Book Art Festival — “Link”

Now in its fourth year, the Book Art Festival introduces a theme that is rather delicate, multifaceted, and rich in subjects: illustration. When thinking about the origins of illustration, one might recall the Egyptian papyrus scrolls, the woodblock prints of China, or the silhouettes of European monks bent over manuscripts, slowly and meticulously illuminating the pages of books. And then came the technological discoveries – the printing press, lithography, etching, and silkscreen – that unlocked boundless possibilities to multiply images at astonishing speed and through new means of expression.

Today, the role of illustration in the book is expansive and diverse. Sometimes illustrations complement the text, or even take over its functions – telling a story without words. Sometimes they depict nothing at all, becoming autonomous works of art, detached from the pages of the book and situated within the wider field of art. Sometimes they emerge from long processes of artistic research – and sometimes, by pure chance.

The exhibition Link presents book illustrations created through painting, textiles, printmaking, photography, film, and experimental typography. By consciously refraining from digital, generative, or AI-produced imagery, the focus returns to the origin of illustration – the human hand, the point from which the image itself is born, eager to tell a story.

The aim of the Book Art Festival is to promote the art of the book, to cultivate viewers’ and readers’ sensitivity to detail and artistic decision-making, and to affirm the book’s value as a cultural form. The festival also features creative workshops, book launches, residencies, and cross-Baltic projects in cultural collaboration.

Curator: Violeta Mackialo

Participating artists:
Ieva Babilaitė-Ibelgauptienė (LT), Anete Bajāre-Babčuka (LV), Bernardas Burba (LT), Joanna Concejo (PL), Rebecca Dautremer (FRA), Vaiva Frančiakaitė-Dėnė (LT), Gabrielė Gudaitytė (LT), Lina Itagaki (LT), Agnė Juodvalkytė (LT), Nathan Jurevičius (AU/CAN), Daiva Kairevičiūtė (LT), Rimvydas Kepežinskas (LT), Laima Matuzonytė (LT), Julija Matulytė (LT), Anete Melece (LV), Vytautas Michelkevičius (LT), Agnė Nananai (LT), Nastassia Pazniak (BY), Gailė Pranckūnaitė (LT), Julija Račiūnaitė (LT), Deimantė Rybakovienė (LT), Gytis Skudžinskas (LT), Ūla Šveikauskaitė (LT), Shaun Tan (AUS), Laimutė Varkalaitė (LT), Vītiņa Lote Vilma (LV), Stefan Zsaitsits (AUT), Kotryna Zylė (LT), Viltė Žumbakytė-Haisch (LT/DE)

Festival team:
Director: Žana Jegorova
Curator: Violeta Mackialo
Coordinator: Gabija Savickaitė
Architect: Monika Ščerbiakienė
Designer: Arnas Augutis