07 01 16:00 (opening) Museum of Applied Arts and Design (Arsenalo Street 3A, Vilnius) | free admission
Exhibition open until 29 September
The Song Celebration pays attention to the visual arts – the folk art – as well. This exhibition showcases the works of the most prominent artisans from all over Lithuania, inspired by the traditional way of life of the ancestors.
The Folk Art Exhibition of the anniversary Song Celebration will display the liveliness of the tradition with the image of a tree core. The core in this exhibition stands for many things: the axis, the spine supporting the body, the origins of life, the source, as well as the heart, the nucleus, the essence. The purpose of the collection of the exhibition is to conduct a certain analysis of the state of the folk art and to find out whether folk art is experiencing growth or decadence today. Has it sustained the essential features, the meanings and purposes that laid its foundations? What has it gained or lost over time?
The exhibition is aimed at determining whether today’s creativity reflects the principles of the variety of ideas and forms being the basis of life, and whether there is a sustainable link to the tradition. It will also be explored whether the tradition still speaks about what makes unique in this cultural expression, how we differ from other contemporary traditional artisans, and if we can notice the influence of the worldly cultural development tendencies to our artisans. The exhibition in intended to showcase the works of the artisans from various national communities (the Jewish, the Karaites, the Roma, etc.), featuring apparent mutual connections and differences. The organisers of the exhibition also aim at showing the input the traditional art can provide for the future visual arts and culture in general.
The exhibition will be complemented by a program of thematic tours, led by guides from various cultural backgrounds: artisans, art researchers, mythologists, ethnologists, other experts, researchers and makers of art and intangible cultural heritage.
