What connects Vienna, Warsaw and Vilnius? Three cities with distinct histories and cultural contexts might not seem like an obvious match. Yet together they offer a multifaceted portrait of contemporary Central Europe — a region where art scenes are closer than they might first appear, and many connections still remain to be discovered. This year’s 17th edition of the ArtVilnius fair explores this dynamic, placing the contemporary art scenes of the three capitals at the heart of the event.
Between 1 and 4 October, the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Centre Litexpo creates a space for encounter: for galleries, artists, and diverse perspectives on what the region’s art can be today. From the 70 galleries presented, we selected Ninę that aptly reflect the diversity of the artistic landscape. Their programs intertwine personal stories with broader social and cultural shifts, local experiences with the European context, and memory with the attempt to envision the future.
Christine König Galerie
For a long time, Vienna remained largely off the fair’s radar, making its inclusion in this year’s edition all the more significant. In the context of an increasingly unstable geopolitical landscape, the decision also points to a broader need for cooperation, building connections across borders and bringing neighbouring art scenes into closer dialogue.
This year marks the first presentation of Christine König Galerie at ArtVilnius. As one of the central sites for contemporary art in Vienna, it has been present at the leading international fairs for more than four decades. Its programme reflects the gallery’s longstanding interest in politics and activism, feminism, literature and post-conceptual practices. For ArtVilnius’26, the gallery prepared a special presentation called <<rewind<<, which includes pieces by Erwin Kneihsl from Austria, the Romanian Magda Csutak, the German Thilo Jenssen and Mathias Weinfurter, the Slovenian-Austrian artist Maruša Sagadin, and Polish creators Natalia Załuska and Honza Zamojski. The three walls of the booth will feature 3 selected small works by each artist, which appear identical at first glance but are, in fact, unique pieces from serial series.
HOS Gallery
HOS Gallery, founded in Warsaw in 2018 by collectors Agnieszka and Darek Szymczak, makes its ArtVilnius debut with a selection of contemporary artists, bringing a Warsaw perspective to the fair.
The gallery is part of the city’s dynamic contemporary art scene, though its programme extends beyond Poland to artists from across the region. Among them is Dinka (Dina Leonova), a Belarusian-born artist whose layered watercolours explore identity and migration. Following the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, she began creating self-portraits and working on larger formats. Her paintings evoke the experience of displacement and being perceived as the “Other”. The fair presentation will also include three Polish artists: Julia Szczerbowska, Marta Jamróg and Kama Kicińska, highlighting the gallery’s strong ties to the Polish contemporary art scene.
Kogo Gallery
Kogo Gallery, based in Tartu, Estonia, has built a reputation for its bold, experimental programme centred on young and mid-career artists. Established in 2018, the gallery represents artists from across the Baltic region.
During ArtVilnius, Kogo will present works by Paweł Matyszewski, whose 2025 solo exhibition Momentary Organisms at the gallery examined transformation, fragility and environmental change. Combining botanical imagery, human tissue and speculative visions of future ecosystems, his practice grows out of an interest in gardening and nature. Latvian artist Līga Spunde, who has previously taken part in several group exhibitions at Kogo, will also be among the artists presented at the fair. Her multimedia works merge humour, personal narratives and fiction to explore emotional numbness and the pressures of a society driven by efficiency and profit.
Le Guern Gallery
Warsaw-based Le Guern Gallery, a participant in the first edition of ArtVilnius, returns to the fair after nearly a decade. Its programme reflects the diversity of contemporary visual culture, presenting artists who work across different media and approaches.
The gallery’s selection for ArtVilnius brings together several distinct practices. These include Paweł Matyszewski, also represented by Kogo Gallery; painter Natalia Załuska, known for her geometric compositions; and the multidisciplinary artists Tomek Baran and Aleksandra Liput. Baran moves between painting, computer graphics, lacquerware and graffiti, while Liput works with ceramics and textiles. Together, they reflect the gallery’s interest in artists who challenge the boundaries of medium and explore new ways of working with form, image and material.
The Rooster Gallery
The Rooster Gallery represents emerging artists from the Baltic region, but what particularly sets it apart is its nomadic approach. Founded in 2008 by young cultural managers, the gallery has never established a permanent exhibition space. Instead, it has been moving between different venues to adapt each exhibition to its setting — from lofts and historical interiors to unconventional spaces usually closed to the public.
Changing locations became part of the gallery’s way of presenting and interpreting art. This flexibility allows each artist’s work to be shown in a context that responds to its particular character and challenges ideas of what a gallery can be. Its programme for the fair features artists such as Kazimieras Brazdžiūnas, Tomas Daukša or Sandra Strēle, reflecting a broad approach to contemporary art across the Baltic region and beyond.
Annie Klaus Gallery
Based in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania, the Annie Klaus Gallery is a contemporary art space that connects artists from Romania and abroad. The gallery’s programme reflects the region’s intercultural heritage and diversity through exhibitions and cultural projects.
At the ArtVilnius fair, the gallery will present works of Valentin Codoiu — a Romanian painter and visual artist, also known for his work as an opera and theatre set designer. Associated with Neo-Expressionism, Codoiu’s art is distinguished by vibrant colours, expressive brushwork and compositions rich in symbolism and musical references. His work combines a disciplined approach to the structure of the image with freedom of expression that strikes a balance between tradition and modernity.
LETO Gallery
LETO, founded in Warsaw in 2007 by art historian Marta Kołakowska, is one of the most recognised private galleries on the Polish contemporary art scene. With its unconventional approach and distinctive artist selection, the gallery has built a strong community around a generation of artists shaped by the social and cultural changes that followed Poland’s political transformation in 1989. Their work is often marked by a strong, raw and expressive quality.
During ArtVilnius’26, LETO Gallery will present photographs and a sculpture by Maurycy Gomulicki alongside paintings by Alex Urban. Gomulicki’s works blend themes of nature, the body and popular culture into vibrant and sensual images, while Urban combines colours and fantasy, creating a fairy-tale-like universe in which situations from everyday life, the media and the internet are transformed into reflections on the tensions of the outside world.
![Maurycy Gomulicki, Dziuńka [Purple Chameleon] (ed. 1_3 + 1AP), 2024, resin coated wood conglomerate, polished structural colour car varnish, 38 x 77 x 44 cm, courtesy of LETO Gallery](https://contemporarylynx.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Maurycy-Gomulicki-Dziunka-Purple-Chameleon-ed.-1_3-1AP-2024-resin-coated-wood-conglomerate-polished-structural-colour-car-varnish-38-x-77-x-44-cm-courtesy-of-LETO-Gallery.jpg)
DRIFTS Gallery
DRIFTS is an independent gallery founded by Jolanta Laurent in 2022 in Vilnius’ historic Old Town. Focused on emerging artists, it explores questions on what it means to be contemporary. Its name, taken from Kate Zambreno’s 2020 novel Drifts, is a reference to the circumstances of the gallery’s establishment, the search for its form and the aesthetics of change.
Among the artists associated with the gallery is Erika Povilonytė, whose practice examines the relationship between image and material. Her current exhibition Mother-of-Pearl, on view at Drifts until 23 October, features large-scale oil paintings on handmade paper. By allowing the paint to penetrate the paper’s fibres, the artist explores how painting changes through the interaction of oil paint and paper, and examines transformations that occur over time. Her works will be presented at the fair alongside those of Vytautas Viržbickas and Agnė Juodvalkytė.
GODÒ Galerija
Established in 2018, the GODÒ Gallery is located in the artistic district of Užupis in Vilnius, known for its alternative art scene. This year it will present Lithuanian artist Andrius Makarevičius, whose vivid paintings explore everyday life in Vilnius, focusing on urban culture, architecture and human behaviour. The recurring figures in his work — young people living in urban residential neighbourhoods — are portrayed with humour and irony, accompanied by pigeons that serve as their alter egos.
Another Lithuanian voice in the gallery’s selection is Dzina Jasiuniene. She draws on ethnographic motifs from different cultures and focuses on the precision of textile craft and the freedom of painting. By combining painting and textiles, Jasiuniene transforms patterned fabrics through colour, ornament and layered textures.
