The 8th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland, 

Sfântu Gheorghe/Miercurea Ciuc

The Covasna, Harghita and Mureş County Councils, together with the Cultural Center of Covasna County, the Szekler Museum of Ciuc the Lăzarea Cultural and Creation Center and the Mureș County Museum, announce the application for the 8th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland.

Political divisions, social inequality, wars, climate change, natural disasters. In recent years, a number of geopolitical events and ecological phenomena in the world have led us to take a closer look at our collective vision of the present and the future.

We look at what happens when a relative social, political or natural balance is upset. A state in which opposing influences, circumstances or aspirations no longer seem to balance each other seems to break down. Equally important is the question of the inner equilibrium and tranquillity, or lack of it, of the individual soul. The G8 stresses the importance of individual and collective responsibility in maintaining balance, and the importance of the social role of the creator and of art in restoring it.

The 8th Graphic Art Biennal of Szeklerland invites visual interpretations of the importance of balance and, conversely, the lack of it, in such a way that the artistic intention focuses on the social role of the nature of the image through the creative attitude. 

The organisers welcome applications from all those artists who, with the intention of renewing the processes of contemporary graphic art, are sending a message to the future and holding up a mirror of critique to the society of our time through the possible responses they create.

In the spirit of the ideas above, the organizers of the biennial expect the submission of printed graphics created with the following procedures:
– graphic artworks created with traditional procedures of graphic art;
– graphic artworks created with digital methods of image creation and printed with digital devices;
– graphic artworks prepared with digital methods of image creation but printed with traditional methods.

Terms and Conditions of Participation in the 8th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland 

The terms and conditions of the biennial have partly changed! Please read the terms and conditions of participation attentively!

1. PARTICIPANTS
Professional artists and art university students may participate in the biennial if their application is in conformity with the Terms and Conditions included in the Call for Application.
Associations, professional organizations and other groups cannot apply. The artists can apply to the biennial only personally.

2. CRITERIA OF ARTWORKS TO BE SUBMITTED
– The topic of the artworks can be freely chosen.
– The paper size of the artworks must be minimum 40×40 cm, and maximum 100×100 cm.
– The submitted graphic artwork has been created in the past two years.
– All artworks created with printed graphics procedures are accepted, included in the definition of graphics in terms of high, low and plain print methods (woodcut and linocut, aquaforte, aquatint, mezzotint, lithography, screen printing, individual print, C-print, offset, electrographics, etc.).
– Every artist may participate with maximum 3 artworks. Every submitted artwork counts as 1 artwork. The elements of a series count as separate artworks; thus, a three-element series counts as three artworks.
– Artworks created in pencil, pastel, coal, ink and other individual, that is not multiplication procedures as well as photos printed without any image manipulation or reproductions of artworks (paintings, sculptures, installations, performances, etc.) are not accepted.

3. SUBMISSION
Submission is only possible on the following website, via the online entry form: www.gbiennial.ro

The digital reproductions of the artworks can be uploaded online, via the entry form, together with the required data.

Parameters of digital reproductions:
– the file size of the digital image may not exceed 15 MB;
– the digital images can be uploaded in uncompressed jpg, jpge or png format, 300 dpi resolution;
– the longer size must be minimum 2500 pixels.

If the uploading was successful, the system will send a confirmation message to the e-mail address specified in the filled-in entry form. If you might have problems with online registration, please contact the organizers on the following e-mail: grafikaibiennale@gmail.com

The deadline of submitting the digital reproductions is March 25, 2024, midnight, 12:00 (UTC+2). 

Important! With submission the applicants assume that, if their submitted works are selected by the jury, they will send the original artworks by post or will submit them to the biennial in person.  The organizers do not assume the printing of the artworks or the refunding of printing costs!

Important! For the phase of preselection please don’t send the original artworks by post! If this is the case, we are unable to send back the original artworks.

4. ENTRY FEE
There is no entry fee for the 8th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland.

5. SELECTION OF THE ARTWORKS, EVALUATION BY THE JURY
The members of the jury are internationally acknowledged art historians and artists.
The evaluation will take place in two phases: preselection and the selection of the awarded artworks.
The decisions of the jury cannot be overridden.

5.1 Preselection
The preselection will take place based on the digital reproductions of the artworks to be submitted.
The jury will select the artworks that qualify for the second phase; these artworks will be included in the catalogue of the biennial.
All participants will be informed on the results of preselection via e-mail.

5.2 Sending the artworks qualifying for the second phase by post
The original artworks must be sent by post or submitted to the biennial in person.
Please attach to the submitted artworks the printed entry form received via e-mail during online registration in the first phase. The artworks must be numbered and signed in accordance with the international graphics standards.
Original graphic artworks must be submitted without their frames or mat boards, in portfolios or carton reels. 

Postal / shipping address:
Centrul de Cultură al Judeţului Covasna
RO-520008 Sfântu Gheorghe, Str. Libertății nr. 2
Jud. Covasna
România

Please indicate on the postal package:
The 8th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland
For cultural purpose only, no commercial value!

The deadline for sending the original artworks by post (postmark date) or submitting them in person is May 10, 2024.
Artworks sent after the deadline will be automatically excluded.
We do not assume any responsibility and cannot compensate for possible damages that might occur during transport.

5.3 Prizes
– Main Prize of the Biennial
– Nagy Imre Prize
– Plugor Sándor Prizer
– Nagy Pál Prize
– Baász Imre Prize
– The prize of the Consulate General of Hungary in Miercurea Ciuc
– The prize of the Hungarian University of Fine Arts
– Partium Award by the Partium Christian University, Oradea/RO
– Eszterházy Károly University’s Prize, Eger/HU
– MAMŰ Society Prize, Budapest, HU
– Lăzarea Art Camp Prize
– Pulzus Art Camp Prize

6. EXHIBITION AND AWARDING

The artworks selected for the second phase will be exhibited in the course of the biennial depending on the exhibition surface and the ranking of the jury.
Venue: Transylvanian Art Center, Sfântu Gheorghe/Szekler Museum of Ciuc, Miearcurea Ciuc
Official opening of the biennial: October 11, 2024.

The authors of the artworks will be informed on the decision of the jury and the details of the opening ceremony by post, phone or via e-mail.

7. FURTHER INFORMATION

– The awarded artworks will remain in the property of the Transylvanian Art Center. 
– Each artist may donate his work, extending in this way the graphic collection of the Transylvanian Art Centre. You can express this intention by the completion of the application form.
– After the exhibitions of the Biennial the exhibited artworks will be sent back to their authors by post within one year. The donated works constitute an exception here.
– The selected artworks will be included in the biennial’s catalogue.
– The organizers of the biennial reserve the right to organize the exhibitions.

Submission implies the acceptance of the terms and conditions of participation in the biennial!

Download the call for application: .pdf