20 Years of the Museum Collection
GORAN TOMČIĆ
June 10 – July 1, 2026
Gallery Rigo, Novigrad
This year we mark the twentieth anniversary of the formation of the museum holdings, developed through donations, acquisitions, and the production of projects by artists who have exhibited at the museum and at Galerija Rigo. The exhibition programme focuses on the museum holdings as living material, as a space where the trust of donors, curatorial decisions, and the continuous development of the collections meet.
From 10 June to 1 July, Gallery Rigo will present works by Goran Tomčić from the Blue and Pompom Net series. The exhibition builds on the artist’s long-standing collaboration with Muzeum-Museo Lapidarium and Gallery Rigo, as well as on his presence in the museum holdings.
The works from the Blue series are created by cutting and layering self-adhesive holographic films, whose surfaces constantly change depending on the light, the space, and the movement of the viewer. Although conceived as monochromatic compositions, they are never static: colour refracts, the image flickers, and the reflections evoke the atmosphere of a mirror ball, a club, and a dance floor.
At the centre of the works from the Blue series is text: a short message, quotation, or fragment drawn from the language of music, pop culture, and disco aesthetics. Words appear as emotional signs of shared memory – familiar, seductive, sentimental, yet fragile. They connect personal history, queer experience, the romance of popular culture, and the sense of freedom that disco, as both music and sensibility, opened up for many.
The Pompom Net series expands the artist’s interest in temporary structures, participation, and social relations. Starting from the idea of the net, as well as from the craft of making and mending fishing nets, Tomčić creates abstract and performative situations open to participation, improvisation, and constant change. The net appears as a metaphor of connection: a space in which individual gestures, materials, and encounters temporarily come together in a shared form.
Goran Tomčić was born in 1964. He grew up on the island of Hvar and in Split, studied art history and comparative literature at the University of Zagreb, and received an MA in Curatorial Studies from Bard College in the United States. He has lived and worked in New York and Miami, and is currently based in Berlin.
His artistic practice includes spatial installations, text-based works, holographic collages, temporary structures, and participatory and performative projects. He has exhibited in museums, galleries, and independent spaces around the world, and his works are held in numerous public and private collections, including the holdings of Muzej-Museo Lapidarium.