In the last couple of days, the members of the VITAAA art group (Society for the Co-existence of the Human, Nature and Space) have set up a geopuncture circle in BTC CITY under the mentorship of sculptor Marko Pogačnik. They named the circle Peace Spot. In the area between the BTC market and Emporium they formed the Peace Spot as a ”stone forest” to remind passers-by of the importance of the preservation of inner peace and quiet. The purpose of the Peace Spot is to maintain the peace “core” and the regeneration centre for human beings and the Earth alike in the middle of the shopping bustle of BTC. The project was financed by the BTC Company in the framework of its development directions. 

Peace Spot consists of 14 megaliths which have cosmograms chiselled in them. The cosmograms are signs which have been designed especially for this occasion, and present codified individual viewpoints on peace. The signs have been designed in such a way that they radiate a suitable quality of peace into the space around them. The megaliths have been set up in such a way that every visitor to BTC City can step among them for a moment, calm down, and connect with his or her essence and with the earth.

Since it is constructed from waste stone blocks, which are normally thrown away in quarries, Peace Spot is an ecological project. Its operating principle is homeopathic – the piece of land on which the Peace Spot ”stone forest” stands is a part of the Earth as a whole. The stones have been placed with precision in order to resonate with Earth’s integrity. That is why they have an effect on more than their immediate surroundings, but on the entire area. 

The VITAAA art group first attracted public attention in 2006 and 2007, when it implemented two projects which were co-financed by the European Union. The first project between Hungary and Slovenia took place near Lendava, and the second one (between Croatia and Slovenia) was in the upper Kolpa River region. In the summer of 2008, during Slovenia’s EU presidency, VITAAA then created the project ”The Hologram of Europe”.

About the authors

We can see one of Marko Pogačnik‘s works every time we come across the Slovenian coat-of-arms; he is the one who designed it.

Between 1993 and 2007, Pogačnik worked on revitalization and balance of space in many cities and landscapes in most of the European countries as a part of ”The Art of Healing the Earth” project. He received the Prešeren Fund Award for his presentation of lithopuncture projects, which was held in the Modern Gallery in 1991.

In 2006 and 2007, the VITAAA Society already completed two major lithopuncture projects under Pogačnik’s mentorship. These projects were financed by the European Union as a part of the INTERREG programme:

• The first lithopuncture project was performed on both sides of the Slovenia-Hungary border in the Lendava-Lenti region, where 17 lithopuncture pillars were set up.
• The second similar project was carried out on both sides of Slovenia-Croatia border and was co-financed by the European Union, the Slovene municipalities of Kostel, Osilnica, Kočevje, Črnomelj and Metlika, and the Croatian municipalities of Delnice, Skrad, Brod-Moravice and Čabar. 27 lithopuncture stones were set up on both sides of the border.

Further information:

Maja Oven, director of the Sector for Marketing Communications and Public Relations

• Telephone number: 01 585 13 15, e-mail: maja.oven@btc.si