During this festive period Janina Marks Museum-Gallery has a tradition to organize specialized selective exhibitions, where artists of various fields are invited to participate. In 2012, an international exhibition “Angels” was organized. In 2013, an international exhibition “Black Light 2. Experiments” and in 2014, a Christmas puppet show “Kingdom of Dolls” were held. This year, Janina Monkute-Marks Museum-Gallery presents a unique textile exhibition “The Old and the New”.

In the exhibition “The Old and the New” every textile artist produces two works: one is the latest, the other – the oldest work, created at the beginning of their creative path. It is like a mini-review of the creative path that each artist has saved in their workshop, their computers, or their minds. This exhibition will showcase a tiny fraction of each artist’s creative path and will reveal what an artist created and how they lived at the beginning of the creative path and how their lives are now.

The exhibition works vary on their display format, techniques and materials. In the beginning of their own creative path artists of the older generation often preferred the classic tapestry weaving technique. You will be able to see that in the early artworks of Danguole Brogiene, Birute Sarapiene, Danute Valentaite, Feliksas Jakubauskas, Marijonos Sinkeviciene, Irena Piliutyte and Jonas Stankevicius. Gobelin weaving is the oldest textile technique, which is the first the future textile artists get familiar with and learn. This technique requires extreme diligence, concentration and attention; therefore, budding artists often tend to choose other textile techniques.

The modern era, smart technologies and the use of artificial substances dictate much faster pace of life and work. Textile artists tend to use techniques and materials more and more freely. Modern works created over the last five years can be characterized by a variety of textile techniques, digital printing and non-traditional materials, such as sandpaper, various metallic threads, plastic, metal… The desire to move, to grow, to get interested in other means of expression leads a modern artist to entirely new textile art spaces that give birth to a distinctive modern textile.

Textile exhibition “The Old and the New” at Janina Monkute-Marks Museum-Gallery invites visitors to see forty works of art created by the following textile artists: Asta Fedaraviciute-Jasiune, Ausra Sedleviciute, Birute Sarapiene, Danguole Brogiene, Danguole Becelyte-Cachaviciene, Danute Valentaite, Dzina Jasiuniene, Egle Ganda Bogdaniene, Feliksas Jakubauskas, Gertruda Ziliute, Greta Kardisiute, Inga Miliauskaite, Irena Piliutyte, Jelena Skuliene, Jonas Stankevicius, Jurate Kazakeviciute, Jurate Petruskeviciene, Kristina Cyziute, Laura Obeleviciute-Kasputiene, Lina Jonike, Liucija Jurate Kryzeviciene-Hutcheon, Marijona Sinkeviciene, Mina Levitan-Babenskiene, Renata Laurinaviciute, Renata Vickeviciute-Kazlauskiene, Virginija Degeniene, Virginija Kirveliene, Zydre Ridulyte.

The curator of the exhibition – Ausra Sedleviciute.