(DIS)SIMILAR – East in the West
Exhibition by students of the VAA Department of Textile Art and Design
12/5–27/5/2021 (Exhibtion extended)

VAA textile gallery Artfex, Gaono str.1, Vilnius 
---

The exhibition aims at demonstrating the “conversation” between Eastern and Western cultures, traditions, ideas and images in the context of contemporary textile art. The Department of Textile Art and Design of the Vilnius Academy of Arts (VAA) reveals a range of experiences of traditional and oriental history and technologies of textile art, but students are always invited to discover individual links with the theme and technologies, whilst using their own interpretations and looking for original solutions. It is no coincidence that the name of the exhibition emphasises a highly relevant issue of originality in the learning process. Similar or dissimilar? The paradigm of following in the footsteps of the teacher or master and respect for traditions is much stronger in the East than it is in the West. How important is it for VAA students, or maybe for creators in general, to show their individuality and to look for a sense of identity against a baseline of traditions of their own country or of other countries? To create solo or maybe just dissolve into group work? To place emphasis on the process or outcome?
The exhibition has been designed as a dialogue for the group exhibition of contemporary textile artists “Baltos Kandys. East in the West” which is to open on 20 May at the Museum of Applied Arts and Design. In this way the language of art contributes to multifaceted cooperation between Textile Art and Design teachers and students at VVA.
 

Assoc. Prof. Laura Pavilonytė-Ežerskienė, exhibition curator