The 30th jubilee edition of the Biennial of Graphic Arts returned to reconsider the nature of the graphic processes, showcasing the way which the artists of the day were responding to contemporary communication tools and processes. It was a complex event consisting of several exhibitions and events.
The main exhibition Interruption highlighted certain developmental aspects that the graphic field had undergone within the contemporary times. Printing processes expanded and touched many genres of contemporary art. Select, traditional media managed to maintain their relevance, by evolving and adapting, others became obsolete and sunk into oblivion. Other, newer processes, especially digital practices, seemed to have finally established themselves after a long period of maturation as legitimate tools of artistic expression. The main exhibition thus focused on projects that have a fresh, contemporary approach to traditional methods, develop the established graphic procedures with new ways of utilising them or employ new print technologies within high-quality artistic investigations. In most cases, the techniques used reflect and comment on the situation in the world in which we live: how we receive information today, how we communicate or try to communicate with each other, how we (do not) understand the world. The repeated reflection on printmaking as form and content strengthened the polygraphic terrain and connected the work of artists from around the world.
An important part of the main exhibition was the site-specific project by the artist Charles Juhász-Alvarado, described by Deborah Cullen as a silent drama. He addressed passers-by with 118 photographs on billboards on the Jakopič Promenade in the heart of Tivoli Park. The images surrounding the benches were mirrored or rhymed, thus acting as a choir. Working with Karen Albors, whose parents are hearing impaired, he created a visual sequence that unfolded in front of the viewers as they strolled along the promenade. The artist’s sister, the writer and translator Emeshe Juhász-Mininberg contributed the texts tied to each image, which combined to form a poem. They referred to the images, but at the same time weaved a cadence that accompanied viewers along the way. The Slovenian version and design of this unique intertwining between the images of sign language and the poetic inscriptions was created by Mina Fina, which represented another partnership that emphasised the counterpoint of languages and at the same time placed translation, coincidence and exchange into the forefront. The project was about universal, common points since this was the only way that it could evoke emotional perception.
A special segment of the 30th Biennial of Graphic Arts was intended for the students of the Academy of Fine Arts and Design (ALUO) in Ljubljana. They were included in the event with a solo accompanying exhibition that showed their view of the Biennial of Graphic Arts. One of the accompanying exhibitions of the 30th Biennial of Graphic Arts was also the exhibition Imprints +386, which was on view at the Calcografia National museum in Madrid (in collaboration with Hablar en Arte from Madrid).
