The Polish Tri-City has recently gained a new gem – the Baltic Horizons Competition. This international sculpture contest engages in critical and open discussions about ecological and social transformations and the human role in the modern world. Particularly focusing on the Baltic region and the Polish city of Sopot.
The inaugural edition has initiated collaborations with cultural institutions and 10 artists from Finland, Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. The vernissage took place on April 28th, and the winner, Andrius Labašauskas (LT), has been announced. The first edition features artists Lotta Mattila (FIN), Kaarina Kaikkonen (FIN), Augustas Serapinas (LT), Ēriks Božis (LV), Krišs Salmanis (LV), Evita Vasiļjeva (LV), Martyna Jastrzębska (PL), Łukasz Surowiec (PL), and Iza Tarasewicz (PL), and presents a collection of work created for the competition and some of the artists’ retrospective pieces (e.g. Lotta Mttila’s ‘In Security’ from 2018).
Anthropocene – the End of the Human Era (?)
The competition’s narrative emphasises human relationships with the environment and focuses on the remarkable and ever-lasting human-nature bond. The works of artists from the Baltic region highlight the importance of community, as well as individuals, and encourage contemplation of the landscape. As the curator Mariola Balińska told us:
‘The working title of the exhibition was “Anthropocene – the End of the Human Era.” Being self-explanatory, it carries the meaning behind the Baltic Horizon group exhibition – wake up, stop, and see what surrounds you and how you can relate to the crisis reality… Nature is suffering.’
Wires, moon, countryside, bio-concrete, an opposing effect against changes, the lanugo effect, the human defensive system, a pearl emerging from suffering… All of these are parts of the meaning of the exhibits that the viewers can admire in the State Art Gallery in Sopot. The works subjectively speak about humans facing the transitions and adjustments (pandemic, climate change, migrations, etc.), and focus on how the relationships with the transformations impact people’s condition. There is a short movie depicting an uncontaminated rural landscape shown on the main gallery wall (image below). A part of the 100-year-old sauna from Rudniki (artwork by Augustas Serapinas) placed near the aforementioned projection looks as if it was a cottage in a village – the exhibition’s narrative and its space merges and composes.
It’s as if the architecture carries the meaning of ‘let’s surrender to contemplation and cherish nature – it’s beautiful.’ This, on the other hand, helps the viewers to empathise with the artist’s projects which all refer to the disturbing consequences of climate change.
Without a doubt the exhibition’s design set is an important part of the Baltic Horizons competition. The beautifully arranged space is harmonic, easy to read and interpret, and it influences the experience by helping the visitor understand the reasoning behind the collection. Who stands behind the magic? It’s a Polish studio, Gdyby Design.
A new opportunity for artists has appeared on the map of Central Europe. It brings together artists and communities in the Baltic Sea basin. A new international sculpture competition – Baltic Horizons is opening up the Sopot city space.
On this occasion we had the pleasure of talking to the organisers and jury members: Jacek Karnowski – the Mayor of the City of Sopot, Vita Birzaka from the Latvian National Museum, Eulalia Domanowska – the Director of the State Art Gallery in Sopot, and Maria Rosa – online marketing director of ERGO Hestia; about the stages of the competition, we can expect this year, about the goal behind it, as well as about strengthening Baltic relations.
Artistic representation for social and ecological awareness
Although the participating artists come from different generations and artistic perspectives they share sensitivity toward the human condition. Focusing on communities or individuals they explore the future of humanity, offering a less bleak narrative and showcasing possible solutions for protecting the environment. One thing is certain, it’s all on us. To participate in the first edition of the Baltic Horizons Competition Partners from Finland (EMMA – Espoo Museum of Modern Art), Latvia (Latvian National Museum, Museum Bourse in Riga), Lithuania (Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius), and Poland (National Museum in Gdańsk) were invited.
The competition jury, comprised of representatives from the organisers and independent experts, selected one project for realisation. The chosen artwork created by Andrius Labašauskas (LT) entitled ‘The Landsort Deep,’ will be unveiled in the Northern Park of Sopot this autumn as part of the‘ Sopot as a City of Sculpture’ project.
‘The winning Andrius Labašauskas project assumes the creation of a negative version of the bottom of the Baltic Sea – a public space where locals and guests of Sopot would have a chance to sit, relax, and reflect on climate issues. The objective is to make a minimalist sculptural object using raw, long-known materials and primitive techniques of work less harmful to the environment’
– Curatorial text.
In Labašauskas’ project, during the nighttime, the sculpture will be illuminated through a smart lighting system, serving as a visual representation of current climate anomalies. If the temperature surpasses the annual average, the sculpture emits a red light. On colder days, the light will transform into a soothing blue hue. When the temperature aligns with the annual average, the light maintains its regular white colour. The use of white marble symbolises the melting ice trapped within the stone, sinking into the grass, serving as a monument to raise awareness about the plight of endangered glaciers. The artist will be in Sopot for several months to create the sculpture which will then be a part of the city’s landscape.
Lithuania thus stands proud with its representative, Andrius Labašauskas, but also with Augustas Serapinas, whose works cleverly and subtly engage with Lithuania’s rich geography, history, and culture. His competition work is called ‘Snowmen from Sopot.’ The artist’s project was inspired by his personal experience of witnessing a snowless winter in Riga in 2019, leading him to reflect on the underlying causes. He envisioned creating objects for the city’s space based on the snowmen constructed by the residents of Sopot. Using the dry casting method, the artist would shape the forms, followed by casting them in environmentally friendly concrete. However, the realisation of the project would be contingent upon the presence of snow in Sopot.
Finland is represented by the sculptor Lotta Mattila who skillfully employs animal figures to highlight human nature. For the contest she presented the work ‘Your Move.’ Her concept revolved around using a chessboard as the basis of the artwork, but instead of conventional chess pieces, she envisioned life-sized bronze sculptures representing local bird species found in Sopot. These sculptures would include creatures such as white swans, seagulls, and the endangered white-tailed eagle. In her piece, the eagle would be portrayed as a solitary black king without a queen.
Finlands’ spirit was also presented by Kaarina Kaikkonen. She specialises in shaping urban landscapes and for the Baltic Horizons Competition she came up with ‘Carrying Wave.’ The artist drew inspiration from the willow tree, often seen as a symbol of resilience, adaptability, and renewal. The weeping willow is also associated with grief which prompted the artist to contemplate the relationship between humans and Mother Nature. Her project is a large leaf sculpture resembling a willow leaf.
Latvian artist Ēriks Božis works with installations, objects, photography, and motion, but also with set design. He is the creator of the remarkable ‘Wind Pavilion’ on the beach in Liepaja (it’s a well-known, Instagramable spot for lovers!). He approached the collaboration with the Baltic Horizons Competition creating ‘Underwater Rotunda.’ The artist’s project was motivated by a lecture from Professor Węsławski, the Director of the Institute of Oceanology, which shed light on the phenomenon of the Baltic Sea coast sinking while the sea level rises. Božis’ sculpture consists of 40 interconnected pipes of varying lengths, each with a 15 cm diameter, forming a circular shape with a 10-metre diameter in the shape of a rotunda.
The talent doesn’t end there; Latvian sculptor Evita Vasiļjeva explores construction materials such as concrete, reinforcement, and metal profiles to make captivating artworks, such as the presented in the image below retrospective work ‘The Endless Frontier’ created for Baltic Triennial 14, Contemporary Art Centre Vilnius, LT.
Evita establishes her unique aesthetic and points to new and surprising relationships between space, architecture, memory, and the human body. For the Baltic Horizons exhibition she came up with ‘Observers.’ The sculpture would portray an abstract mass resembling a human body, featuring multiple holes and supporting creatures carrying coloured glass balls representing eyes. These eyes would symbolise various observers from the past, present, and future, all directed toward the Baltic Sea.
Krišs Salmanis, another artist representing Latvia, works with nature and sound presenting symbolic elements which reflect the human condition. He wanted to welcome Sopot with his work ‘Picnic.’ This sculpture depicts a person dressed in a Hazmat Level A protective suit, designed to shield against hazardous materials. The figure is presented in an everyday outdoor setting, gazing at the sea, capturing a cloud in a photograph, sitting on a swing, holding an unopened lunch box, and curiously touching a tree.
Last but not least, the competition showcases three Polish artists. Martyna Jastrzębska, a multimedia artist, works with themes of transience, rebirth, and the deconstruction of myths and creates remarkable installations and objects. She is the winner of, among others, the Minister of Education and Science Award for Outstanding Young Scientists Showing Significant Achievements in Scientific Activity (2022), the City of Gdansk Award for Young Creators in the Field of Culture (2019), the international NES Artist Residency Iceland (2017), the Grand Prize of the fourth edition of the Gdansk Art Biennale (2016), the Cultural Scholarship of the City of Gdansk (2016). For the Baltic Horizons Competition, she made the ‘Sad Unicorn’ project. The artist chose the unicorn as the focal point of her work due to its rich tradition in visual representations. The unicorn is found in numerous cultures and represents purity, beauty, sensitivity, and empathy, unlike many other mythical creatures associated with violence or fear. Jastrzębska’s ‘Sad Unicorn’ embodies grief and disappointment, symbolising the fate of endangered creatures disappearing from our planet.
Iza Tarasewicz’s focus lies on the contemporary individual navigating diverse threats, including those driven by climate change, for the group exhibition she presented a work called ‘Does nature stay What-it-is?’. Her source of inspiration stemmed from the captivating allure of the sea wave’s terrain and the sense of time evoked by its ever-changing flow. She put forth a suggestion to construct a communal space, a social sculpture brought to life through the collaborative efforts of local artisans. The chosen form embodies the symbolic significance of a circle, representing the interconnectedness of nature’s rhythms and the biological passage of time.
Last but not least, Łukasz Surowiec fearlessly confronts uncomfortable subjects intertwined with the past, particularly Polish history. For the competition, he came up with a piece ‘Six feet under.’ Surowiec’s sculpture possesses the potential to captivate the public, providing both entertainment and a sense of unease. It features a minimalist composition in the form of a hole in the ground filled with disturbed seawater splashes. The design of the hole aesthetically resembles traditional good casings or city fountains. The project was inspired by the urgent alarm sounded by climatologists regarding rising water levels, representing ‘a ticking climate time bomb.’
The exhibition spaces arranged by Gdyby Studio consist of pieces created for the Baltic Horizons exhibition which correspond with the competition’s theme, but it also showcases the artists’ previous works. The curator helped navigate the space using wall paint – it highlights and distinguishes the works made for the contest from the artists’ retrospective artworks (image below).
The competition’s narrative emphasises human relationships with the environment. To add to this, each of the presented artworks has human and nature as its centre, and more so, tries to underline how important it is to be captivated by contemplation, even while looking at these pieces. To forget a bit about the contemporary world and immerse oneself in the surrounding nature, its gifts, and try to communicate with it, with sounds, or perhaps in silence? The Baltic Horizons Competition is an example of how an art project can have a real impact on the city and its habitats, whom are open for a dialogue about the human condition in the modern era and their relationship with the environment and cities’ landscape.
Interpreting crises but spreading positivity
The Baltic Horizon set a melody of awakening – as human beings we need less automation, more relation, and reflection. The collective exhibits send a clear, simple, yet complex message – let’s savour life, the resource that surrounds us. Let’s share time with others and try to create bonds. Even though interpreting crises, this year’s edition of the Baltic Horizons Competition is positive – we are able to react, impact, and change the future.
An essential element of the project is also the creative activation of residents around the topic of ecosystem protection and the human condition in the world of crises.
Accompanying the exhibition is an engaging educational program organised by the State Art Gallery and the Artistic Journey Foundation of Hestia. It includes artist-led meetings, debates with experts and activists, and workshops for children and youth.
Undoubtedly, the State Art Gallery in Sopot is creating a dynamic and immersive experience for all attendees. Save the date!
Baltic Horizons group exhibition
Państwowa Galeria Sztuki w Sopocie – State Art Gallery in Sopot
28 April – 18 June 2023
Artist: Lotta Mattila (FIN), Kaarina Kaikkonen (FIN), Augustas Serapinas (LT), Andrius Labašauskas (LT), Ēriks Božis (LV), Krišs Salmanis (LV), Evita Vasiļjeva (LV), Martyna Jastrzębska (PL), Łukasz Surowiec (PL), Iza Tarasewicz (PL)
Curator: Mariola Balińska
Curatorial assistance: Katarzyna Kaus, Maja Murawska
The initiators and co-organizers of the competition include Sopot City, ERGO Hestia, the Artistic Journey Foundation of Hestia, and the State Art Gallery.
