Set on the wooded peninsula of Seča just a few kilometres south of the main Portorož beach, Forma Viva is one of Slovenia's finest open-air sculpture collections and one of the more surprising cultural discoveries on this stretch of coast. The park was established in 1961 as part of a Yugoslavia-wide programme of outdoor sculpture symposia — artists from across the world were invited to work in stone, and the results remain on permanent display in a park that combines forest walking paths with sea views.
The sculptures range from abstract modernist forms to figurative works, executed in the local Istrian limestone that weathers beautifully in the salt air. The park is free to enter and rarely crowded; visiting in the late afternoon when the light is low on the stone makes for a particularly atmospheric walk. A smaller secondary collection exists at Kostanjevica na Krki in eastern Slovenia, but the Seča site is the most impressive.