On Thursday, 27 October at 5 pm, Vilnius gallery Meno Niša invites everyone to a double celebration of enamel art. Simultaneously, the gallery will host the 9th International Vilnius Biennale of Enamel Art Vilnius 2022 and a solo exhibition of enamel art by artist Marytė Dominaitė.
Photos – courtesy of Meno Niša gallery © Tadas Deksnys
The International Biennale of Enamel Art Vilnius 2022 is the only event dedicated to professional enamel art in the Baltic States. Gallery Meno Niša has been organizing the enamel biennale for 16 years, during which time Vilnius has become a prominent center of enamel art, recognizable and well-known among the capitals of Eastern and Western Europe, enamel art professionals and fans. Started in 2005, the biennale has weathered economic crises and the pandemic, the number of participants and the geography of countries have changed, but the enamel has remained. The International Biennale of Enamel Art celebrates the city of Vilnius and the Goldsmiths’ Workshop, which last year celebrated its 525th anniversary.
Marytė Dominaitė
The curators of the biennale are its founder and jeweller M. Dominaitė (Gurevičienė), who has accumulated vast experience in the field of enamel art and conducts metal art educational events, and dr. Jurgita Ludavičienė, a curator and art historian, who has been writing about contemporary jewellery for more than 20 years, and who has been curating exhibitions of Lithuanian jewellery in Lithuania and abroad.
The main theme of the 11th International Vilnius Biennale of Enamel Art is Impression. The enamel artists recall the strongest impression in their lives, return to the past, and translate their impressions into works of art. An impression is a work based on a feeling or a mood, says the biennale’s curator, jeweller M. Dominaitė. The biennale brings together 29 artists from 8 countries – Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Sakartvelo, Ukraine, Germany, Israel, and Venezuela – presenting as many as 74 works. In January 2023, the works of the 9th International Biennale of Enamel Art will travel to the Panevėžys City Art Gallery.
Neringa Poškutė Jukumienė
According to dr. Ludavičienė, enamel is a technique older than Christianity; it has survived through the ages, left its mark on history, fascinated the world’s most powerful, and continues to do so in the contemporary world. However, we don’t get to see enamel works very often: this technique requires concentration, the ability to improvise, and know-how. However, Vilnius is particularly privileged: here, jewellery enamel shines at the enamel biennale held every two years – the largest professional event dedicated to this field of jewellery.
Noga Harel
“At the 11th International Biennale of Enamel Art, visitors will be able to see the different ways in which enamel is used: the delicate cloisonné enamel and the audacious industrial enamel, to compare the way artists from different countries work, and to see what the strongest impressions of their lives are. Here, enamel is combined with wood, amber, precious stones, or gold leaf. It moves onto copper dishes and book covers, unexpectedly becoming a painting or a three-dimensional sculpture, dazzling with colour, and seducing with technical finesse. Icons, glasses, sculptures, plaques, brooches, and objects tell of the artists’ visions and convey memories. The works presented at the 9th biennale clearly demonstrate that this technique really knows no boundaries,” says dr. Ludavičienė.
Dominaitė’s exhibition
On the same day, with the Vilnius Biennale of Enamel Art Vilnius 2022, gallery Meno Niša is opening a solo exhibition Meeting. Enamel Art by M. Dominaitė, an artist, nurturer of enamel art, and curator of the International Biennale of Enamel Art, who has been known in the enamel art scene in Lithuania and abroad for four decades.
Sofi Etsadashvili
The collection of works exhibited in the third personal exhibition of M. Dominaitė will invite the audience to admire her previous and new enamel works. The graduate of the Tallinn Institute of Art has always been able to master silver, glass, enamel, and pastel. As well as precious metals and stones. M. Dominaitė has also always been distinguished by her special sense of space and a tendency towards installation; her works require space, and they are conceptual and originally presented.
Vilnius Biennale of Enamel Art Vilnius 2022 and M. Dominaitė’s exhibition Meeting. Enamel Art will be open until 18 November. The organizer of the Vilnius Biennale of Enamel Art is the Goldsmiths’ Guild, which is a participant in the Vilnius Fine Crafts and Fairs Program. The Biennale is financed by Vilnius City Municipality, the sponsor of the gallery Meno Niša. M. Dominaitė’s exhibition is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
