2020

“Polish Paradise Cabin: an exhibition” presents works of six contemporary Polish artists in different stages of their career – giving the viewer the spectrum of topics and artistic approaches specific to each of them: Lena Dobrowolska, Antonina Gugała, Agnieszka Rayss, Dominika Sadowska, Agnieszka Sejud and Karolina Wojtas. Additionally part of the exhibition is dedicated to selection of Polish photobooks. Curators picked those which are dedicated to… other countries.

All that exhibited and designed a light installation form that plays with the memories of Polish culture and architecture from the summer time in the 70’s and 80’s.

The exhibition is organized under Polish Paradise brand – an informal partnership of three Polish festivals: Fotofestiwal in Łódź, Krakow Photomonth and TIFF Festival from Wrocław that combines strength, knowledge and resources to apply for grants for promotion of Polish artists abroad on numerous international events.

Financed under the NIEPODLEGŁA Multiannual Programme for 2017-2022, as a part of the “Cultural Bridges” (“Kulturalne pomosty”) grant programme of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Project financed by the Cultural Division of Municipality of Wrocław.

Gailė Pranckūnaitė is a Vilnius based graphic designer with a focus on experimental typography. Graduated from the graphic design department of the Gerrit Rietveld academy in 2013. Currently working on mostly commissioned projects with various artists, writers, art/cinema institutions, museums and universities. 

https://gailepranckunaite.com/

Vilmantas Žumbys is a creator, graphic designer and illustrator currently living in Vilnius. Graduated in Graphics from Vilnius Academy of Arts, studied System Design at the Academy of Visual Arts, Leipzig. In his spare time he is usually eating, working or playing piano. “Schismatics” by Goda Palekaitė (Publishing House “Lapas”, 2020) is one of the most recent books he designed.

Nerijus Rimkus is an independent Lithuanian designer working and living between Marijampolė and Amsterdam. He received his Bachelor degree in graphic design from the Gerrit Rietveld academie in 2013 and graduated with an MA in Typografie from Werkplaats Typografie in 2016. Since then he has worked on both self initiated and various commissioned projects.

Jurgis Griškevičius (b. 1984 in Vilnius) – graphic designer, working in the fields of book design and typography. He is working and collaborating with artists, curators, publishing houses, museums and cultural institutions in Lithuania, Sweden, France, Germany and United Kingdom.

Polish Paradise pop up party & slide show with works from Polish photobooks 2019/2020.

Polish Paradise is the name of an informal partnership of three festivals and it doesn’t have this name for no reason. Since over 5 years organizers of Fotofestiwal in Łódź, Krakow Photomonth and TIFF Festival in Wrocław decided to promote Polish photography abroad not only with exhibitions, publications and artists talk, but by unique networking events organized in very hospitable, paradise-like environment  – which those festivals are also very well known for. Photo-camper vans driving to Arles across Europe, slideshows over the river with special treats and music from Poland? This year they prepared an exhibition that – besides photography – pays tribute to Polish holiday housing and plants from the ’80, so who knows what you can expect – besides the slideshow dedicated to latest Polish publications – at the party? We invite you to find out.

Slideshow: Brave Boy Studio, Piotr Zbierski, Yulia Krivich, Łukasz Rusznica; Zofia Rydet, Joanna Helander

Speakers: Joanna Gorlach and Michał Leśniowski – Kraków Photomonth and Paulina Anna Galanciak – TIFF Festival in Wrocław.

During the discussion panel about the Polish photo books’ scene and different strategies for publishing we will take a look at this field from the artists and curators perspective. Joanna Gorlach and Michał Leśniowski from Kraków Photomonth and Paulina Anna Galanciak – co-organizer of TIFF Festival in Wrocław will talk more about the different publishing strategies makin up his way in Poland and last tendencies and directions noticed in this field.

Mirroring of Jan Tschichold’s The New Typography in Lithuania

Jan Tschichold’s landmark book “Die Neue Typographie” (The New Typography) stands out for new essential principles of clarity and utility in modernism’s publishing. Tschichold offered a plan for the implementation of a new style in graphic design, with guidelines on composition, layout, paper size, typefaces, and the integration of photography within the text. Leaving the Style Of Ornament and decorativeness behind, replacing hand-drawn artist illustration with photography, reflecting the technical and innovative style of the tempo. This radical typography emerged as a result of vast amounts of information and the necessity of fast reading speed. In the lecture, the main aspect of The New Typography will be outlined with a search of mirroring in Lithuanian book design: Rimtautas Gibavičius Vilnius albums, Antanas Kazakauskas catalog for the 1968 exhibition in London, and today’s graphic design work associated with modern typography.

Jolita Liškevičienė is a doctor of humanitarian studies in the art criticism field, a lecturer at the Vilnius Academy of Arts and senior researcher at the Institute of Art Research, art expert. Author of two monographs and historical overviews about arts and artists.

Illustration from Jan Tschichold book “Posters of the Avantgarde”: Illustrated by Purvis, Alston W., Le Coultre, Martijn F. Basel, Boston, Berlin: Birkhäuser, 2007

To be well-informed was also a problem. What was there to read about modern art during the Soviet era?

The only publication available in Soviet Lithuania widely presenting 20th-century modern art was a book “Modernizmo metmenys” by Lionginas Šepetys. For thirsty professionals this book was contradictory – art evaluation was strongly ideologized, but the relevant factual information and illustrations were indispensable, during the conditions of the information vacuum. In 1967 and 1982 (2nd edition was strongly edited and complemented) publishing house “Vaga” printed a large number of monograph copies, translated to Russian and Estonian language. Both editions got press reviews where we can observe with whom “Modernizmo metmenys” were compared? It was Henri Perruchot and other belletristic written about artists’ backgrounds, scientific publications by former socialist bloc authors expressing famous painters hardship in capitalism, books about South American, Italian, and USA left-wing artists, an outrageous critique of modernism ideology. The significance of “Modernizmo metmenys” becomes apparent compared to earlier mentioned publications.

Eglė Juocevičiūtė is a researcher and art critic, based in Vilnius, Lithuania. She is a curator at the National Gallery of Art and currently writing a dissertation on public speaking about art in media

The lecture will cover a range of publishing formats – genesis of zines in 90’s Lithuania, the culture of it, circulation, typology, and distribution. Definition, differences, and similarities of zine and other publications. The question, of alternative ways to reach and gather information during the period of the 1990s, will be raised. The material of the lecture is based on empirical knowledge, discussions with the representatives of a subculture today and during the period, and insight of cultural researchers and philosophers.

Schismatics consists of 10 short stories, in a fictitious way dealing with forgotten historical personas. Among them, artist Goda Palekaitė includes Mary Anning – an amateur discoverer of dinosaurs, Emanuel Swedenborg – a mystic who empirically explored the architecture of heaven, and Essad Bey – a Jewish-Muslim writer and orientalist. Here their lives are revived and balance between the lines of history and story.

The book fuses elements of fiction, academic writing, and artistic research, and intertwines with rumors, forgeries, and inventions. Previously, its characters and narratives have already appeared in Palekaitė’s performances and installations, which are presented in the middle of this bilingual [Lithuanian, English] edition. In the introductory essay, Valerio Del Baglivo analyses the author’s exploration of facts and fiction, the mechanisms of knowledge production, and the trans-chronological perception of time. At the end of the book, Monika Lipšic ‘Riddle’ reflects on a ‘schismatic poetics’.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Goda Palekaitė is a contemporary artist and researcher whose work combines visual, literary, performative, and anthropological practices. Exploring the politics of historical narratives, the agency of dreams and collective imagination, and social conditions of creativity, her work evolves around long-term projects that manifest as performances, scenographies, installations, and texts. Her performances, solo and group shows are being presented internationally. In 2019 Goda Palekaitė received The Golden Stage Cross and the Young Artist’s Prize for her artistic contributions across disciplines.

ABOUT THE BOOK: https://www.leidyklalapas.lt/products/schizmatikai-goda-palekaite-b

ABOUT THE BOOK ”IN MEMORY OF PAPER“ 

Editor Auksė Petrulienė, graphic designer Julija Tolvaišytė-Leonavičienė, published by M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum, risograph printed by “Kitokia Grafika” soft cover, 300 copies.

In this book, the past of industrial Kaunas city is remembered. The old  J. Janonio paper factory workers tell the stories of navigating between two realities: the official socialism and the silenced, inner, Lithuanian. Their narrative is densely illustrated and spans the variety of media and themes, old factory production, documentary and conceptual photos, different generations graphic works, all of it put together in harmony by Julija Tolvaišytė – Leonavičienė design. From the margins and lines of the school exercise book comes the identity of the publication. Lines, colors, and shapes cross each other combining tension and opposition as a symbol for known and imaginative, history and fiction, machine and human, official and private, hurtful and funny.

This book is part of the exhibition cycle “Didžioji pramonė“ initiated by the community platform  “Mažosios istorijos“ situated in the Kaunas Photography Gallery. Project financed by Lithuanian Culture Council.

Illustration authors: Greta Grendaitė-Vosylienė, Auksė Petrulienė, Marta Stirbytė-Valaikienė, Justas Tolvaišis. Photography authors: Gintaras Jaronis, Romualdas Požerskis, Darius Petrulis. The photos of  J. Janonio paper factory workers archives.

Thank you, for trusting and sharing the stories we say to co-authors of the book: Rimvydui Daugėlai, Anelei Gulbinavičienei, Jolantai Janušauskienei, Gracijui Poškui, Rimantui Sausioniui, Zitai Sytnianskienei, Antanui Slušniui, Romai Staveckienei, Zinaidai Streikienei, Marijonai Šimaitienei and all ‘janonians’.

“Polish Paradise Cabin: an exhibition” presents works of six contemporary Polish artists in different stages of their career – giving the viewer the spectrum of topics and artistic approaches specific to each of them: Lena Dobrowolska, Antonina Gugała, Agnieszka Rayss, Dominika Sadowska, Agnieszka Sejud and Karolina Wojtas. Additionally part of the exhibition is dedicated to selection of Polish photobooks. Curators picked those which are dedicated to… other countries.

All that exhibited and designed a light installation form that plays with the memories of Polish culture and architecture from the summer time in the 70’s and 80’s.

The exhibition is organized under Polish Paradise brand – an informal partnership of three Polish festivals: Fotofestiwal in Łódź, Krakow Photomonth and TIFF Festival from Wrocław that combines strength, knowledge and resources to apply for grants for promotion of Polish artists abroad on numerous international events.

Financed under the NIEPODLEGŁA Multiannual Programme for 2017-2022, as a part of the “Cultural Bridges” (“Kulturalne pomosty”) grant programme of the Adam Mickiewicz Institute.

Project financed by the Cultural Division of Municipality of Wrocław.