The collection selected for the project Past, Present and Future introduces with the artists from different generations and styles, representing a variety of trends in contemporary Bulgarian graphic art. This exhibition provides us with an opportunity to observe tendencies in contemporary Bulgarian graphic art.

Bulgarian graphic art creators participate in local art events (the Varna Biennial, the Sofia International Graphic Design Triennial, the Annual Lessedra Small Format Exhibition), as well as in international art projects in Japan, China, Netherlands, Germany, Spain, Finland, Italy, the United Kingdom, the USA, Switzerland, Mexico, India, Lithuania, etc. Recently, the creative work of young artists is being refreshed by more and more new ideas and unexpected art forms, that add variety to contemporary Bulgarian graphic art and stimulate its development.
The collection exhibited in Vilnius Graphic Art Centre presents the creative work of artists from different generations, highly evaluated in the international art arena – Vessa Kravaeva, Vladimir Chuchkov Stefan Bojkov, Emanuela Kovac, Todor Todorov, Maria Duhteva, Daniela Todorova, Hristo Gaberov, Veliko Marinchevski, Irma Vodeva, Alexandra Chausheva.

Curator Daniela Todorova
Coordinator in Lithuania Regina Urbonienė

Organizers: Amateras Fuondation, Lithuanian Art Association, Vilnis Graphic Art Centre
Sponsors: Culture Ministry of The Republic of Lithuania, Culture Ministry of The Republic of Bulgaria, Bulgarian Republic Embassy in Lithuania, Europa City Hotel Vilnius

Opening: 05 04 2011, 6 pm
Exhibition time: 05 04 – 23 04 2011

Swedish graphic art exhibition is continuing the artistic cooperation of Sweden and Lithuania, which started twenty years ago. Under the initiative of art institutions and single artists of two countries, exchange exhibitions and creative workshops, seminars and discussions have been organized during the period mentioned. It is already the fourth Swedish graphic art exhibition presented in Vilnius Graphic Art Centre since 2002, organized in cooperation with an art association Grafik i Väst, established in Göteborg. The organization is actively working in the whole region of Västra Götaland and implementing wide-ranging (inter)cultural activities: organizing graphic art exhibitions, cooperation seminars and lectures, prosecuting publishing, affording scholarship for graphic art students. Swedish graphic art exhibition presents the creative work of five printmakers represented by Grafik i Väst. Prints made using drypoint, linocut, etching, photogravure, lithography as well as monoprints reveal a wide spectrum of technologies, together providing a possibility to grope the essential features of today’s Swedish graphic art.

Christina Lindeberg creates prints that attract due to their laconic compositions. By using minimal means, such as facture of cliché and fine-drawn linear structures, she creates specifically suggestive mood.
Erik Fredelius’s colourful linocuts convey a flexible attitude of the artist and are not lacking in irony. His method of specifically decorative and precise creation extends the traditional conception of the linocut.
Henrik Krogh’s series of artworks are probably closest to the classical print. Monochromatic prints are not lacking in symbolic meanings, conveyed using abstract forms.
Nils-Erik Mattsson‘s lithographic images are realistic. He uses photos in lithography process to create subjects. Such strategy of creation encloses unique aspects of perception and evaluation of graphics.
Pia Skogberg – an artist living in Denmark. Two series of prints, presented in the exhibition, are characteristic of unique drawing and colouring, which create a harmonious completeness.

Organizers: Vilnius Graphic Art Centre, association Grafik i Väst
Sponsors: The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania, the Embassy of Sweden in Lithuania, Lithuanian Artists‘ Association, IASPIS (The Swedish Arts Grants Committee’s International Programme for Visual Artists), Upartas

In September, 2010 an international group of artists called Local to Local is coming to Lithuania. The group has been established in 2006 in Stuttgart. It is comprised of six members, namely Kęstutis Svirnelis (Lithuania), Gabriela Oberkofler (Italy), Ilke Yilmaz (Turkey), Jangyoung Jung (South Korea), Markus Ambach and Andreas Geisselhardt (Germany). They have gathered together in order to implement a five-year long project in their home countries. The artists have started in 2007 with the project Made in Germany in South Korea, while in 2008 the group has initiated Institute for Alpine affairs in a village of Flaas situated in mountains, in Italy (as an attendant event, the project was included in the programme of contemporary art biennale Manifesta7, taking place at the same time). In 2009 the residence of BÜYÜKADA RESORT RESIDENCE took place in Turkey. After working together for almost four years, Local to Local decided to come to Lithuania. For two weeks the artists are going to implement their creative ideas in the former Soviet Union underground ballistic missile base and military village, that are located not far from Plateliai. Then, the artists will make an exposition of their works Dvina Silo Art Complex in Plokštinė, and will present a retrospective exposition of their creative work, their activity and the project of Plokštinė in Vilnius.
Local to Local creative work is based on the strategy of centrifugal creation, opposing metropolitans which are traditionally titled as the most important art centres. The group creates in geographical/cultural periphery and avoids prestigious expositional spaces. In their creative work they refer to site specific art strategies. The core of the group comprised of six artists is often complemented by local as well as foreign guest creators when implementing each new project. The group aims at gathering people of different cultures and different world views, who discuss global and cultural topics using the language of art. The activity of Local to Local is a peculiar cultural express, which constantly moves towards sociocultural analysis as well as personal experiences. The first project Made in Germany implemented in South Korea, has encouraged the geographical expansion of the activity encompassing all native countries of the six members of the group as well as involving more and more artists into the creative work. According to Local to Local, the former base of rockets in Plokštinė is an exceptional place, representing one of the relicts of Cold War power in Lithuania. The place perfectly conforms to the conception of the group‘s activity.
__________________
* It was the first tactical underground base of ballistic missiles of Dvina type of the Soviet Union. It is comprised of 4 ferroconcrete launching devices for missiles, which have domes on the ground surface covering premises and mines designed for control, launching and electricity generators. Ten thousand of soldiers have been building the base since 1960 up to 1962, most of them being Estonians. In the underground part of the base dark narrow passages and small premises with massive iron doors are set. The surface rocket site was surrounded by barbed wire and protected by signalization and protection zone of high voltage electricity lines. Subject of the political situation the missiles could have been targeted at Spain, Great Britain, Norway, Turkey, West Germany. In 1978, after the reconnaissance services of the USA have found out of the base, it was abandoned. Later a pioneer camp Žuvėdra was set there. Children affected by the radiation of Chernobyl catastrophe took a rest there. Since 1995 the former rocket base has been functioning as the military museum.

Participants

Local to Local:
Kęstutis Svirnelis (Lithuania)
Markus Ambach (Germany)
Andreas Geisselhardt (Germany)
Ilke Yilmaz (Turkey)
Jang-Young Jung (South Korea)
Gabriela Oberkofler (Italy)
Guests:
Pablo Wendel (Group EXP. Germany)
Demian Bern (Group EXP. Germany)
Krzysztof Franaszek (Poland)
Juozas Laivys (Lithuania)
Andrius Kviliūnas (Lithuania)
Sergej Balandin (Russia)
Justina Nekrašaitė (Lithuania)
Akvilė Kalinaitė (Lithuania)

The programme of events:

·September 29, in the gallery of Vilnius Graphic Art Centre Kairė-dešinė:
16.00 – Press conference on the project Dvina Silo Art Complex
With a presence of Local to Local and the art critic Prof. Dr. Raminta Jurėnaitė
·19.00 – The opening of the retrospective exposition of the group Local to Local
The exposition will be open till October 16, 2010.
The exposition presents documentary material and works of art created during the projects Made in Germany (Openspace Bae, South Korea, 2007), Institute for Alpine affairs (Flaas, Italy, 2008) and BÜYÜKADA RESORT RESIDENCE (Büyükada Island, Turkey, 2009)

·October 02, 15.00
The opening of the exposition Dvina Silo Art Complex
In the rocket base of Plokštinė, village of Plokštinė, Plungė district.*
__________________
* People willing to participate in the opening event on October 2, will be offered a special booked transportation for only a symbolic fee of 10 lt.

Organizers:
Vilnius Graphic Art Centre, Local to Local

Sponsors and partners:
Culture Support Fund of the Republic of Lithuania, Ministry of Wissenschaft, Ministry of Culture of Baden-Württenberg, Goethe Institute in Lithuania, Cultural Attaché of Lithuania in Germany Federal Republic, Union of Artists of Lithuania, Vilnius Art Academy, PJSC „Ekspobalta“, PJSC „Upartas“, Žemaitija National Park Direction.

More information about Local to Local projects:
Institute for Alpine affairs (Italy) 1
Institute for Alpine affairs (Italy) 2
BÜYÜKADA RESORT RESIDENCE (Turkey)

Exhibition of Finnish printmaking, “Drawn line – contours of art”, represents 8 Finnish artists, both established and emerging new artists. What unites this group is love to stone lithography. The exhibition in Vilnius brings out lithography’s many artistic possibilities to express. Beautiful washes, fine line drawings, photographic image and rich crayon drawing are just few of the possibilities lithography has to offer. Exhibition invites to take a peak at Finnish psychic landscape, helping the viewer with a few guidelines.
Andrei Bakharev’s themes for his works are the surrounding city landscape and its habitants, people. He likes to draw lonely persons, because he seems himself as one of them. Feeling of loneliness is a known feeling for people in bigger cities – lots of people, few friends. Bakharev’s works are often moments during the night – then you can be alone with the landscape.
Kalle Berg represents a generation of Finnish printmaking, who work between traditional craftsmanship and digitally produced image. His work as a printer is a source of ideas for his own artistic work. Berg’s works are beautiful, philosophical studies on color and form.
Annika Dahlsten is fascinated in stone lithography by the beauty and complexity of drawing, and the possibility of re-producing and altering something so momentary as a drawn line. Drawing with liquid ink is very spontaneous but the whole printmaking process is about building up the image slowly, layer by layer. She works with themes such as memory or solitude, often referring to art history or literature.
Leonora Fredriksson, a painter, simply loves drawing on stone. The stone doesn’t forgive mistakes, but Fredriksson beautifully uses the shiny surface of the stone. Her fine, fragile drawings are dreamlike visions, where nature and animals play an important role.
Matti Hintikka is a middle generation printmaker, who has always been focused on lithography. Hintikka uses combination of basic elements: stone, water, earth and air. His earthlike color palette refers to the connection to nature, which is so special to Finns. Hintikka’s works represented the landscape, both physically and mentally.
Kuutti Lavonen is interested in lithography, because it gives the possibility to draw and paint at the same time. Lavonen’s inspiration is the Renaissance and Baroque art and he draws human face over and over again. Female saints and legends have now been joined by male faces in Lavonen’s art. Lavonen has painted a grand series of biblical studies in historical Tyrvää St. Olaf church which has been opened this summer.
Elina Sipilä, artist from Lappland, works with painting and lithography. In her works she uses the rugged northern landscape to evoke questions of memory and identity. Painterly works are printed layer by layer to achieve to new dimensions both in color and image, in emotions and interactions.
Kaisu Sirviö is a master on elegant and strong brush strokes. She paints with liquid ink on stone, very spontaneously but firmly and is able to produce a whole variety of tones and textures. The themes of her works are expression of nature, organic and ornamental.

Exhibition is supported by: Arts Council in Finland, FRAME (Finnish Fund for Art Exchange), Finnish embassy in Lithuania, Culture ministry of Lithuania, Vilnius graphic art centre, “UpArtas”

Exhibition opening:

On display the visitor will see small and medium drawings from 2007- 2009 and 5 animation videos.
The drawings are the result of a process relating on very different media. The artist selected a series of images from the Internet, personal photographs, images of famous paintings (mostly japanese old masters).
While drawing this series Belloni got very interested in cinema and the moving image, especially to movies and collages referring to Quentin Tarantino’s cinematography. The reproduction on paper of this inputs, stealing and pirating the images inducted the artist to use them like Duchamp used objects for his ready mades.

The ready-made is today used by a large number of contemporary artists like a material that leads to the object, the work of art. Belloni explains “[...] an artist can use tempera or oil colour. He can use marble, wood or iron. The ready made works the same way, it is a material, a recognised technique in contemporary creation. Instead of using painting or sculpture I started using images. I would call my drawings more “collages” then proper drawings considering the fact that I meticulously reproduced preexisting images without manipulating them.”

On May 25th 2010 Argentine celebrates 200 years of the revolution that opened the way towards Independence. At this stage we propose to consolidate a new multicultural focus aimed at the recovery of the living history of our identity in its multiple manifestations and the transformations that this identity has suffered in these 200 years, contributing to a deep reflection on the affirmation of unity in diversity.
In order to continue with the bilateral relations between Argentina and Lithuania, started in 1991 we wish to go on participating and to achieve in this date, as part of the commemorative events, the graphic productions of our artists. Tango, Country symbols, costums, traditions, folklore, the city, the suburb are some of the subjects akin to our national heritage. They represent us and are widely dealt with here. Art, as always, is one of the means by excellence for communication between peoples and ever since man inhabits this planet has served as a link for unity and concordance
Rafael Gil, Nestor Goyanes and Matias Amici even though belonging to different generations share lithography as a technique their expression. In the case of Lidia Paladino there is a fusion of the burin’s technique and the manufacture of hand made paper. Juan Carlos Stekelman with the wood and lino printing and his characteristic feature of the hand printing discipline. Angus Vazquez and Carlos Scannapieco continue in the wide scope of the traditional techniques of printing on metal. María Vera employes polymer and Lorena Pradal, a young representative of the graphic art, communicates through photolithography. They all are artists with a recognized background in the local and international circuits and they exhibit images of great esthetic versatility, placing their materials and resources to the service of creativity.
The setting up of a new interchange between our communities is the collective effort of a group of professionals and institutions which continue believing in the building of this “Cultural Bridge”. With the support of the Cultural Business Direction of the Argentine Foreign Ministry, The Republic of Lithuania Embassy in Argentina, and The Vilnius Printmakers Center of the Lithuania Plastic Artists Association ,we hope that this proposition could be an excellent way to continue our cultural relationship and at the same time to keep alive our idea of Independence.

Patricia Cohen