The culmination of the jubilee 30th edition of the Legnica Festival of Silver SILVER, which had been grandly planned, was held at a truly express pace and in the artistic atmosphere. One event after another, in total: 14 exhibitions, over 1000 pieces, 7 exhibition rooms, vernissages, a scientific session, happenings and a jazz concert.
The two-day silver feast was inaugurated on Friday, 15th May with a scientific session CRAFT-DESIGN-ART, which took place in the conference hall in the Qubus Hotel. During the jewellery- and design-related parts, the invited silversmiths, theorists and editors-in-chief of some trade journals deliberated on the details of Legnica exhibitions and their effect on the history of Polish avant-garde, as well as on the overall condition of it. At the extensive forum jewellery-related reminiscences, collections and actions of the artists guesting in Legnica were presented. Friday afternoon was possessed by a series of vernissages and the Legnica market square was packed with members of the silver feast until late in the evening. The series commenced in the AWANS Gallery (16 Market Square) with the opening of the SILVER SCHOOLS exhibition, traditionally presenting works of professors, graduates and students of art schools, this time three schools from Portugal and Germany. In stately modern metal showcases were presented works of students of the Jewellery Department at the High School Of Art and Design (ESAD), Matosinhos, Portugal, the Department of Jewellery and Applied Objects Design at the Design School of Pforzheim, Germany and the Department of Design at the University of Applied Sciences, Düsseldorf, Germany. It was then followed by a joint procession to the OldCity Hall, where two more exhibitions were inaugurated: HOLOWNIA – presentation of the works which were sent but not qualified to this year’s International Silverart Competition (DECADENCE) and THE TASTE OF DECADENCE – outstanding, referring to the title graphics by Marek Okrasa. This ‘rounding’ celebration was crowned with a vernissage in the Silver Gallery Under the Quail’s Basket, which opened the exhibition of works by Marcin Bogusław – the graduate of the Academy of Fine Arts in Łódź and this year’s debutant. After such a rich treat for eyes and palates the rest of senses had to be taken care of: the evening for the Festival’s guests was concluded with a splendid concert of the jazz band ONE, TWO, TRIO in the Modjeska Café which was full of art and music lovers until the small hours.
The next day, May 16th, was filled with even more number of events. The session CRAFT-DESIGN-ART started as early as in the morning and the vernissages began at 4.30 p.m. The conference was dominated by divagations on the topic of the competition – decadence. Thus, it was not only reliable and scholarly but also nostalgic, artistic and, at times, humorous and controversial, and of course... with a note of silver. After the course of lectures local and visiting Festival lovers headed for the Market Square to confront the theory heard with the silversmith practice presented there. There was a lot to watch there, beginning with the Corner Gallery (36 Market Square), where the following exhibitions were solemnly opened: INFLUENCES – WORKS FROM AUSTRALIA – by silversmith Felicity Peters, CAMOUFLAGES – by Małgosia Kalińska and TET-A-TET – by Goldsmithing Artists’ Association (STFZ) – exceptional one, as presented in glossy futuristic metal plates instead of traditional showcases, and the objects were available within the grasp of visitors. The exhibitions were opened by the president of STFZ, Andrzej Bielak who presented a diploma to the managing director of the Gallery of Art, Zbigniew Kraska and congratulated him on the 30th anniversary of the Legnica Festival of Silver SILVER. The next point on the agenda was the exhibition The Tower of Babel. Homage to Joachim Sokólski (1946-2008) in the Copper Museum, where, unable to hide emotion in front of the audience, Mr Piotr Nowicki opened the exhibition by his long-time, late friend and outstanding local silversmith. A part of the heritage of “Żanek”, as he was tenderly called by his relatives, was put in a pathetic storeyed showcase which, like a titular Tower, locked silent, devoid of author’s comment for ever, works. Following exhibitions were not less reflexive: 30th Birthday – presentation of the most recent works by the participants of the 1st International Silverart Competition ’79, Our Amber – presentation of amber works by members of STFZ and Presentations 2008 – a collection of works from the National Jewellery Competition. After leaving the walls of the Museum, the public returned to the Market Square where a huge silver ring – a symbol of the Festival, had been installed. The guests put their signatures on it, posed for a souvenir photo and eventually they jointly rolled the ring to the windows of the Gallery of Art, where it was left for good. In the Gallery it was hot and packed – all due to the vernissages: DESTYLING by Sławomir Fijałkowski and the main exhibition of the Festival: DECADENCE, during which the results of the 18th National Silverart Competition DECADENCE were made public and awards were given. Grand Prix was granted by the Minister of Culture and National Heritage to (not the first time) Stefan Heuser (Germany), 2nd Prize – by the Marshal of Lower Silesian Voivodeship to Renata Korpas, 3rd Prize – by the Mayor of Legnica to Monika Reptowska. “Marek” – a statuette funded by the Gallery of Art in Legnica – was granted to MonikaWickström (Finland) and “Silver Spur” – for artistic nerve and intransigence – to Marta Schoeneck and Arkadiusz Wolski. Apart from regular prizes, special awards were traditionally granted by: Goldsmithing Artists’ Association, International Amber Association and Polish Jewellery. For the first time in history Joachim Sokólski’s Prize, funded by the Polish Modern Art Foundation, was granted. The awards were delivered by the founders: Ms Elżbieta Nowak represented the Minister of Culture and National Heritage, Ms Elżbieta Łaganowska - the Marshal of Lower Silesian Voivodeship and vice-President Dorota Purgal – the Mayor of Legnica. That impressive day was concluded with Birthday Party – a banquet for the guests of the Festival in the “Spiż” Rock Pub.
This year’s Festival was attended by an exceptional number of guests from the whole country and abroad. Many of the prize-winners collected their awards personally, applause was given to Renata Korpas, Monika Reptowska, Arkadiusz Wolski, Mieczysław Gryza, Stefan Heuser, Ulrike Strempel (both Germany) and Monica Wickström (Finland). Apart from many visiting domestic silversmiths and other visitors, we could exchange greetings with numerous foreign silversmiths: Felicity Peters (Australia), Miriam Arentz, Wolfram Zausch (both Germany), Boris Buehlmann (Switzerland), Vratislav Karel Novak along with Pilsen students, Ludmila Sikolova (both the CzechRepublic) and Andrea Wagner (the Netherlands). The Festival made a great impression both on those who had got to know the event and on those who saw it for the first time. We are going to keep it in our memory for a long time. We already invite all jewellery lovers and artists for the next’s year meeting, also in May. In the meantime we kindly recommend watching ‘silver’ exhibitions in the Gallery of Art, Awans Gallery, Corner Gallery, CopperMuseum and the city hall for the next couple of weeks.
LFS Silver
Silver Gallery
Gallery of Art
Silver Gallery
