Biennial of Applied Arts

The Biennial of Applied Arts is a regular Slovak national exhibition of applied visual arts involving work by members of the Slovak Union of Visual Arts (SVÚ) and their guests. The purpose of the project is to draw attention to original Slovak contemporary art creation and to promote the creation of professional Slovak artists devoting to applied arts.

The Biennial of Applied Arts is held every two years in Bratislava, alternating with the Biennial of Free Visual Arts. The first Biennial of Free Visual Arts was held in 2006 and the first Biennial of Applied Arts in 2007. The organiser is the Slovak Union of Visual Arts (SVÚ). Any member of SVÚ may apply to participate while non-members may also be invited as guests.

The first year of the Biennial of Applied Arts, focused on the applied arts and design, was held in the National Centre of Culture from 10 May-3 June 2007. The event was organised by the Slovak Union of Visual Arts with the financial support of the Ministry of Culture. Participation in the biennial was open to SVÚ members, by application, and was based on selection by a professional jury, while guests outside the competition could also participate at the invitation of curators. The ambition of the project was to profile for the Biennial of V4, or for a European dimension. The concept of the exhibition drew on the principle of differentiation of fields, on the basis of material used in the final work or product. The exhibition presented works by the older generation as well as of young visual artists and designers that have been successful on domestic and world scenes. Curators of Competitions in 2007 were Ágness Schramm and Mária Nepšinská. Altogether 107 Slovak designers presented more than 400 works from the applied design area.

SVÚ Awards were given to Anna Horváthová (1st place) for ceramics, to Elena and Martin Gregušovci (2nd place) for photography, and to Dejan Galović (3rd place) for graphic design. Honourable mentions for significant contribution to Slovak creative production were given in respect of Igor Grossmann, Ester Plicková and Imrich Vanek. However, the main Grand Prix was not awarded by jury.