Sails of Our Sea

The exhibition highlighted the interesting fact that this characteristic existed only in the Adriatic Sea; colored sails did not appear in any other sea or inland waters, except for Lake Garda. An example of painted sails can be found in the Sulu Archipelago in the Philippines, but these are not entirely comparable, as they consist of canvas banners of various colors.

The history of this tradition, its functionality, the method and technique of painting, as well as several types of vessels, were presented. The “al terzo” sail was also presented; with its characteristic trapezoidal shape, it is a typical sail of the northern and part of the central Adriatic.

The Gradonoi ODV association, together with exhibition curator Luciana Marchesan, the Self-Governing Community of the Italian Nationality, the “Giuseppe Tartini” Italian Community of Piran, and maritime heritage expert Vinko Oblak, collaborated on the preparation of this joint project.

The exhibition “Sails of Our Sea” featured a traveling exhibition from Grado titled “Colored Sails from Grado,” to which we at the Maritime Museum added materials and artifacts from the local area. It was supplemented with several photographs from the museum’s archives, additional sails that owners were willing to lend for display, and, last but not least, a poster of the sails of Koper’s fishing families, which was published in the newsletter of the Koper Italian Community, La città, based on research by Tulio Vergerio from 1950.

The exhibition’s visual appeal was also thanks to the individuals who lent their sails for display: Bruno Baccichi, Vinko Oblak, Giorgio Supjei, Luciano Damiani, Christiano Sgubin, and Eddi Camuffo from Grado. Mr. Camuffo also crafted more than 70 sail models, which further enriched the exhibition.

As part of the exhibition, we also organized a varied supporting program. We held numerous sail-painting workshops for schools, summer camps, and adults, while members of watercolorist, painter, and ceramicist groups affiliated with the Italian Community of Piran sought inspiration and created artworks at the exhibition. We helped organize a gathering of the Voga Veneta Piran group, which was celebrating its 10th anniversary. At the exhibition “Sails of Our Sea,” two sails belonging to the topo boat—on which they have been rowing since the very beginning—were on display. We also organized a lecture titled “Glimpses of the Tradition of Sailing, Model Building… and a Bit of Rowing” by Vinko Oblak, an expert on local maritime heritage, who presented various interesting documents and photographs about the beginnings of competitive sailing, model building, and rowing.

Watch the video that documents the opening of the temporary exhibition “Sails of Our Sea”, held on 4 May 2025 at the Monfort Exhibition Ground in Portorož.