International Contemporary Art Fair Concludes in Vilnius: Visitors Select Their Favorites

October 8, 2024 Photo by Gabrielius Jauniškis | ArtVilnius

ArtVilnius’24, the largest contemporary art fair in the Baltic States, ended on Sunday at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre Litexpo. Celebrating its fifteenth birthday this year, the fair organized a real art festival for the participants, galleries, and visitors. All weekend long, the spectators, who flooded into the fair, had the opportunity to vote for their favorites – the ArtVilnius’24 Audience Select Gallery and the ArtVilnius’24 Audience Select Artist were announced on Sunday evening. 

More than 300 artists, 67 contemporary art galleries, and 15 institutions from 14 countries around the world took part in the 15th edition of the art fair, which this year took the slogan “Celebrate Art!”. 

On Sunday evening, the winners, chosen by the public, were awarded cash prizes and diplomas. The Rooster Gallery, representing the young generation of Lithuanian artists, was named the ArtVilnius’24 Audience Select Gallery. The Rooster Gallery was awarded a special Volfas Engelman prize of €1,000. 

ArtVilnius’24“ rinktine žiūrovų galerija“ – „The Rooster Gallery“. Nuotr. Andrej Vasilenko | ArtVilnius 

“To be honest, we were secretly expecting this award,” said Jurgita Juospaitytė-Bitinienė, founder of The Rooster Gallery. “Our stand was one of the most visible this year, and we felt a great responsibility to design the architecture of the exhibition in such a way that not only our gallery but also the fair as a whole would impress the viewers. Another challenge we took on was that we wanted to accommodate all thirteen artists in the gallery, we had to solve a complicated equation, so we needed extra floor footage and space, and we needed to choose the color precisely. We got a lot of compliments, visitors took pictures of the space and the artworks, and we sold a lot of works, so we are very happy with the fair.” 

ArtVilnius’24“ rinktine žiūrovų galerija“ – „The Rooster Gallery“. Photo by Gabrielius Jauniškis | ArtVilnius

On Sunday, the title of ArtVilnius’24 Audience Select Artist and the €1,000 Volfas Engelman Prize were awarded to the most popular artist of the fair – Saulius Vaitiekūnas. His work, the interactive installation The Unbearable Lightness of Being, was presented by the gallery Terra recognita.

“The title of the installation is a somewhat ironic interpretation of the title of Milan Kundera’s novel The Unbearable Lightness of Being. My work is intended for adults, but it was mostly recognized by children. After all, it is said: ‘Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it’. Existence can be very difficult, and sometimes we make it so, we drive ourselves into a corner, thinking that there is no other way out. The installation is like a metaphor, inviting us to look at many things from the outside, to calm down, to dive in, to play, to recognize and find an unexpected solution to a problem,” said the artist Vaitiekūnas, who was selected by the audience, and whose installation made of 1,200 wine sacks was explored by children and adults alike for three days.

ArtVilnius’24“ žiūrovų rinktinis menininkas – Saulius Vaitiekūnas (galerija „Terra recognita“). Nuotr. Andrej Vasilenko | ArtVilnius

During the three days of ArtVilnius’24, more than fifty events took place – educational sessions, presentations, discussions, excursions, and performances. All of them reflected this year’s theme – Northern Europe. 

Visitors had the opportunity to get acquainted with Scandinavian art that is not often shown in Lithuania. Galleries and artists from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Belgium, Estonia, and Latvia came to the fair. The fair also featured artworks by artists from France, Germany, Italy, Ukraine, Poland, the USA, and other countries. 

In the international sculpture, installation, and performance exhibition The Path, curated this year by Maria Arusoo, the head of the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art and the commissioner and curator of the Estonian Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale, visitors saw not only the works of prominent Estonian sculptors Edith Karlson and Terje Ojaver, but also the well-known Finnish artist Anni Puolakka and Lithuanian artists – Danas Aleksa, the author of the best ArtVilnius’24 installation, also Eglė Pilkauskaitė, Indrė Liškauskaitė, Kęstutis Svirnelis, Laima Kulbytė, Liudvikas Kesminas, Matas Janušonis, Monika Žaltauskaitė-Grašienė, Saulė Noreikaitė, Severija Inčirauskaitė-Kriaunevičienė, Žygimantas Bėrontas, Žilvinas Baranauskas, and the work of Estonian artists Keithy Kuuspu and Zody Burke. 

Photo by Gabrielius Jauniškis | ArtVilnius

The program of the fair’s Project Zone Agency: of Mice, Scene, and Machines was curated by Dr. Valentinas Klimašauskas, an art historian and one of the curators of the exhibition of the Lithuanian National Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale. 

Among the participants of the Project Zone, this year were Lithuanian artists Igoris Piekuras, represented by MTR Art Foundation, Stasys Eidrigevičius, represented by Stasys Museum, Jonas Aničas, Gabija Grušaitė, Rytis Urbanskas, a project by Lesia Vasylchenko, a Ukrainian artist based in Norway, Edith Karlson and Katya Novitskova, who represented the Estonian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale, as well as other artists and art institutions. 

“We always emphasize the educational and informative function of ArtVilnius’24, but at the same time we say that selling works of art is also art,” said Diana Stomienė, the organizer and the director of ArtVilnius, at the end of the fair. She added that it is still very difficult to estimate the volume of art sales at the fair. Some of the works went to the buyers’ homes on the same day, while others are still being fitted to the walls of the homes. 

Meno mugė ArtVilnius’24. Andrej Vasilenko | ArtVilnius nuotr.3

D. Stomienė said that this year in particular, it is evident that the interest of visitors has shifted from Lithuanian authors alone, which is particularly pleasing for foreign galleries coming to the fair. Each year the audience becomes more aware of the benefits and principles of cooperation between artists and galleries, thus the event builds mutual trust and ensures transparency. 

“We are very happy that not only Lithuanian artists’ works were sold at the fair and that Lithuanians discovered foreign galleries and artists. Today we can see and understand how much we have contributed to the shaping and growth of the art market over 15 years. We are certainly keeping up with European contemporary art fairs in terms of quality. And we see it as a strong international communication that promotes Lithuanian culture,” said the founder and director of ArtVilnius at the end of the fair. 

ArtVilnius’24 was organized by the Lithuanian Art Gallerists’ Association. The fair’s director is Diana Stomienė and the artistic director is Sonata Baliuckaitė. ArtVilnius’24 was financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture. The patron is Vilnius City