The Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland, based on ten long years’ experience, is gaining ever more attention and recognition. This is well supported by the number and artistic value of the artworks submitted to the 5th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland. During the ten-week submission period 2249 artworks by 934 artists were submitted altogether, which is almost the double of the previous edition of the Biennial.
If we regard the country of origin of the applicants, the objective “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…”, often expressed by the late curator of the Biennial, Zsolt Siklódi, seems more and more feasible. Artworks were submitted from 58 countries all over the world; similarly to the 2012 and 2014 editions, Hungary, Romania and Poland are the most represented countries, besides, there is an increasing representation of Russia, Serbia, India and China as well.
The deadline of the 5th Graphic Art Biennial of Szeklerland was April 3, midnight; the first phase of the evaluation of the jury took place at the Covasna County Cultural Center on 5-6 April. 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.
Five members of the professional jury evaluated the artworks on the spot and two members evaluated them online. From among more than two thousand works 295 were selected into the second phase. The applications that did not conform to the formal requirements of the call for application were excluded from the start; the remaining artworks were evaluated exclusively from a professional point of view.
Dr. István Erőss graphic artist noted that this year’s material was highly varied and all sorts of tendencies were represented thanks to the fact that there were applicants from all over the world. The generational differences among the artists were also perceptible; the differences between the views of the so-called “older” artists and university students were clearly contoured. Apor Ferencz S., the curator of the Biennial expressed his satisfaction over the fact that a great part of the applicants submitted artworks in conformity with the basic conception of the “G5” call for applications.