Kaunas Artists' House Lithuanian art news website
Skip to main content
The best sculptors of Lithuania of last year were announced at Vilnius St. John’s Street Gallery on the 5th of May. They were elected from the authors who presented works for the competitive exhibition “The Best Sculpture of the Year’09”. Two Kaunas artists are among the winners.
In brief: The biggest jazz festival of the country Kaunas Jazz celebrated its 20th anniversary this year. It appeared that the budget reduced by half was sufficient for the free programme of the festival on the outdoor stage and in churches, for the events of jazz fashion and fireworks, for good club projects and for inviting three mega-stars to the main stages of the festival.
“MonoBaltic“ could be called a festival-child as compared with the famous lord Kaunas Jazz; still, the festival calculating its second year only has strong and sharp teeth that left a bright mark of the bite on the cultural body of the city in four days.
Even the tolerant S.Kuzma admitted that many works presented in the exhibition were not sculptures but “objects with features of art”. In the opinion of S.Kuzma, one of the most important problems of contemporary Lithuanian sculpture is the lack of wish or inability of young artists to take over the tradition of Lithuanian sculpture or at least the most outstanding achievements of it.
Columbian art critics evaluate Lituano Nijolė Sivickas de Mockus highly. She was called “an artist giving birth to iron” in 1990. She burns clay in low temperature and uses metal. Works from burned soil – the new clay combustion technique was invented by her son Antanas Mockus. The titles of her works are abstract and philosophical. The artist gives titles to works for practical reasons; moreover, she believes that a title sets an artwork free. 1
Columbian art critics evaluate Lituano Nijolė Sivickas de Mockus highly. She was called “an artist giving birth to iron” in 1990. She burns clay in low temperature and uses metal. Works from burned soil – the new clay combustion technique was invented by her son Antanas Mockus. The titles of her works are abstract and philosophical. The artist gives titles to works for practical reasons; moreover, she believes that a title sets an artwork free.
It is not enough for the painter to admire the interpretation of the environment created by him. The painter invites the viewer to see the banks, women, apples, blue Eifel tower loved by him. The Lithuanian Jew treats the viewer with his Paris, which is so tasty and French.
The winner of poetry festival “Poetry Spring 2010” Z. Mažeikaitė: “most of the time I spend in translating. Poetry – is the unexpectedly visited favour. You don’t know when or how, or where. You just get it and indulge in it. Translation is also a creative dizziness where you can feel the joy of creating. This pleasurable dizziness, creative favour is a gift that exhilarates and enriches. Everything seems so far and careless, you just feel the pleasure of creative process, feel the heroes, the world of a different creator. This is what is most important for me in creation”.
In brief: In the interview Mindaugas Grigaitis and Doc. Dr. Saulius Keturakis discuss the situation of popular literature, evaluation criteria, relation of academic literature criticism and popular literature, history and reasons of present spread of popular literature.
