Metallophone 6: Memory of a place. The Contemporary Metal Art Biennial

The Grand Biennial of Contemporary Jewellery METALLOphone and its accompanying exhibitions in Vilnius.

On Friday, 30 September, at 5 pm, the Museum of Applied Arts and Design opened the largest contemporary jewellery art event in Lithuania - the 6th International Biennial of Contemporary Jewellery and Metal Art METALLOphone: Memory of a Place.

The main ideological axis of the Biennial, which is now in its sixth time, is the memory and its traces that surround a place and a person, which is the main focus of more than a hundred works by artists from around the world. Changing and expanding the format of the Biennale, two new solo exhibitions are also open to visitors on the opening day: About the Bracelet by Sigitas Virpilaitis at the Museum of Applied Arts and Design and Back to My Roots by Swedish jeweller Catarina Hällzon at the Vilnensis Gallery.

Each time the Biennale has its own theme. The main title, METALLOphone, implies the presence of metal in the exhibition, and of course refers to the instrument, but each time the instrument sounds different. This year's theme is Memory of a Place, which comes from the idea that we all have places that are important to us, that shape us and where we leave our traces. Of course we remember them. But perhaps places remember us too? That is why this Biennale is both about the memory that remains in buildings, memories, natural materials, and about returning to tradition. The use of traditional, forgotten materials, our own techniques, materials that are specific to the place. Inevitably, this is now also linked to the war: There are places in Ukraine that will remain only in memory, places that no longer exist, says Jurgita Ludavičienė, curator of the Biennale.

The artists in the exhibition have their own take on the main theme. The Biennial features a huge variety of materials and techniques, combined with a sound installation by musician and sound artist Marija Rasa Kudabaitė.

The Biennale's main exhibition, Memory of a Place, features works by 116 participants from 24 countries. For the first time, the Biennale is accompanied by two solo exhibitions. In the exhibition About a Bracelet, S. Virpilaitis ironically and wittily creates the stories of more than 40 bracelets from the most unexpected materials.

C. Hällzon works with natural materials, copper, silver and enamel, using ancient metalworking techniques and trying to bring back the forgotten materials to their former meaning, reminding us that human beings are part of nature too.

Opening performance by Emmanuel Lacoste, a jeweller, performance artist and curator from France, a participant of the 4th Biennale METALLOphone: A Signature

- The Biennale's main exhibition Memory of a Place at the Museum of Applied Arts and Design will be open to visitors until 28 February 2023.
- Catarina Hällzon solo exhibition Back to My Roots will be open at the Vilnensis Gallery (Dominikonų str. 7, Vilnius) until 30 November 2022.
- Sigitas Virpilaitis solo exhibition About the Bracelet at the Museum of Applied Arts and Design will be open until 28 February 2023.


Artists list:
Silvia Serra Albaladejo, Ines Almeida, Jordi Aparicio, Andrea Auer, Peter Bauhuis, Dovilė Bernadišiūtė, Lisa Björke, Sofia Björkman, Brune Boyer, Klara Brynge, Anna Butwell, Eglė Čėjauskaitė-Gintalė, Teresa Dantas, Carole Deltenre, Marytė Dominaitė, Daria Edström, Anja Eichler, Ammeli Engström, Petronella Eriksson, Nicolas Estrada, Anna Fanigina, Kira Fritsch, Doerthe Fuchs, Fabiana Fusco, Sara Gackowska, May Gañán, Gabriella Mika Goldsmith, Ieva Grigienė, Martin Grosman, Dominyka Gulbinaitė, Susanne Hammer, Janne K. Hansen, Juan Harnie, Margit Hart, Heidemarie Herb, Tuija Hietanen, Maja Houtman, Annika Ingelaere, Jussi Järvinen, Rasa Jundulaitė, Kaori Juzu, Anastasia Kandaraki, Malene Kastalje, Karina Kazlauskaitė, Laima Kėrienė, Deimantė Kiesutė, Anu Kirkinen, Lauryna Kiškytė, Agnieszka Knap, Ute Kolar, Marija Kudabaitė, Julia Maria Künnap, Urve Küttner, Lore Langendries, Lena Lindahl, Jeanine van der Linde, Réka Lőrincz, Rikke Lunnemann, Urmas Lüüs, Jana Machatová, Fritz Maierhofer, Sandra Malaškevičiūtė, Daniela Malev, Kadri Mälk, Jorge Manilla, Gigi Mariani, Veera Metso, Amandine Meunier, Claudia Milić, Ikaros Moushouttas, Nauris Našlėnas, Maarja Niinemägi, Inês Nunes, Julia Obermaier, Hans-Otto Ojaste, Lena Olson, Nelly Van Oost, Janne Peltokangas, Vita Pukštaitė-Bružė, Ari Pyörälä, Tiina Rajakallio, Loukia Richards, Anna Rikkinen, Anne Roolaht, Paulius Rukas, Hanna Ryynänen, Roberta Consalvo Sances, Helena Sandström, Danni Schwaag, Kairi Sirendi, Silke Spitzer, Kamilė Stanelienė, Dimitar Stankov, Birutė Stulgaitė, Sanna Svedestedt Carboo, Eglė Širvytė, Kristýna Španihelová, Misato Takahashi, Nelli Tanner, Edu Tarin, Vivi Touloumidi, Johanna Törnqvist, Luís Torres, Maud Traon, Ilona Treiman, Vilniaus anonimas, Kotryna Vaitekūnaitė, Saulius Vaitiekūnas, Charlotte Vanhoubroeck, Kadi Veesaar, Gabi Veit, Eglė Vengalytė de Meulenaer, Andrea Wagner, Arek Wolski, Agnė Žaltauskaitė

Sound: Marija Rasa Kudabaitė
Curator: Jurgita Ludavičienė
Architect: Simona Sigita Paplauskaitė
Designer: Lina Bastienė
Organised by the Lithuanian National Museum of Art, the jewellery school-gallery "Vilnensis"
Partner: Vilnius Academy of Fine Arts
Partly supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture
Media sponsors: 15min, MediaTraffic, www.vilniausgalerija.lt