11th Virtual Biennale Prague 2020
Graphic designers and visual artists are from Austria (1), Belarus (1), Belgium (1), Canada (1), China (154), Czech Republic (17), Ecuador (1), France (5), Germany (1), Hungary (1), Indonesia (1), Italy (5), Mexico (3), Poland (24), Rumania (1), Russia (30), Slovakia (3), Taiwan (5), Ukraine (1) and USA (3). From registered works were selected 259 participants from 20 countries; 146 professionals; 113 students; 49 universities.
1 - 30. 12. 2020
Curator: Lenka Sýkorová
Organising committee / Karel Míšek (Czech Republic, chairman of the committee), Lenka Sýkorová (Czech Republic) and Jakub Konupka (Czech Republic).
International jury / Thierry Sarfis (France, chairman of the jury), Pekka Loiri (Finland), Li Xu (China), Yasha Rozov (Israel) and Laze Tripkov (Macedonia).
The year 2020 will go down in history as a pandemic year. The world has faced a new health challenge globally in the form of the COVID-19 virus. As the virus kept spreading, the Earth locked down. Social distancing and masks have become symbols. We live in very interesting times that made us face new societal challenges. The societal challenge Wake Up Call was chosen as the main topic for the 11th Virtual Biennale Prague 2020. We will face a number of challenges in the future, from health threats to cyber-attacks to the climate crisis. Maybe our self-awareness will give us the right dimension of our being. Slowing down and minimizing stimuli may become the key to solving future global problems. The virtual environment nicely proved to be a hygienic parallel world, where one can continue to study and work and have a social and cultural life. Of course, this environment comes with many negative aspects, but it is up to us to face them. Culture must continue to exist even during the lockdown because it provides a good opportunity for psycho-hygiene and helps society to be positive, as art has the potential to influence the future.
The topic Wake Up Call included once again black and white posters and focused on drawing. The submitted posters mostly expressed anxiety about the new normal, the realization that the life we have had so far is more fragile than expected. The collection of posters also points out a wide range of problems, such as social distancing, manipulation by different media and an uncertain future. It is clear that posters will not solve the problems but they may help, through visual form, to develop critical thinking that can do it.
The year 2020 showed how foolish it is to plan anything as long as we undermine the very essence of being, i.e. health and nature. Healthy people live on a healthy planet. Some kind of constant adaptation and improvisation has been mankind’s typical trait since time immemorial. Therefore, the planned 11th Virtual Biennale Prague, with an exhibition in the Altán Klamovka Gallery in Prague, has been alternatively moved to the design section with the topic Aftermath of the 6th Festival of Contemporary Art Debarcader with an exhibition in the State Museum of the Southern Ural. The winning posters are also exhibited in the virtual Blue Point Art Gallery. The entire collection of posters will be exhibited in the Altán Klamovka Gallery in December and is available nonstop here https://wake-up-call-2020.tumblr.com.
Lenka Sýkorová