Urša Štrukelj — Projects & References
Art · sustainable design · performance · mentoring
A narrative overview of Urša’s creative path, collaborations and community projects. Press features and project documentation are linked directly to the relevant passages.
Creativity as a Space for Transformation
Urša Štrukelj is an interdisciplinary artist, designer, performer and mentor. Her practice brings together visual art, movement, textiles, spatial installations and sustainable design. At the intersection of art, ecology and everyday life, she explores how materials, bodies and spaces can be transformed — and how something unexpected can emerge from what already exists.
After graduating from the Secondary School of Design and Photography in industrial design, she studied painting with Zmago Modic. She later earned a degree in Philosophy and Sociology of Culture at the Faculty of Arts in Ljubljana, focusing on aesthetics and the experience of film and theatre. She also worked independently in the cultural sector in multimedia art.
Her original projects A Delicate Contrast, A Taste of Red and Live bring together light, imagery, translucent materials and the presence of the body. Her practice has included Dance Across Borders in Gothenburg, a painting award at Ex Tempore Izola, work with Prostorož and other exhibitions and design collaborations. This same curiosity lives on in Redesigning Spaces and Eco-Printing.
The Body, Scenography and Aerial Art
Urša has worked as a performer, scenographer and co-creator in contemporary dance and theatre. Collaborations with other artists deepened her exploration of movement, space and materials. In 2004 she co-founded the circus collective Trupa Aduta, one of Slovenia’s pioneering aerial silk groups. Wings in Flight, combining aerial performance and textile scenography, received an audience award at Ana Desetnica and a student Prešeren Award for scenography.
Aerial art developed into a distinctive part of her creative and teaching practice. Aerial performances span festivals, cultural events and site-specific productions, while the performance archive brings together images, productions and press coverage. The Bibaleze feature on aerial silk, teaching children and Ronja’s experience offers another perspective on this work (in Slovenian).
Through regular aerial silk classes, Urša connects technical skills with creative movement and personal expression. She also mentors a new generation of instructors and performers; her students have received international recognition. Among those who grew through this process is Ronja Štrukelj Kreč.
Smetumet: Waste as Creative Potential
Co-founding the Smetumet Cultural and Ecological Association marked an important stage in bringing art, environmental awareness and everyday objects together. Between 2007 and 2014, Urša was a conceptual and creative director of collections made from discarded materials, exhibitions, socially engaged interventions and workshops. The association’s early work was featured in Elle magazine and in coverage of its early collections and exhibitions (both in Slovenian).
Smetumet examined how discarded packaging, textiles and other materials could acquire new value. This idea took visible form in the 3RE sustainable fashion show, a feature on creative recycling and work in Brussels and international reporting from Euronews: New Life for the Old and Euronews: Culture Without Obstacles. Sustainable corporate gift collections were shown twice at the European Parliament in Brussels.
Its pioneering approach to creativity and the circular economy is also documented as an Interreg Europe good practice. The Ljubljana Marshes — My Inspiration project connected creative workshops to landscapes and community participation. These experiences continue to inform DILIGHT’s sustainable design, Clothing Transformation and objects given a new life.
DILIGHT: Creativity, the Body and Community
Since 2017, Urša has led DILIGHT, the Association for a Conscious Culture of Living. It connects artistic exploration with creative processes, movement and sustainable living. Over recent years she has delivered more than 1,500 teaching hours, developing programmes for children, teenagers and adults in which exploration, independence and collaboration matter as much as the end result.
The movement and creativity programmes focus not only on an object or performance but also on experience and personal expression. They include Present Body and Touch of Stories. Features in Sensa explored the Wild Healer programme and a Scented Aerial Retreat in Nature (both in Slovenian).
In Scented Aerial Holidays 8+ and Scented Aerial Getaway 14+, aerial movement meets creativity, self-sufficiency, plant knowledge and time outdoors. These programmes approach creativity as a way to discover new possibilities — in the body as well as in discarded materials.
Circular Fashion: Clothing with a New Story
In recent years, sustainable design has found a particularly clear expression through Clothing Transformation. An old garment is not the end of a story but a starting point for exploring cuts, seams, pockets and unexpected combinations. One-of-a-kind pieces such as the Tie Skirt and Tie-Denim Skirt grow from this process. Textile reuse has also been covered by the Punca publication, with related community events documented in clothing-swap announcements in Ig (in Slovenian).
A key public presentation was the 2025 Circular Fashion Show in Postojna, part of the Green Tex project. Its vision of circular fashion as a community practice was covered by the Municipality of Postojna, Dnevnik, Dragon Youth Festival programme and Radio 94. The event was also featured in a fashion-show video and a Dobro jutro television segment.
Clothing transformation also became part of exchange events and shared workshops, including an event in Ig in 2025 and another in 2026. The process was featured at the Reuse Festival. These are more than displays of finished pieces: they are encounters between people, materials and ideas.
MAKE-A-THEK and Creative Futures
Within MAKE-A-THEK at Kranj City Library, Urša has developed original programmes bringing together clothing swaps, circular design, community creativity and material experimentation. These activities create a space where people come not only to make an object but to share knowledge, discover new perspectives and experience making together.
Programme information is available through Kranj City Library resources, the Visit Kranj events calendar and a clothing-swap announcement (in Slovenian). Some activities during the 2026–2027 project period are still planned; others are already developing through workshops and local collaboration.
Her ongoing interests lie at the intersection of sustainable design, participatory artistic practice and creativity as a space for personal, social and environmental transformation. Pieces emerging from this approach can also be explored in the DILIGHT Boutique.
Selected Photographs
Selected photographs connect exhibitions, aerial art and textile reuse. More extensive galleries are available on the individual project pages.
Collaborations and Contact
For creative collaborations, performances and workshops: contact DILIGHT. Learn more about Urša.
Chronological Biography
For a detailed chronology of Urša’s education, exhibitions, artistic collaborations, aerial performances, Smetumet and DILIGHT, see the BIO.