Textile and us

This exhibition represents artworks by textile artists working at the VAA Kaunas Faculty and the final works of their former graduates. The structure of the exhibition is based on the idea of ​​comparing the creative works of the teacher and the student. The relationship between the works is diverse: sometimes the thoughts of the leaders are extended, sometimes they are strictly denied. In both cases, the teaching artists patiently cultivate new creative personalities. This exhibition represents the artworks of famous artists and teachers, among them – Laima Oržekauskienė-Ore, Lina Jonikė, Monika Žaltauskaitė-Grašienė, Jūratė Petruškevičienė, Loreta Švaikauskienė. The young generation of textile artists is represented by Ernesta Dikinytė, Asta Puidokaitė, Edita Tamulaitytė, Giedrė Antanavičienė, Viktorija Berezniova, Meda Vitartaitė, Vaiva Strimaitytė, Donata Jutkienė, Odeta Liutvinaitė, Karolina Veissenborn.

For more than ten years, the Textile Department of VAA Kaunas Faculty has been a center of contemporary textile art at the international level. In both creative and teaching processes, two things are the most important – the creative use of textile techniques and technologies and the conceptuality of an artistic idea. Both lecturers–artists and students weave classic tapestries, use computer jacquard and folk weaving techniques. Embroidery or dyeing is also part of the study process. Various materials are used boldly – yarns and old fabrics, silicone and glass, metals and plastics, coffee, bread and spices, hair and gold. The issues of artistic purpose, possibilities and limits of textile craft, attitude towards man, gender, and culture are analyzed. Lithuanian textile often emerges from its warp and weft body and become simply the contemporary art. However, the most interesting thing is that the identity of the textile does not disappear – rich surfaces, structures and textures become an expressive artistic language, a language that attracts the viewer like a magnet.

It is worth to note that Kaunas is the cradle of Lithuanian textile art and an old city of the textile industry. In 1997, the first textile art exhibition “Linija” (The Line) took place in Kaunas, which later grew into the Kaunas Biennial, which is held every two years. In this way, Kaunas became an important meeting place for world textile artists in Europe. It would not have occurred if the professor and students of the Textile Department of VAA Kaunas Faculty had not worked seriously, sincerely and passionately in Kaunas. This exhibition is dedicated to the 80th Anniversary of textile studies at Kaunas School of Art.

Curator of the exhibition Prof. Dr. Rasa Žukienė