The international graphic triennial is open in the Officers' Home in Bitola
The 9th International Graphic Triennial Bitola was opened on October 11 in the Ceremonial Hall of the Officers' Home - KIC Bitola, where over 800 works by authors from all over the world were registered.
The triennial was officially opened by the mayor of Bitola, Toni Konjanovski, and the Ambassador of the Republic of Argentina, H.E. Alejandro Majer, who was given a special recognition for the contribution to the graphic creation of his country, as well as the constant and sustained presence of the authors from Argentina at the triennial itself.
The distinguished graphic artist Leonardo Gottlieb, who in addition to winning the Grand Prix also has his own exhibition in Bitola, also had his address.
145 countries and about 800 artists have registered their participation in the event itself, which makes this artistic event significant and unique in the contribution of world graphic thought on a European and global scale.
The head and organizer of the Graphic Triennial, Vlado Gjoreski, has been conceiving, organizing and shaping this significant world event for more than thirty years. For the 11th triennial, he also delivered to the artists a kind of manifesto for its future existence. In the manifesto itself as a call for salvation and a new re-creation, especially of fine art, Gjoreski points out several essential findings.
- Survival is not in the manifestations, but what they bring - as a gift and light for human salvation before the great flood. This ideal and hope, called the 11th Triennial – created a kind of numerous bridges to all continents. Not for emphasizing and highlighting selected and "privileged" works and centers, but for the presence of authors from all over the world. This panoramic panopticon proves, shows, confirms, that the world is not uniform everywhere the same banality. The world is an infinity of essences, a search for meaning, variety, deepening in the soul, emotionality, thought.
Man must free himself from his own traps, especially technical and globalist ones. His harmony is Love – mutual love with nature, with the totality through which the soul spreads. For thousands of years, man has only taken what he can from his surroundings – merciless destruction with vulgar materialistic obsessions. Only, through true, sincere art and love, it manages to give a part of itself, to give because we are here not to disappear in the nonsense we create for ourselves, but to be part of the vast cosmic reason and love.
We are facing not apocalyptic, but complete and utter desert disappearances. Creating, feeling, listening to the cry of the soul, are the last bits left of us, once opalescently transparent. It will not be or not, not because of wars or self-destructions, but because of the complete distancing and rejection of everything we are made of, which is not artificial intelligence or mindless conformist callousness trapped in the cold labyrinths of absurd metropolises.
To create art today is not only quixotic, it is courage, to be, to live, to exist in other spheres. The awards we give are not acknowledgments of defenses, but hugs for those who have given up on themselves, for the traces that remain like glimpses of heaven, for the belief that we can still return from where we came from - points out Gjoreski.
At the same time, the collection of videos from all the authors and the creation of a documentary film entitled "The Graphic Designers of the World" are in progress.
Part of the triennial, from December to March next year, will be presented in prominent galleries in six cities in China. A catalog with over 900 pages has been prepared, which will be distributed in electronic form to the participants, prominent institutions and centers in the world, as well as several platforms for books and catalogs.