In the series of the Graphic Art Biennials of Szeklerland, the curator Zsolt Siklodi’s unexpected, tragic death has compelled the organizers to a painful and necessary reconsideration. Zsolt Siklodi often suggested that “The objective of the Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland is to place side by side the local and the universal, and thus to find and define the role of endeavours in the field of graphic art, born in the region as well as in other parts of the world, within global trends…”.
The organizers have also built the basic concept of this year’s biennial around these determining thoughts: “The experience gained in the past decade has shown that the relationship between the pixel-based image and traditional graphic art raises much more complex questions than it seemed at the first approach. A beneficial, fertilizing transgression can be observed between the digital and the analog worlds, which has extended the possibilities of expression of the graphic image, opening new horizons in the field of graphic art. The 2018 ‘G5’ Biennial wishes to provide an opportunity for the presentation of these interactions.” The new curator, Apor Ferencz S., artist from Miercurea Ciuc, also wishes to carry out his activity in the spirit of these ideas.
The call for application of the 5th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland is already public, graphic artists from the country and abroad can submit their artworks until March 30, 2018, 12:00 am. Submission can exclusively be made on the website www.grafikaiszemle.ro, via the online entry form. The digital reproductions of the artworks can be uploaded online, via the entry form, together with the required data. In the first phase, the jury will evaluate the digital reproductions; the artworks selected into the second phase will be included in the catalogue of the event and will form part of the exhibition.
The members of the jury are internationally acknowledged art historians and artists: dr. Cristian Aurel Opriş, Associate Professor of the University of Art and Design Cluj-Napoca; dr. István Erőss, Head of the Visual Arts Institute of the Eszterházi Károly University in Eger; Liu Chun-Lan, Professor of the National Taiwan University of Art; dr. Anca Boeriu, Assistant Professor of the National University of Arts Bucharest; Zoltán Vécsi Nagy, art historian, director of the Transylvanian Art Center; Ábel Kónya, chief curator of the Modem from Debrecen, Hungary; Apor Ferencz S., artist. The jury awards four prizes: the Main Prize of the Biennial (2000 euro) and three further prizes, the Nagy Imre Prize, the Plugor Sándor Prize and the Nagy Pál Prize (1000 euro each).
The awarding ceremony of this year’s biennial will take place on October 13, 2018, and will be preceded by the opening of the exhibition from the selected artworks in the Transylvanian Art Center from Sfântu Gheorghe. Within the framework of the event, the exhibition of the works of Zsolt Siklodi, former curator of the biennial, will be opened in the House with Arcades, as well as the exhibition of the works of Kamil Kucurek, winner of the previous biennial, in the Magma Contemporary Art Space.
Photo credit: Vargyasi Levente
