EXHIBITION: PETER RAUCH | THE ENDURING REMNANTS OF EUROPE
raum AU and the Koroška Gallery of Fine Arts (KGLU) invite you to the opening of the exhibition Persistent Remains of Europe by architect and photographer Peter Rauch, which will take place on Friday, July 31, 2026, at 7 p.m. at the raum AU Gallery (Partizanska pot 12, Slovenj Gradec). The exhibition is curated by Jernej Kožar (KGLU).
The exhibition is being developed as part of the “Journey through Arte Utile” project, carried out by the non-governmental organization of public interest raum AU and KGLU. Through research residencies in the Pino Poggi studio, the project enables contemporary artists to engage in a direct dialogue with his body of work and the principles of the “Arte Utile” manifesto, which views art as a socially responsible practice capable of changing the world. The research residency is dedicated to interdisciplinary exploration and new interpretations of Poggi’s extensive and complex body of work.
Participants in the research residency to date have included Tadej Pogačar, Tobias Putrih, Vesna Bukovec, Ištvan Išt Huzjan, Polonca Lovšin, Tomaž Furlan, Heinz Schütz, Aphra Tesla, and Marjetica Potrč, with Peter Rauch joining the residency series this year.
The exhibition Enduring Remains of Europe is the result of a two-month research process undertaken by Peter Rauch during his residency. Through an exploration of the archive and artistic legacy of Pino Poggi, it raises questions regarding European cultural heritage, collective memory, and the significance of the fragment as a bearer of history.
Peter Rauch on researching the archive of Pino Poggi and the “Arte Utile” manifesto:
“On the floor of the KGLU storage room, I found stones stacked up. Some were roughly hewn, others smooth river stones. Unlike architectural models, the form here is found, not created. Jernej tells me the title: “Important Remains of Europa”. I barely managed to transport them by car from Sicily. They are truly heavy. There are faces in the stones—Pino carved them into fragments of the foundations of our culture. He reportedly gathered them in Greece, Crete, Italy, and Sicily. He once carved tombstones; here, he depicted the myth of Europa. I read about the Greek Zeus, the Roman Jupiter, and his ruse. I look for interpretations where someone points out that the myth does not exalt love, but rather rape. In an article about Europa, Tomaž Mastnak concludes that among interpreters of the history of the European idea, he found only one who called this myth ‘repulsive.’ In my garden, I gaze at a pile of construction waste. Amidst the chunks of concrete and brick, I find bones, bullet casings, and some glass. A neighbor, an elderly lady, watches what I am doing from across the fence. She never says a word. She walks away and sits on the bench in front of the house.”
What am I doing? I am repeating Pino’s gesture: creating a whole from fragments, inscribing meaning into found forms. I gather fragments of construction waste—occasionally transforming them into other materials—and position them, insisting that they hold more significance than one might be willing to acknowledge. I reveal what emerges as I go.“
PETER RAUCH je arhitekt, fotograf in predavatelj. Diplomiral je na Fakulteti za arhitekturo Univerze v Ljubljani in magistriral iz fotografije na Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design v Londonu. Predava na Oddelku za fotografijo VIST ter na Akademiji za likovno umetnost in oblikovanje v Ljubljani, kjer trenutno vodi Katedro za fotografijo.
V svoji ustvarjalni praksi secira materijo grajenih objektov in vztraja v razmerju med dokumentom in konstrukcijo. Na teoretskem področju raziskuje vznik mišljenja v konstituciji objekta ter vprašanje preloma v poljih umetnosti, znanosti in politike. Med njegova pomembnejša dela sodijo Objekti (2009–2015), Tretji kraj (2014), Skupnost (2012–2013), Podobe, zgodbe, sekvence (2011) in Traffic Kids (2009). Leta 2020 je s somišljeniki ustanovil produkcijski prostor za fotografijo in sorodne prakse Kela v Ljubljani.