Smiles That Open Hearts

In 2024, Cankarjev dom is initiating a new exhibition series, The Visible Invisible. The series features art projects addressing issues and topics that tend to get "marginalized", sidelined and ignored. With the introduction of a new annual exhibition series on its premises, Cankarjev dom seeks to highlight and thus give voice and visibility to these frequently stigmatized and misunderstood issues.

The series begins with a project presented in partnership with ZRIPS (Institute for Development and Provision of Assisted Living Services) and photographer Blaž S. Kobal – an exhibition dedicated to portraits of persons with intellectual disabilities. With this project, the Institute aims to raise public awareness about intellectual disabilities, which continue to be stigmatized and overlooked. The photographer has devised the project as a series of portraits capturing the subjects’ diversity, kindness, openness, as well as inspiring and pleasant personality. 

The seventy portraits reflect the basic concept of the project. 
 

About the photographer:  
Hailing from the Primorska region, the young and talented photographer Blaž Stantič Kobal has pursued photography since secondary school. He has participated in several photo contests, including Rovinj Photodays (2021), where he won second prize with the series Melancholy Thoughts. This same series earned him first prize at the photo competition of the 2021 Vizije Festival, organised by Slovenia’s Public Fund for Cultural Activities.
People and their living spaces are at the heart of his interests and visual observation. Through his photographs, Stantič Kobal examines social issues, interpersonal relationships and people’s connectedness with their daily working and living environments.