INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION
TEXTILE‘ 97

KAUNAS 1997

Place:  M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum
M. Žilinskas Art Gallery, Nepriklausimybės sq. 12

Exhibition organizer
Lithuanian Artists Assosiation, Kaunas Department, Textile Section

Organizers‘ Committee
Marijona Baltrušaitytė-Sinkevičienė
Liucija Banaitienė
Almyra Bartkevičiūtė
Zinaida Dargienė
Birutė Sarapienė
Genovaitė Sasnauskienė
Jūratė Petruškevičienė
Danutė Valentaitė

Architect of Exhibition
Evaldas Pauza

An art critic Raimonda Kogelyte Simanaitiene wrote about exhibition:
This international exhibition reflects typical process, experiment in using the main material of textile – yearn and its substitutes. This is characteristic feature of Baltic textile. This exhibition held in our neighborhood – Lodz or Scandinavian applied art exhibitions held in Lithuania. Those exhibitions activated untiutilitarian tendencies in Lithuania. There is not much of the ethnic character in this textile exhibition but tradition is felt in use of materials and techniques (patterns, embroidery, stitches, colors, the conceptually incoded image of the ancient textile).

We can find three groups of works in the exhibition.    
First group – space textile and crafts in the surroundings. In their works yarn is replaced by other materials – plastics, grass, foil, chocolate and so on. From this point of view the works of A. Bartkeviciute, V. Daskevicius, M. Krumins. B. Lastauskaite, L. Orzekauskiene are rather vanguard. Many of these artists create installations, assemblages. The textile artists of second group continue the traditions of abstract painting (A. Baumane, V. Jurevicius, V. Lauzonyte, J. Urbiene), photo hyperrealism (V. Geluniene, L. Jonikiene), op art (J. Smidtiene, R. Rasimaviciene and others).    The third trend is classic tapestry, maintaining the traditional character, the way of expression and is appreciated for its uniqueness and practical usage. In this exhibition we can notice the change of materials used by textile masters. Wool, cotton, flax are replaced by synthetic fibers. So we can justify the new material and the new means used in textile works – gluing, imitation, perversion. These things we can see in the works of L. Orzekauskiene, B. Lastauskaite, V. Daskevicius and others.”