Ágnes Schramm
The second year of applied art exhibition was held from 28 August to 22 September 2009. The jury selected works by 28 authors that qualified for the final competition and the exhibition. The jury also handed out awards. The Grand Prix went to designer Tibor Uhrín (1966) for his set of wooden dishes for spices and herbs (tea, dried herbs). The Slovak Fine Arts Union Award went to Andrea Pézman (1975) for her solution of the graphic design in the work of 3D <html> and Kristýna Španihelová (1982) for her set of art jewellery from the collection Life Anima.
The concept of the biennial defined the show as a contest of works having utility as its priority function. It seems that most authors from professional associations of glassmakers, ceramics makers, textile makers or photographers are inclined to free fine arts rather than the art and crafts forms and the design. Despite this, the biennial did eventually ended up as a delicate sample of particular applied art disciplines of high artistic standards and craftsmanship. While in the initial year 2007 the biennial statute allowed its curators – also in view of extensive exhibition space of the Arts House in Bratislava – to invite “guests” outside the competition in this year’s edition only members of the Slovak Fine Arts Union could participate. Perhaps, in its ensuing edition, it would be worth thinking of opening the biennial up as a platform for confrontation of different generations regardless of union affiliation. And do this, all the more importantly, because the third year of the project should also become an international event of V4 countries thus far – Slovakia, the Czech republic, Poland and Hungary.
A representative catalogue of the exhibition has documented the 2nd year of the Applied Art Biennial.