The 15th anniversary of the International Art Fair ArtVilnius’24 is a good opportunity to celebrate art. On October 4-6, more than 300 artists, 67 contemporary art galleries, and 15 institutions from 14 countries around the world will do just that.
Launched in 2009, the International Contemporary Art Fair ArtVilnius is a three-day event that annually brings together contemporary art creators, galleries, institutions, collectors, and art lovers, opening the doors to the world of art. ArtVilnius’24 focuses on Northern Europe, and this year the fair will host 11 galleries and institutions from Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden. The fair also welcomes exhibitors from Belgium, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, France, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Poland, the USA, and other countries.
New names
As many as 20 art galleries will participate for the first time. Among the first-timers at ArtVilnius’24 will be Asni, ISSP Gallery and Cut Art Gallery from Latvia, Davis Gallery and Gallery Hjorth from Denmark, Eristavi Gallery and Louise Gallery from Belgium, Italian 89 Cento Art Gallery, Van Rij Gallery from Poland, and wildpalms from Germany. It will also be a first for Kita (Finnland), Sami Center for Contemporary Art (Norway) and Simson Holding (Estonia/Sweden), and others.
Among participating galleries, ArtVilnius’24 visitors will see some familiar galleries, such as Māksla XO, Pilot and Alma (Latvia), Tutar Gallery (Estonia), Nivet Carzon (France), TSEKH (Ukraine/Lithuania), galleri NB (Denmark), and from Lithuania, Artifex, Baroti, Meno niša gallery, The Rooster Gallery, Terra Recognita, The Room.
ArtVilnius’23. Photo by Mika Savičiūtė. ArtVilnius archive
The Project Zone
For the third consecutive time, the ArtVilnius Project Zone has been handed over to Valentinas Klimašauskas, a renowned curator of contemporary art, who, among other things, co-curates the Lithuanian National Pavilion of the 60th Venice Biennale (2024). The three-day program – Agency: Of Mice, Scene & Machines – will showcase a selection of contemporary artists, galleries, and institutions from Northern Europe.
Among the participants of the Project Zone, this year will be Edith Karlson and Katja Novitskova, who represented the Estonian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale. Riga’s art gallery 427 will present artists Kaspars Groševs, Ieva Kraule-Kūna, and Viktor Timofeev, while Simian Art from Copenhagen will bring projects by artists Lukas Danys and Jan S. Hansen.
On the moving image stage, Index: The Swedish Contemporary Art Foundation will present a video by Nina Sarnelle, while Kunsthal Charlottenborg from Copenhagen will introduce the artist Simon Dybbroe Møller. MELK Gallery from Oslo will be showing a video project by Norway-based Ukrainian artist Lesia Vasylchenko, and Kunsthalle Kohta from Helsinki will present a screening by Anu Pennanen. The Lithuanian contemporary art scene will be represented in the Project Zone by the recently opened Stasys Museum in Panevėžys, as well as individual projects by Jonas Aničas, Gabija Grušaitė, Rytis Urbanskas, and Igoris Piekuras (presented by MTR Art Foundation).
Exhibition of sculptures, installations, and performances Path
More than 80 artists took part in the open call for ArtVilnius’24 sculpture, installation, and performance exhibition Path, from which 17 artists were selected. The curator of the exhibition is the Director of the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art, curator, and long-time commissioner of the Estonian National Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, Maria Arusoo. Participants from Lithuania include Danas Aleksa, Eglė Pilkauskaitė, Indrė Liškauskaitė, Laima Kulbytė, Liudvikas Kesminas, Matas Janušonis, Monika Žaltauskaitė Grašienė Žaltė, Saulė Noreikaitė, Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė, Žygimantas Bėrontas, Žilvinas Baranauskas, and Kęstutis Svirnelis. Estonia will be represented by Edith Karlson, Keithy Kuuspu, Terje Ojaver and Zody Burke, whereas Anni Puolakka will be coming from Finland.
Performances will be presented by the KITA Gallery from Finland and the Sami Centre for Contemporary Art from Norway. They will be performed by Erik Alalooga (Estonia), Tomasz Szrama (Poland), and Marija Griniuk (Norway/Lithuania).
Toon Berghahn. Floating House. 2024. Represented by Galleri NB. Mixed media on MDF plate
Additional events
The wide-ranging ArtVilnius’24 art program will be complemented by discussions, lectures, guided tours, presentations of art publications, events, and meetings. An international jury of art professionals and visitors will choose the best galleries, artists, and artworks. The prize for the best young artist of ArtVilnius’24 is awarded by the fair’s Maecenas, the law firm Cobalt. An award has also been established for the best ArtVilnius’24 artist – the Crème de la Crème Prize. The prize will be awarded by NESCAFE Dolce Gusto to the best sculpture/installation artist of ArtVilnius’24.
A special Volfas Engelman Prize will be awarded to the ArtVilnius’24 Select Audience Artist and the ArtVilnius’24 Select Audience Gallery – for the three days of the fair, visitors will vote for their favorite artists and galleries.
The ArtVilnius TALKS studio will host discussions and conversations about art, as well as book presentations. Paco Barragán from Spain will give a talk in English titled Art Fairs Are Sexy Instruments of Soft Power In Today’s Culture Capitalism. The 15 years of ArtVilnius will be discussed by the fair’s director D. Stomienė, curator Vidas Poškus, art critic Dr. Raminta Jurėnaitė, artist Andrius Zakarauskas, and moderated by the fair’s artistic director and art critic S. Baliuckaitė. The European Film Forum Scanorama will present a program of Nordic films and the latest Nordic film trends.
Zody Burke (USA, Estonia). Sculpture “Christina’s Sacrifice”. 1100x2500x1300 cm. Exhibition ‘THE PATH’
The educational program Among the Creators will be curated by the National M. K. Čiurlionis School of Arts, the Justinas Vienožinskis Art School, and the Vilnius Children and Youth Art School.
Visitors will be able to get to know the works presented at the fair even better through guided tours with art historians, and the electronic catalog of the fair’s exhibitors is already available to choose the artists’ works and to arrange one’s own itinerary for the fair.
During the ArtVilnius’24 weekend, on Friday, October 4, Vilnius residents and visitors are invited to spend the night at selected galleries and institutions in the city during the Art After Hours festival.
The 15th International Contemporary Art Fair ArtVilnius’24 will take place at the Litexpo Exhibition and Congress Centre on October 4-6. Tickets are distributed by Kakava.lt. The fair is organized by the Association of Lithuanian Art Gallerists. The fair’s director is Diana Stomienė, art director – Sonata Baliuckaitė. The event is financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and supported by Vilnius City Municipality. The fair’s Maecenas is the law firm Cobalt.
Full programme: https://artvilnius.com/programme-2024/
Participants list: https://artvilnius.com/participants-24/
Information for visitors: https://artvilnius.com/visitors-info/
