Klavdij Tutta was born in 1958 in Postojna. He spent his childhood in Nova Gorica. After finishing primary school, he enrolled in the School of Design in Ljubljana. He was taught by professors Tinca Stegovec, Anton Žnidaršič, Miran Butina, France Peršin, Janez Gruden, Tomaž Kržišnik and Gorazd Šefran. He continued his training at the Academy of Fine Arts in Ljubljana under professors Metka Krašovec, Janez Bernik, Zvest Apollonio, Gustav Gnamuš and Bogdan Borčič. Mentored by the latter, he graduated in graphic arts in 1982 and then took up post graduate study, likewise in graphic arts, which he finished in 1984.
Tutta’s subsequent artistic development was significantly influenced by his study travels around the world, especially by his residency at Cité Internationale des Arts in Paris in 1995. In 1981, he became a member of Društvo likovnih umetnikov Severne Primorske (DLUSP – Society of Fine Artists of Northern Primorska), and took part in renovating a painter’s house in the village of Šmartno in Goriška Brda, which was afterwards used by the society for various activities connected with the fine arts. Between 1979 and 1981 he managed the Argonavti exhibition grounds in Nova Gorica. In his Kreativni atelje/Creative studio in the Damber district he organized art and photography exhibitions and presentations of poetry collections between 1990 and 1992. He also took part in organizing the festival Kulturna poletja/Cultural Summers in Nova Gorica. Since 1981 he has been a member of Zveza društev slovenskih likovnih umetnikov (ZDSLU – Association of Slovenian Fine Artists’ Societies); he is currently living and working in Nova Gorica and Kranj as a freelance artist. He has held over 240 independent exhibitions, and has taken part in more than 370 group exhibitions at home and around the world. He has received 62 national and international recognition awards for his work. The most notable of these awards are those he received at international biennials in Ljubljana, Barcelona, Seoul, Cadaqués, Villach, Zagreb, Bitola, Karlovac, Gornji Milanovac, Gorizia, Maribor, and Sežana. In 1987, he received the Zlata ptica/Golden Bird award of the Mladina Magazine; in 2002, Bevkova nagrada/France Bevk Award of the City of Nova Gorica for achievement in the fine arts; and a plaque of the Municipality of Ajdovščina for the development of fine arts workshop on Mount Sinji vrh. In 2002, he received a large Pešeren plaque of the City of Kranj; in 2009, he received a large plaque of the City of Kranj for a comprehensive art project he had prepared in Kranj and its surroundings; he also received an award from ZDSLU and Hypo Alpe Adria for 2009. In 2013, he received a special ZDSLU award for his artistic oeuvre and for his superb work as an organizer in the field of the fine arts and their promotion at home and around the world.
Klavdij Tutta is the initiator of many fine arts manifestations, including the international fine arts workshop “Slovenija, odprta za umetnost/Slovenia Open to Art”, on Mount Sinji Vrh above Ajdovščina. He has led international fine arts meetings in Brdo pri Kranju; in recent years he has been the driving force and artistic director of Mednarodni festival likovnih umetnosti Kranj/International Fine Arts Festival Kranj. He has helped to create a fine arts collection at Dijaški dom Ivana Cankarja/Ivan Cankar Secondary School Student Residence Hall in Ljubljana, where the works of established Slovenian authors have been put on display. For many years he has been active in the bodies of the Association of Slovenian Fine Artists’ Societies, and is the chairman of the art council of Likovno društvo Kranj/Kranj Fine Arts Society. He organises cultural events and is a cultural animator for young people. He is engaged in paiting, graphic arts, sculpture, design and interior design.
