7th Virtual Biennale Prague 2014

AUG DESIGN – Seventh International parade of visual arts and design. Theme: INFORMATION WAR

International Art Project is divided into two categories: Professional and Student Category and is representing visual artists from Argentina, Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, China, Colombia, Cuba, Czech Republic, Ecuador, France, Germany, Italy, Iran, Japan, Kosovo, Mexico, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Turkey, Ukraine, USA and Venezuela.

Altán Klamovka Gallery, Prague
22. 11. - 14. 12. 2014

Authors of project Karel Míšek a Lenka Sýkorová
Curator of project is Lenka Sýkorová

Organising committee / Karel Míšek (CZ, chairman of the committee), Jan Hora (CZ),
Michal Kukačka (CZ), Lenka Sýkorová (CZ) and Jiří Toman (CZ)

International jury / Laze Tripkov (MK, chairman of the jury), Jakub Konupka (CZ),
Robert Paršo (SK), Thierry Sarfis (FR) and Mieczysław Wasilewski (PL)

This year’s international exhibition of artists’ posters, organised by the Association of Applied Graphics, the independent Altán Klamovka Gallery in Prague, and Graphic Design Studio I of the Faculty of Art and Design of the Jan Evangelista Purkyně University in Ústí nad Labem, has taken for this year’s theme the analysis of the concept of “information war”. Since the exhibition takes place mainly in a virtual environment, interconnecting the whole world via the Internet, it provides the ideal conditions for reflecting on the changes in global society under the influence of the media, which have the power to manipulate reality and make their recipients believe in the new reality. A media war – day-to-day brainwashing with new information in the form of words and visuals – creates information stress within society, regardless of the fact that a lot of information is falsified. Distinguishing the true reality from manipulation and lies has become more and more complicated, increasing the tension between reality and the virtual environment in which information spreads incredibly fast. This is also the case of Virtual Biennale Prague. Its title is misleading since a “biennale” takes place every other year, but the Virtual Biennale Prague has been organised annually since 2007, with the exception of last year. This is to point out the hurriedness of the present time, but equally the advantages of the virtual environment, which interconnects the whole world and makes the spreading of information very easy.

Every year, participants receive an e-mail with the assigned topic, which they must elaborate within a very short time before uploading their work to the website. Then the organisers process the contributions into an exhibition held in the Altán Klamovka Gallery and prepare materials for the international jury. The exhibition is not just a confrontation between the exhibited artists’ posters on the given topic, but also a contest in two categories – professional graphic designers and art college students. This year’s Virtual Biennale Prague has around 250 participating artists from 29 countries, the highest number ever. The project deals with the issue of the information war, which is globally perceived as one of the key aspects of the present civilisation. The exhibited posters (in black-and-white, as required by the contest rules) successfully treat the information war through visual condensation in a graphic form (drawing combined with letters and photographs). Throughout the exhibition, manipulation, alienation, a certain delusion and a sense of menace are apparent. In comparison with previous years – Email-sex (2007), Fast Food (2008), Global Crisis (2009), Discrimination (2010), China (2011), and Corruption (2012) – this year’s exhibition has a more serious tone, lacking humour, exaggeration, and irony, perhaps due to the seriousness of the topic.

Lenka Sýkorová

Collaborating Art Schools:

From Czech Republic:

FUD UJEP, Ústí nad Labem
FIT VUT, Brno
FSI VUT, Brno
FI MU, Brno
FMK UTB, Zlín
Orange Factory, Prague

From Ecuador:

Universidad Catolica de Santiago de Guayaquil

From Germany:

Folkwang University of Arts, Essen

From Italy:

Istituto d‘Arte Applicata e Design, Torino /IAAD
Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma
Politecnico di Torino

From Mexico:

Instituto Poblano de Estudios Superiores A.C., Puebla
Universidad Autónoma, San Luis Potosí
Facultad de Artes Plásticas Universidad Veracruzana

From Poland:

ASP Jana Matejki, Kraków
ASP, Wroclaw
The East European State Higher School, Przemyśl /PWSW
University of Wroclaw
University of Rzeszów
Warsaw School of Information Technology
Eugeniusz Geppert Academy of Art and Design, Wroclaw
University of Silesia, Katowice
University of Arts, Poznań
Nicolaus Copernicus University, Toruń
Art Academy, Szczecin

From Slovakia:

Faculty of Arts University of Prešov

From Serbia:

Academy of Arts, Novi Sas
Academy of Arts, Niš

From Taiwan:

Fu-Hsing Trade &Art School, Taipei

From Ukrajine:

Kyiv State Institute of Decorative Arts and Design of Michael Boychuk, Kyiv