The 9th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland is set to open its doors this autumn. Its opening events, award ceremony and accompanying programmes will take place in Miercurea Ciuc and Sfântu Gheorghe from 24th of September to 2nd of October. Once again, the Biennial draws attention to graphic art not simply as a technique, but as a distinct way of thinking—a visual language of its own for interpreting the present, raising questions and reflecting on the world around us.
The award ceremony of the 9th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland will take place on Friday, 2 October, at 6 pm at the Transylvanian Art Centre in Sfântu Gheorghe. The exhibition will feature 142 works by 129 artists from 24 countries.
The Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland was initiated jointly by Covasna, Harghita and Mureș counties, with the aim of placing the artists and artistic presence of the region on the map of contemporary visual culture. Over the years, however, the Biennial has grown beyond this initial ambition, developing into an international artistic forum where diverse cultural experiences, creative attitudes and approaches to visual thinking meet.
The ninth edition of the Biennial is centred on the theme DISTORTION, which places timely questions at the heart of contemporary artistic thought. Distortion may refer to physical alteration, psychological displacement, or to ethical, moral or metaphorical forms of deviation.
The open call encouraged artists to use the tools of contemporary visual language to reflect on the fragility of human perception, social and political pressures, the changing nature of historical narratives and the instability of truth.
A total of 1,034 artists from 71 countries submitted 2,195 works in response to the call, once again demonstrating the international reach and professional significance of the Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland. Following the jury’s selection, the resulting exhibitions present a wide range of contemporary graphic practices and visual languages: in Miercurea Ciuc, works by 126 artists from 28 countries will be on display, while in Sfântu Gheorghe, the exhibition will feature 142 works by 129 artists from 24 countries.
Events in Miercurea Ciuc
The Biennial’s programme begins on 24 September at 6 pm at the Csíki Cinema Gallery, with the opening of Plakat-Polska, an exhibition by Ryszard Kaja. The exhibition offers an insight into an artistic world in which graphic art becomes a vehicle for cultural memory, visual communication and individual artistic vision.
On 29 September at 12:30 pm, Echoes in the System, an exhibition by Anna Orosz, will open in the hall of the Nagy István High School of Arts. The exhibition adds another perspective to the Biennial’s programme, directing attention towards individual experience, the surrounding environment and the connections between different social systems.
On 30 September at 5 pm, the Department of Graphic Arts of the University of Art and Design in Cluj-Napoca will open its exhibition One and Multiple at the Szekler Museum of Ciuc. Taking place during the university’s centenary year, the exhibition explores how graphic art has remained an important medium for artistic experimentation, conceptual research and visual communication, while continuing to play a defining role in the department’s educational programme.
The exhibition brings together works by former and current lecturers and students, as well as artists trained in Cluj-Napoca.
This will be followed on 30 September at 6 pm by the Miercurea Ciuc opening of the 9th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland, also at the Szekler Museum of Ciuc. The exhibition brings together the diversity and international scope of contemporary graphic art, presenting works that reflect, from different cultural and social perspectives, on the distortions of our present world.
Events in Sfântu Gheorghe
The Sfântu Gheorghe programme of the Biennial begins on 1 October at 6 pm at Arcaded House, with the opening of Distinguishing Marks, a solo exhibition by Italian artist Marco Trentin, Grand Prize winner of the 8th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland.
The conceptual foundation of the exhibition’s title lies in the practices of identification and recognition: it focuses on those characteristics by which an individual can be identified and which are recorded in various registers and identification documents.
The central event of the programme will take place on Friday, 2 October at 6 pm at the Transylvanian Art Centre, which will host the Sfântu Gheorghe opening and award ceremony of the 9th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland. The exhibition will feature 142 works by 129 artists from 24 countries.
The 9th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland once again demonstrates that contemporary art is capable of creating a shared language in which different cultures and experiences do not move further apart, but enter into dialogue. In this context, the theme of DISTORTION is not a definitive statement, but an open question. It invites viewers to examine the limits of their own perception, their understanding of reality, and the social and cultural processes that are constantly shaping the world around us.
The international character of the Biennial also makes the cultural vitality of Szeklerland visible. The diversity of the participating artists and the professional dialogue that emerges from their encounter demonstrate that a genuine cultural centre derives its strength not necessarily from its geographical scale, but from its intellectual openness, its network of connections and its creative and intellectual achievements.
The programme is organised jointly by Covasna, Harghita and Mureș counties, the School of Arts and Crafts in Sfântu Gheorghe, the Szekler Museum os Ciuc, the Gyergyószárhegy Cultural and Art Centre, the Transylvanian Art Centre and the Mureș County Museum.