Taking into account the globally spread coronavirus disease, the organizers had to modify the program of the biennial of the year 2020. Unfortunately the epidemic situation had a negative impact on the organisation of the G6 events. As a result the usual exhibition openings, accompanying events and awards gala were cancelled this year.

This year the exhibition opening of the 6th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland moved into the virtual space, thus those who are interested can view the short film made for the opening  on the Facebook page of the G6 (https://www.facebook.com/grafikaiszemle). Yet the exhibition of G6 can be visited live in the Transylvanian Art Centre in Sepsiszentgyörgy.

During the past ten years the Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerand offered vast possibilities for the presentation of traditional and experimental graphic works. Becoming an important factor from a professional point of view and gaining international publicity, today this event got on the map of international graphics.

The 6th edition of the biennial waited for responses of the participant artists, coming from different countries and cultures, concerning global issues, political, economical and other social problems. The main question was, how do they represent the problems of their personal existence or the problems of their environment in their art? How can tradition and total renewal be expressed through the language of contemporary graphic art.

We were also interested in works the primary aspect of which is not the definition of the ideal of beauty, but its problematization. Thus, we proposed the title “Structure of Chaos” as the buzzword of the 6th Graphic Art Biennale of Szeklerland. Chaos as the uncertainty of predictability, order as the exact geometric structure or predictability, and their possible sociological, political, cultural, ecological and economic implications. Globally, the vulnerability of all of these was confirmed by the outbreak of Covid-19 at the beginning of the year, which paralyzed all areas of life and unfortunately had a negative impact on the G6 2020 events and the organization of accompanying exhibitions. – considers Apor Ferencz S., the curator of the bienalei.

„In course of the examination of the works sent in to the Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland in the year 2020 we can get a situation report about the international state of contemporary graphics. From the submitted works it becomes clear, that the artists coming from very different geographical and cultural backgrounds are mainly bothered by the insecurity and the existential fears provoked by our globalizing and uniformizing world. Near the representatives of the graphic „world powers”  Poland and China, which traditionally participate in force at the Biennial, this year also countries like India or Thailand were present more pronouncedly,these being countries, where contemporary graphics has not had particular weight within fine arts and could hardly be measured by international standards until now. This trend also shows, that image graphics is again a virulent genre of visual arts on global scale, which allows us to be optimistic.” – says dr. István Erőss member of the professional staff and jury member of the biennial.

In her laudation art historian Kányádi Iréne, assistent professor at Partium Christian University Partium says:

And yes, the call, in addition to being prophetic, captured the essence of the human of the present age, since the postmodern human is primarily characterized by the crossing of any kind of boundaries: the physical, the geographical, the biological, and the list goes on. The human of the present age belongs to the global world, the world of networks, the age of electronic information; a constantly moving individual who can be reached by technology at any time. The experimental spirit of the postmodern age is tangible in the works received, both in terms of the choice of subject and the technical execution, and the fact that no matter what times we live in, art can actively react to it. The artists experienced both the announcement of the Graphic Art Biennial and the chaos of the year 2020 as a challenge, meaning that we can talk about authentic, believable and high-quality works.

The exhibition can be visited at the Transylvanian Art Centre until the 6th of November, from Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The‌ ‌exhibition‌ ‌can‌ ‌also‌ ‌be‌ ‌viewed‌ ‌online‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌Biennale‌ ‌website‌ ‌by‌ ‌clicking‌ ‌on‌ ‌the‌ ‌following‌ ‌link:‌ ‌‌https://gbiennial.ro/online-expo-g6/‌ 

Winners

With the artworks entitled Our order 3. and 5., respectively We are different 2. Mettrai Pongchomporn (TH) won the Main Prize of the biennial valuing 2000 euro offered by Perla Harghitei, The prize named after Pál Nagy provided by Maros county went to Liu FU (CN) for his series Lost paradise. The prize named after Imre Nagy offered by Hargita county went to Supicha Sutanthavibul (TH) for the work entitled Insane instinct and the prize provided by Covasna county named after Plugor Sándor was won by Tomasz Winiarski (PL) with the works Perpetuum mobile: CII and CIV. The prizes offered by the three counties of Szeklerland are 1000 euro each of them. The Imre Baász prize is 500 euro worth, this prize was awarded by the jury to Rattana Sudjarit(TH) for the works entitled The way of harvesters 2  and 3. Roxana Bloju (RO) received the prize of the Consulate General of Hungary for her series 6_20_8_11_19_24. The prize of the Institute of Visual Arts of the Eszterházy Károly University of Eger was awarded  to Róbert Roland Ritli (RO) with his work entitled War 3. The Partium prize offered by the Partium  Christian University went to Szén András (RO) for the work Fight, whereas the prize provided by the Cultural and Art Centre of Gyergyószárhegy went to Zsófia Orbán (HU) for her work entitled One week later.

The prize of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts was awarded to Olesya Dzhurayeva (UA) for the works Spring day in Berlin and Nordic light. Stockholm. The prize provided by Zereda Art Camp won Rudolf Szilágyi (HU) with his series Classical rehabilitation, the prize of Pulzus Art Camp went to Pop Adriana Mihaela (RO) for her work Vertical.

The 6th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland was sponsored by the Perla Harghitei and the Bethlen Gábor Funds.

The publication of the catalogue of the biennial was sponsored by the National Cultural Fund.

The event is organized with the collaboration of the Cultural Centre of Covasna County, the Councils of Hargita, Kovászna and Maros Counties, the Cultural and Art Centre of  Gyergyószárhegy and the Museum of Maros County.

This year the art openings of the 6th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland took place in virtual space, but the exhibitions can be visited in the Transylvanian Art Centre in Sepsiszentgyörgy, so you can sign up for guided tours for little groups.

Visitors can sign up for preformative guided tours, in course of which they can view the exposition realized from the awarded artworks of G6. Tibor Pálffy, actor of the Tamási Áron Theatre will associate poems and lyrics to the exhibited works (in hungarian language) on the 13th of October 2020, from 6 p.m..

On the 16th of October 2020, on Friday from 4 p.m. the professional guided tour of the exhibition entitled MASTERS by the Chinese artist JING LIU, winner of the Main Prize of the biennial of the year 2018 will take place with art historian Fruzsina Vargha (in hungarian language).

Maximum 12 people may join both guided tours, therefore it is necessary to sign up prealably. You can register writing a message to the email address office@grafikaiszemle.ro. Participants will be welcomed in the order of their registration.

The exhibitions can be visited until the 6th of November from Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., respectively online on the following page: www.grafikaiszemle.ro. 

In consequence of the epidemiological restrictions, similarly to the opening event of the G6, the virtual art opening of the exhibition entitled MASTERS of the Main Prize winner of the year 2018, the Chinese artist JING LIU (CN) will take place on the Facebook page of the biennial on the 12th of October 2020 from 6 p.m.

JING LIU is associate professor at the Graphics Faculty of the Changsha University in China, member of the Association of Chinese Artists and of the Committee of Graphics and Mixed Techniques in the framework of the Association of the Artists of Hunan and deputy director of the Graphics Committee of the Changsha Artist Association.

Jing works gained recognition in the previous years at the Guanlan International Print Biennial of China, at the 5-th Bangkok Triennale International Print and Drawing Exhibition, as well as at the 5th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland. He regularly participates with his works at several international fine art exhibitions, his artworks can be found in the collections of many museums and art institutes.

JING LIU is a Chinese artist, winner of the 5th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland organized in Sepsiszentgyörgy. He is present with his works already for the second time in this town. His „Master series” presented in this art show play to certain dualities and contrasts, realized on more planes. Going through the exhibition, on one hand we can trace the successive development of the portray genre, as the artist unfolds on the faces both the human and the artistic qualities simultaneously, striving not to subordinate them to each other. On the other hand we can see here the duality between a rigorous design and a released way of drawing and creation, each of the two highlighting a certain kind of behaviour, without tilting the balance in either direction. The artist does not take stand for either creation style. It is also important to point out, that the works lined up on the walls bear certain aesthetic qualities and contrasts, out of their encounter results the artistic creation, expression, the manifesting of emotion and messages. The art show of Jing Liu becomes in this way a kind of bridge or even more a symbiosis between traditions and innovative ideas. (Fruzsina Vargha, art historian).

The exhibition can be visited in the Transylvanian Art Centre until the 6th of November, from Tuesday to Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The exhibition can also be viewed online: www.grafikaiszemle.ro.

Considering the globally spread coronavirus epidemic, the organizers had to change the organization plan of the biennial of 2020. Unfortunately the epidemiological situation had a negative impact on the running of the G6 events as well. Consequently this year the exhibition openings, connex events and the awards gala familiar to the public from previous years are missing from the program.

This year the opening event of the 6th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland moves into the virtual space. On this occasion visitors can view the short film made for this event on the Facebook page of the G6 (https://www.facebook.com/grafikaiszemle) on the 10th of October 2020, from 6 p.m.

The 6th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland intends to present those art tendencies, which are characterized by experimentation, crossing of boundaries, reinterpretation of aesthetic standards, or the break down of former hierarchies. The G6 waited responses from the artists coming from different countries and cultures concerning problems of globalization, respectively concerning political, economical or other social issues. The main question was, how do they represent the problems of their immediate environment or the problems of their own existance in their art, how can tradition and total renewal be manifested through the language of contemporary graphic art.

This year about 2100 artworks were submitted from 868 artists of 65 countries.

The jury of the G6 is composed of internationally recognized art historians and artists: dr. Alice Andreea Iliescu assistant professor of the University of Art and Design Cluj Napoca (RO), Prof. dr. István Erőss professor at the Institute of Visual Arts of the Eszterházy Károly University of Eger (HU), Sona Harutyunyan art historian, president of the Foundation KulturDialog Armenien, director of the International Print Biennial, Yerevan (AM), dr. Marcin Bialas associate professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice (PL), Zoltán Vécsi Nagy art historian, director of EMŰK (Transylvanian Art Centre) in Sepsiszentgyörgy (RO/HU), Ábel Kónya director of the Gallery in Miskolc, curator of the Miskolc Graphic Triennial (HU) and Apor Ferencz S. artist, curator of G6 (RO/HU).

The jury awarded 12 prizes for the creators of the highest quality works: the Main Prize of the biennial, the Nagy Imre Prize, the Plugor Sándor Prize, the Nagy Pál Prize, the Baász Imre Prize, the Prize of the Consulate General of Hungary, the Prize of the Eszterházy Károly University, the Partium Prize offered by Partium Christian University, the Prize of Hungarian University of Fine Arts, the Prize of Zereda Art Camp, the Prize of Pulzus Art Camp, respectively the Prize of the Art Camp of Gyergyószárhegy.

On the 12th of October 2020 from 6 p.m. you can also view on the Facebook page of the biennial the virtual exhibition opening entitled MASTERS of the artist Jing Liu (CN), who won the Main Prize of the 5th Graphic Art Biennial 

The 6th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland was sponsored by the Perla Harghitei and the Bethlen Gábor Funds. The publication of the catalogue of the biennial was sponsored by the National Cultural Fund.

The event will be organized with the co-operation of the following institutes: Covasna County Cultural Centre of Kovászna, the County Councils of Kovászna, Hargita and Maros, the Cultural and Art Centre of Gyergyószárhegy, the Museum of Maros County, respectively the Transylvanian Art Centre.

Film by Sharp Production

During the application period of ten weeks around 2100 creations were submitted from 868 artists of 65 countries. The jury selected 301 art works into the core material of the biennial, which we publish here in the following list.

IMPORTANT! Considering the globally spread COVID 19 – corona virus epidemy we had to modifiy the organisation of the 2020 biennial.

Please DO NOT SEND IN the selected art works! In the following we will inform you via email about the novelties.

Thank you for your understanding!

The professional interest towards the Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland is undiminished this year, too. This is also confirmed by the fact, that compared to the 58 countries of last year,  this year graphic artists from 65 countries submitted their works to the contest.  Similar to the previous editions of the Biennial, the Hungarian, Polish and Romanian presence is still the most pronounced, but this year some oriental countries are represented much stronger, too, among them Thailand, India, China or Japan.   During the submission period of ten weeks we received around 2100 art works from 868 artists.

The deadline of  application for the 6th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland was the midnight of March 23,  after that the first stage of jurying took place in the period of March 29-31. The jury of the G6 is made up of internationally recognized art historians like: dr. Alice Andreea Iliescu graphic artist – lecturer at University of Art and Design, Cluj Napoca, Romania, Prof. dr. István Erőss graphic artist – professor at Eszterházy Károly University, Eger, Hungary, Sona Harutyunyan art historian – founding president of KulturDialog Armenien / founder and managing director of International Print Biennale Yerevan, Armenia, dr. Marcin Bialas graphic artist – associate professor at Academy of Fine Arts in Katowice, Poland, Zoltán Vécsi Nagy art historian – director of Transylvanian Art Center, Sfântu Gheorghe, Romania, Ábel Kónya visual artist – director of the Gallery of Miskolc, curator of the Miskolc Graphic Art Triennial, Hungary and Apor Ferencz S. visual artist – curator of the biennial G6, Miercurea Ciuc, Romania.

Taking into account the epidemic situation, the jury members selected online the basic material of the Biennial made up of 300 art works on basis of exclusively professional criteria and on basis of the formal criteria of the call for application.

Soon we’ll publish the list of the selected works on the website of the Biennial.