An important contribution to the development was made by young Croatian musicians. The programme included film, architecture, jazz and many other artistic activities (summer schools, exhibitions, festivals, meetings and lectures). Grožnjan has changed in many aspects; the town has grown and been repopulated, while tourism provides new content and ever wider significance every year, which is also accompanied by the renewal of the objectives and the maintenance of the ancient values of the Grožnjan culture. I would like to emphasise the twentieth edition of Ex Tempore of Grožnjan and recall what the guidelines were from the beginning, when Ex Tempore was, in terms of content, linked to the city of Grožnjan and Istria, in regards to the visual message that most artists managed to recreate in their works. Always thriving for the same creative objective, the specificity of the painting events of Ex Tempore must be oriented towards authenticity. Artists have always tried to recreate in their works a reflection connected to the Ex Tempore events. After this reflection, we want to cherish the memory of a great artist who passed away too early: Daria Vlahov Horvat (1966-2013), a talented, sensitive painter and sculptor, who in her works has been able to portray the magic of living and who has left an indelible, visual imprint. The leitmotif of her works was the intertwining of symbols, in particular the message of Istrian light and colour expressed in the work ‘Journey beyond light and silver.’ We will remember her as a real, incorrigible and free artist. Daria has always participated in the Ex Tempore workshops because they enabled interesting encounters. She also participated many times in Istrian events, especially in Grožnjan, to which she was very attached. Thanks to her great creativity she won two Ex Tempore awards, in 1994 and 2009.