Art festival FACT-FORM’23

The exhibition “Connection” of the international form art festival FACT-FORM organized by the Klaipėda branch of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association will be opened on July 14, 2023, at 17:00 in the Exhibition Halls of  Klaipėda Culture Communication Center (Didžioji Vandens Street 2, Klaipėda). The festival is dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the connection of  Klaipėda region to Lithuania. The main exhibition of the festival, titled “Connection,” reflects the connections and possible relations that emerge in the pursuit of a common goal – creativity. The exploration of form and format in art is also an educational strategy to draw attention to sculpture, 3D art programs, and creative practices in Lithuania. The project is curated by Neringa Poškutė-Jukumienė, and the art researcher/critic Danguolė Ruškienė. The exhibition will be open until August 13, 2023. After the opening of the exhibition at 18:30, visitors will be invited to the courtyard of the Exhibition Hall, where DJ Vitalijus Lipo will perform.

The festival aims to showcase a wide spectrum of artistic expression by artists, as was the case with previous national exhibitions of small sculpture forms, which later evolved into a festival format. The festival program began with Algirdas Bosa’s retrospective exhibition “Swimmer,” to which the residents and guests of Klaipėda were invited earlier this year. The festival program started with the sculptors’ forum organized by the Klaipėda branch of the Lithuanian Artists’ Association, where public sculpture and form art issues in contemporary and now constantly changing contexts were discussed. Throughout this time, various sculptural works created with diverse materials were selected and presented. In this way, the exhibition was formed like a puzzle, finding ever more original ways to present the works. Naturally, the question arose whether such formation of the puzzle could reflect the main tendencies, topicalities, and changes in themes and forms in contemporary form art. Therefore, this year it was decided to compose the main part of the festival – the exhibition “Connection” – from separate exhibitions presenting the works of six authors. However, the main goal of the festival remains unchanged. It aims to show the viewer multifaceted artistic solutions in sculptural form – small forms, contemporary sculpture, object art, installations, and other realisations, tightly connecting them with space, environment, and human beings. All of this represents not only connections but also much broader contexts, encompassing the space around them.

PRESENTED AUTHORS AND RESEARCH/EXHIBITIONS:

• Andrius Janulis, exhibition “Awaiting the Season”
• Marija Šnipaitė, exhibition “During the Long Night”
• Egons Persevics, exhibition “Beauty and Other Ugly Stuff”
• Donatas Repeika, artistic research/exhibition “Objects”
• Ignė Zdanevičiūtė, artistic research/installation “Limen”
• Simona Martinkutė, artistic/research work, installation, video documentation, performance “Light …—…”

Another festival exhibition, “The Bronze Age,” will be presented at the Klaipėda Gallery (Bažnyčių Street 6, II floor) on July 21 at 17:00. The project is supported by the Municipality of Klaipėda and the Lithuanian Culture Council. The working hours of the Exhibition Halls of the Klaipėda Culture Communication Center are Wednesday to Sunday from 11:00 to 19:00 (closed on public holidays). During the opening of the exhibition, photography and filming will take place. Participants may be seen in event photos and videos published in various media.