present, through the projection of the amateur collection of old photos of former Piran resident Igor Štibilje, relived the former image and magic of Bolniška Street, which is still particularly close to him. They also got acquainted with the content of the Institute for Archeology and Heritage, with highlights related to the study of former lights and the history of the building in which the Institute is housed. In the Minorite Church of St. Francis of Assisi, which is celebrating its 700th anniversary this year, illuminated by candlelight and in silence, the visitors watched Vesna Makarov’s animation on the empty wall where Carpacci’s painting should have hung, showing Carpacci’s painting Mary on the throne with the Child and six saints . The animation showing the appearance and disappearance of the painting, like last year, rekindled the hope among visitors that the painting would one day return to its original place, but this year, unlike last year, this hope was somewhat quieter. December marks the end of Carpacci’s year, the year marking the 500th anniversary of the creation of the painting and the year in which many discussions took place that emphasized the importance of the painting and its author for the city of Piran itself from a historical, artistic and restoration point of view. From the church, the path led to the cross aisle, where the dancer Srečko Blas performed a dance for us to Vivaldi’s composition, the 1st movement of Winter. With contact dance, the dancer searched for a relationship between the baroque musical composition and the early baroque architectural composition of the cloister. The event ended in the church of St. Katarine, where visitors could symbolically sow Christmas grain, hoping for a new coming year full of life and new opportunities. It is impossible to fully relive the experience of Bolniška Street, as experienced by visitors during the Magic Points, but you can by listening to the audio recording of the music of Žiga Fabbro, “Klic glasov” and “Ko pride Mario” on soundcloud.com made for the sound portal at the beginning Bolniške streets, you can conjure up a piece of the experience yourself, using your own imagination.
We stole a moment and posed for the photographer on the steps to Momento, where photography has always been part of the family story.
