Justin's Amazing World At Fenner Paper: Lithuanian Pavilion

Tuesday, 21 May 2019

Sun and Sea: Marina

La Biennale di Venezia was founded in 1895 and it is now one of the most famous and prestigious cultural organizations in the world. The 58th International Art Exhibition, titled May You Live In Interesting Times, takes place from 11th May to 24th November 2019. The title is a phrase of English invention that has long been mistakenly cited as an ancient Chinese curse that invokes periods of uncertainty, crisis and turmoil; "interesting times", exactly as the ones we live in today. The 58th Exhibition is curated by Ralph Rugoff, currently the director of the Hayward Gallery in London.

This is a project produced for the Lithuanian Pavilion, which has been awarded the golden lion (which is first prize) at the Art Biennale. The Pavilion features an Opera which lasts around an hour and this is the supporting collateral.

The production incorporates a record, record sleeve and a booklet/libretto containing the lyrics of the songs which you can hear during the performance together with other text about the artists and the curators of the pavilion.

Click on images to enlarge

The 32pp libretto is printed on Offenbach Bible 60gsm. The size is 305x310mm and is printed offset litho in three colours both sides, two blacks and a Pantone special Gold. As you can see from the images the Offenbach Bible has printed the solid gold metallic superbly and the paper flops and folds beautifully in the hand.

The record sleeve is printed 5/5 colors onto Arktika Paper (from Papyrus) 350gsm. On the front side (the stripes) the sleeve has been screenprinted by inmates of the male prison of Venice - in the Venetian jail there is a screen print workshop and it was printed by the prisoners with help from the workshop staff. You can read more about the Prison and their work: https://malefattevenezia.it/en/a-great-value/a-great-team/

You can read more about the Lithuanian Pavilion here....
Sun and Sea: (Marina)
We look down from a minstrel’s gallery on the holiday-makers below, kids building sandcastles, tourists sunning themselves on towels, oiling up and eating ices. An almost hour-long opera – the work of theatre director Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, playwright Vaiva Grainytė, and composer Lina Lapelytė – this seductive performance is beautifully sung by the lounging tourists as we watch from our balcony, our ticket to the end of the world. Threat slowly seeps in, like sun-tan oil. A lament to the eclipse of the world, as the sky and sea change colour, the reefs bleach and nature dies, this astonishing performance slides into almost unbearable pathos and pain. I can’t stop thinking about this work, which rightly won Lithuania the Golden Lion for best pavilion. Flying in and out, and living the way we do, we are all implicated. Not interesting times, but the last days.

You can watch and hear a minute or two of the Opera here (https://vimeo.com/320379708)

The printing of the Offenbach Bible and the colourwork on the sleeve is all by Grafiche Veneziane, who are a printing company based right in the centre of Venice - yes really, the factory is in an ancient building surrounded by canals and the paper (and everything else) has to be delivered by boat! Below is a picture of the team around the project, which they are justly proud.