Founded on the thirtieth anniversary of the collaboration between the Università Popolare di Trieste and the Italian Union in 1994, this event maintained the initial spirit of promotion and valorisation of the compatriot figurative artists, and reached out to the Euro-region connecting Italy, Slovenia and Croatia and to the neighbouring nations of the United States of Europe. It was a success from the very beginning and a cultural, socio-economic phenomenon of international importance in terms of communication, adhesion, aggregation, development and, finally, the ‘rebirth’ of a medieval town in Central Istria, now a city of art, but initially a victim of general demographic evacuation in the second half of the 1900s. Ex Tempore was an initiative that was created for the artists of the Italian National Community of Istria and Rijeka, and it knew how to open up to the art without borders or ‘limits of thought’ of the minority or the majority. The active, lively and intense participation of the administrations of the Istrian Region and of the municipalities of Grožnjan, that changed over the years in full synergy with the Italian Community, strengthened the intent and the effort – and not only economic – of the Italian Government through the collaboration between the UPT-IU and the Region of Friuli Venezia Giulia. The exceptional juries of the highest level, with presidencies assigned to artists, writers and art critics such as Sergio Molesi, Erna Toncinich, Ugo Carà, Ottorino Stefani, Giuseppe Zigaina, Toni Biloslav, Ervin Dubrović, Daina Glavočić, Bruno Chersicla and many others, were a guarantee of the high quality of the event, bringing it to the international elite circle. The collective events of the Ex Tempore are an example of this, and include themed exhibitions, group exhibitions, conferences and academic lectures about art history and art criticism, organised and set up at every edition to involve Italian cultural and scientific players such as Università Popolare di Trieste, Istrian Circle, IRCI, completely aligned with the primary goal of the Moral Organisation of Culture and Art of the Università Popolare di Trieste. Now, on this anniversary and with the publication of this volume, while simultaneously preparing the exhibition in Grožnjan, I cannot help but think about how much more it will be able to create results and which targets the Ex Tempore of Grožnjan will be able to reach. Twenty years are not few; this is a consolidated experience and an excellent starting point towards a future rich in many more editions of the Ex Tempore, without solution of continuity, in the socio-political, cultural, economic-social and artistic continuity in all its forms, and in ‘our’ region, strategic in the geopolitical dynamics of the New Europe. My wish and the wish of the Università Popolare di Trieste is for Ex Tempore, through the effort of institutional partners, and above all the enthusiasm of all those who have participated and will participate, to envisage and reach many more goals in terms of participation and international recognition.