A cross-border artistic project that further unites the land that marks the border between Italy and Slovenia. The project is the work of the Italian winery Gradis’ciutta and the Slovenian winery Ferdinand, under the banner of GO!2025, a program created to enhance the shared heritage, intertwined cultures, and shared histories of two cities that, despite belonging to two countries, have always represented a single soul. This initiative was born in 2025, when Gorizia and Nova Gorica are joint European Capitals of Culture. Within this ambitious cultural framework, “Ars Sine Finibus,” conceived by Robert Princic and Matjaž Četrtič, aims to transform the vineyards of Collio and Brda into a permanent art park, thanks to installations created by young Italian and Slovenian artists, who worked together to imagine a sustainable future through natural materials and creative languages. An initiative that fuses art, territory, sustainability, and historical memory, symbolically—and concretely—overcoming the Italian-Slovenian border through the expressive power of art and cooperation. But there’s more: we’ll tell you about it.
Ars Sine Finibus: the cross-border art project for Gorizia and Nova Gorica, European Capital of Culture
“Ars Sine Finibus,” the cross-border art project initiated by the Italian winery Gradis’ciutta and the Slovenian winery Ferdinand, is told not only through the works of young Italian and Slovenian artists.
The art of Marco Nereo Rotelli, an artist internationally renowned for his ability to blend poetry, light, music, and matter, will also be featured with the “So(g)no” installations, two large, multi-sensory spheres designed by him. The works, which can be visited inside, have a diameter of 4 meters and are made of Cor-Ten steel, an eco-sustainable material.
The project, curated by gallery owner Salvatore Marsiglione, involves the Gradis’ciutta wineries in San Floriano del Collio and Ferdinand in Brda, twin wine regions, and consists of two immersive installations that pay homage to the land and poetry, starting with a simple symbol: the grape, conceived as the “house of language.”
Rotelli inlays the illuminated grapes with poetry, involving poets Aleš Šteger (Slovenia) and Valerio Magrelli (Italy).
Inside, Giorgio Celiberti, a renowned Friulian artist with an international exhibition program, intervenes within the works, presenting a series of 25 ceramics that create a panorama, a “Via Lucis,” which transforms from informality into natural form. This celebrates the union and fusion between international art and local culture, through its most illustrious artist.
Of particular note is the contribution to the work of Professor Riccardo Valentini, a Nobel Peace Prize-winning scientist with the IPCC. He is one of the pioneers of terrestrial carbon flux measurements, having coordinated a global network of over 600 flux towers (Fluxnet) located in various ecosystems around the world and the lead author of the IPCC Special Report on Climate Change. He contributes to “So(g)no” with his patented “Tree Talking” system, installed here on the vines planted near the spheres, generating a synergy between humanity and the earth, generating vines and life.
The music that fills the spheres is by Alessio Bertallot, a well-known radio host, musician, and DJ. The poems of Valerio Magrelli and Aleš Šteger are dispersed, immersed, and fragmented in “Remota,” his sound work. They are flashes of voices from poetic depths, barely perceptible like human communications between distant places. “Remota” is an allusion to the Age of Hermetic Intoxication, which distances us from the center, from focusing on the meaning of life, but forces us into a labyrinth of boundaries. A world-premiere recording and composition, “So(g)no” seeks to evoke the dreamlike-artistic message of unity between languages, nations, and men.
Gradis’ciutta and Ferdinand: the collaboration that unites Collio and Brda
The project partners of Ars Sine Finibus are Sinefinis and the Gradis’ciutta and Ferdinand wineries. These three entities are closely linked by a relationship of ongoing collaboration. Gradis’ciutta, a historic winery in San Floriano del Collio, led by Robert Princic, has been a point of reference for years, not only for the region’s excellent winemaking, but also fully embodies the vision of a land without borders. Its vineyards grow on hills that speak two languages but share the same land. The winery applies sustainable practices, respects natural cycles, and promotes the idea of wine as an authentic expression of the cultural landscape.
Ferdinand, the brainchild of Matjaž Četrtič, represents the pinnacle of Brda winemaking and one of the most awarded wineries in Slovenia.
The friendship and shared vision of Robert Princic and Matjaž Četrtič, both born in 1975 and raised a few kilometers apart but separated by the border, gave rise in 2008 to Sinefinis—a classic method sparkling wine “Made in the European Union”—produced with Italian and Slovenian grapes. This wine and winery have always championed the idea of transcending political boundaries with the aim of rebuilding, through nature and its excellence, a unique and indivisible landscape.
In the intertwining of art and viticulture, the three entities confirm themselves not only as custodians of the land, but also as promoters of a culture without borders and a shared identity between Italy and Slovenia, capable of generating beauty, culture, and a future through dialogue. For Robert Princic and Matjaž Četrtič, supporting Ars Sine Finibus means advancing a concept of contemporary patronage, in which wine is not just a product but also a medium for dialogue between communities, generations, and cultures.
