The exhibition The Thin Green Line, curated by Oto Hudec, will open in the historic County House building in Trenčín as part of the Green Line project within the framework of Trenčín 2026, European Capital of Culture.
It will open on September 11, 2026 (and run through December 6, 2026), coinciding with new works in public spaces by international and Slovak artists installed throughout the city center. The exhibition brings together internationally recognized artists whose work addresses environmental themes—the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, pollution, and direct activism. The title refers to a fragile yet resilient boundary line, evoking nonviolent civil resistance as well as forms of nature’s own defense. Among the invited artists are Anca Benera and Arnold Estefan, Rudolf Sikora, Melanie Bonajo, Rory Pilgrim, Oliver Ressler, Cecylia Malik, Martin Piaček, Comunite Fresca, and many others. The exhibition reflects on the current state of the environmental and, in particular, the climate movement, which experienced a significant surge around 2018–2020 but was subsequently dampened by the global pandemic, military conflicts, and rising nationalism. Despite the continuing urgency of environmental crises, bold climate policies are stagnating, and the possibility of averting fundamental environmental changes seems increasingly remote. In this context, the exhibition explores themes of activism, community care, the limits to growth, and alternatives to the Anthropocene understanding of nature. The exhibition will open with Rudolf Sikora’s iconic work Exclamation Mark from the 1970s, adapted to the Trenčín landscape. In the courtyard of the County House, visitors will also find a site-specific mural by the art collective Comunite Fresca, which will incorporate elements of Trenčín’s local flora.
Exhibition opening on September 11, 2026, at 6:00 p.m.
The program is subject to change. For more information, visit trencin2026.eu.
