The diverse artistic tendencies illustrated at this Biennial, lead me to contemplate the question of taste, viewed from three distinctive perspectives: for Charles Batteux, taste is, comprehension of rules through sentiment, whereas Julius Meier – Graefe, describes it as the power to know the beauty and the ugliness of things, and then there is Duchamp, who opts for a more ready-made approach, proposing that it is instead, a total lack of, so called, good or bad - the taste and the art of an époque, is not that of another.

The study of this years’ selection reveals the principles of the beginning of modern art, presently in the consciousness of contemporary artists, and it suggests that you can do anything, because, it can never be just that. In fact, if we are to create a recipe for the art exhibited by a good number of this years’ participants, we would see that many of them view art as the embodiment of the demand to create the haphazard, which, in the case of a modern artists is duty to fulfil, and not a liberty that is granted. We cannot negate however, that in art, there are canons, rules and criteria, often times meant to be broken.

The artist can take on this absolute freedom, with the singular condition, which is that whatever they end up doing must result into art, and be done in the name of it to affirm its autonomy.

To make art, is to discern it, to funnel and select. And if this logic is to be applied, we can put forth a strong attempt at understanding the Duchamp formula: “To do something, is to select, for instance, a tub of blue or of red, and to put them on the pallet, and to continue choosing down the line, the quality of the blue, the red, and where to place them on the canvas, it means to always select… choice is principal in panting, even conventional one.”

The contemporary artist is preoccupied with the state of art in the context of civilization and communication, they seek to transport to integrated cultures, the unrest of interdisciplinary expansion.

The predominant subjects at the Chisinau Biennial, are those that concern the artist of today: the globalization project, identity and alienation, as well as, the relationship between periphery and centre, the flow of ideas and developmental strategies.

We may therefore conclude, while traversing the halls of the National Art Museum, that here, art reclaims the option for modernity, developing an extra layer of preoccupation for assimilation of certain models and adaptability to the universal context.

This edition, just like the ones that came before, was organized under the patronage of the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Moldova, and received a participation offer from 364 artists with more than 1200 artworks. However, considering the limited exhibition space this year, and the rigorous pre-selection process, 120 artists with more than 140 works, were accepted. The selection englobes 28 countries: Austria, Bulgaria, Belgium, Czech Republic, China, Cyprus, Croatia, Ecuador, Egypt, France, Japan, Germany, Ghana, Greece, India, Indonesia, Italy, Lithuania, Mexico, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, USA, Togo, Turkey, Ukraine and Republic of Moldova.

It can be stated, that just like the previous iterations of this project, the current edition demonstrates that the medium of painting, via its innovative aesthetic components continues to hold up to the trials of alternative artistic discourses, oriented, in turn, toward technological advancement, photo and video, performance art, video installation art, etc. Artists tirelessly re-vindicate diverse techniques and mediums, proving that conventional borders of painting can be trespassed. The exhibited selection, is of the broadest stylistic variety, showcasing the most unexpected facets of artistic expression. The exhibition contains a variety of styles and movements, aimed at current topics together with more traditional examples. The topic of war in Ukraine, with its terrors and disasters, and pleas for peace, can be observed in a series of artworks created by artists from different countries. It’s safe to say, that this exhibition, having been organized in current conditions, reflects not only aspirations of synchronizing artists with global aesthetic tendencies, but also their expression of solidarity with an international cultural manifestation that is in support of peace and strives for liberal values of western society.

We express our gratitude to artists from Romania for their considerate presence at the exhibition, both the invited body of artists, including: Petru Lucaci, Liviu Nedelcu, Marilena Preda Sanc, Gheorghe Pogan and participants at the competition, especially the younger generation. We are incredibly thankful for their permanent openness to be part of this event, so important for the art society of the Republic of Moldova. For the first time, as part of this edition, we have decided to have an invited country – Austria. A group of nine artists, selected by the esteemed gallerist and curator Johannes Knoll, represents the nucleus of the exhibition and is comprised of sixteen artworks, exhibited in a space demarcated for the invited country.

Works belonging to the impromptu artist collective – Anouk Lamb Anouk, Ivica Capan, Paul Horn, Kalina Horon, Christian Hutzinger, Maria Legat, Mara Mattuschka, Florian Nährer, Andreas Reiter Raabe – are representative of the individual artistic vision oriented toward an innovative aesthetic, where liberty of artistic expression, speaks to the personality of each exhibitor. Members of the group, are accomplished artists, who have participated in various art salons and international exhibitions, majority of whom have works in prestigious public collections. Only three of these artists, decided to not only showcase their work but be involved in the competition, out of whom two, have been awarded. Mara Mattushka was honoured by the Grand Prize for the painting Head, 2022, oil on canvas. A painting utilizing figurative language, essentially reflecting the inner voice of the artist. Simultaneously, Mara Mattushka, reflects upon the awareness of the corporeal, and is preoccupied by the mutable nature of the feminine body. In her artworks she outlines different stages and introspective gazes upon the self. She is also regarded at the moment as one of the most revered creators in the field of experimental film. The second awardee is Andreas Reiter Raabe, distinguished by the Sturza Family Foundation Award, for the work, ARR O. T., acrylic on canvas, 2021. Here we see, abstract painting rooted in the monochromatic, the image itself, is minimalist and is extended vertically, is seemingly, mechanically embedded, creating a sense of order in an indefinite space. Without succumbing to any given stylistic preference, the jury opted for a diverse scale of original and innovative artistic visions, mainly supporting the efforts of the young generation. The other six artists distinguished by awards for their exceptional work bearing marks of authenticity, a sense of experiment and aesthetic value are as follows: Natalia Romanciuc (Moldova), Ist Prize ; Oleksandr Bazyuk (Ukraine), IInd Prize; Kareem Helmy (Egypt) IIIrd Prize; Rodica Gheorghinoiu Croitoru (Romania) the Prize of the Institute of Romanian Culture in Chisinau Mihai Eminescu; Gergana Balabanova (Bulgaria), The Prize of the Department of Culture, City Hall Chisinau, Dirk Balke (Germany), The Prize and the Artmuseum Trophy of the National Art Museum of Moldova.

There are two gallerist of international recognition, giving talks at this years’ conference event, Johannes Knoll (Austria) and Mihai Pop (Romania), discussing the topics of contemporary art and the art market. The conference attendees will have the opportunity to dialogue with the lecturers the aforementioned topics.

The fact that the current edition of International Biennial of Painting in Chisinau is organized in a different manner than previously, is owed to her Excellency, Stella Avallone the Ambassador of Austria in Republic of Moldova, who has, in an unmitigated fashion, endorsed the event, gathering the support from the Federal Ministry of Art, Culture, Public Service and Sport of Austria, as it pertains to the participation of Austrian group of artists at the event. For this, we express our sincerest sentiments of gratitude. Simultaneously, we express uttermost appreciation to the Ministry of Culture of Republic of Moldova, for organizing this event, to the Department of Culture and Cultural Heritage, City Hall Chisinau, as well as, the Institute of Romanian Culture Mihai Eminescu in Chisinau. Naturally, we offer, our sincerest gratitude, to the Sturza Family Foundation, for their constant and unwavering support of our manifestation starting from its first edition. We are thankful, also, to the EU National Institute of Culture (EUNIC), the Culture Centre Akzente form Chisinau, who have supported this years’ event. In the same vein, our permanent partners at OTP Bank, Moldova, we thank wholeheartedly, for the granted trust and support in matters of organizing this important, international, cultural event, in the field of fine arts, which continuously generates new forms of worldwide collaborations, fostering the engendering of diverse strategies for development.