Works on paper - graphics, drawings by artists working in non-EC European Countries.

A touring exhibition in England, Lithuania, Norway, Iceland and Bulgaria.

Paul Ryan and Predrag Pajdic initiated this project. They will be the two key
curators, working alongside professionals in each country

The Project will be under the administration of the following arts foundations:
3,14 Gallery & Foundation, Norway -
Contact: Goran Ohldieck: Artist/Curator

MK Ciurlionis National Museum of Lithuania, Kaunas, Lithuania
Contact:Oswaldas Daugelis: Director

The City Gallery, Sofia, Bulgaria
Contact: Philip Zidarov

The London Exhibition (March, April 2002) will be under the following administration
Curators: Predrag Pajdic, Paul Ryan
Jane Hertwell: Morley Gallery Director, Venue Publicity Talks/Workshops etc.

With input from:
Frank Conolly: Head of printmaking at Morley College Talks/Workshops

Sarah Woodfine: Lecturer in Drawing, Wimbledon School of Art (Attached to
drawing Centre) Talks/Workshops

Alona Pirdo: Artlink Art and Public Relations, advice on tour, targeting
audience and publicity (and introduction to other East European Artists)

Paul Heber-Percy and Bridget Ashley Miller (Directors of Percy Miller Gallery,
London SE1)
Project monitors.
Frances Carey: Prints and Drawings Curator, British Museum, London

(Artists and specific work will change for each venue,
creating a ´rolling´tour) artists involved to date are:
Kestutis Grigliunas (Lithuania)
Egle Rakauskaite (Lithuania
Arvydas Matinaitis (Lithuania)
Edmundas Saladzius (Lithuania)
Vesna Milicevic (Yugoslavia)
Renata Trifkovic (Croatia)
Marcin Pawlowski (Poland)
Malgorzata Rados (Poland)
Benedict G Kristborsson (Iceland)
Rolf Monsen (Norway)
Goran Ohldieck (Norway)
Paul Ryan (UK/Norway)
Sarah Woodfine (UK/Norway)
Slobodan Kovacevic Bobish (Yugoslavia)
Predrag Pajdic (UK/Yugoslavia)
Artists from Bulgaria and Estonia are currently being selected

Artistic Objectives
To raise standards of artistic practice within the field of drawing,
´graphic fine arts´ and other disciplines.

To provide a continuing platform for drawing, graphic, work on paper.
To provoke discussion within the artistic community and art press about the concerns of drawing within contemporary art practice, and the place for this work in the context of new media.

To expose audiences to a neglected area of artistic endeavour which
flourishes and has an audience in much of Europe, especially in Eastern
Europe.

Innovation
´Graphic´ - many people are unsure of what this means. Summing up images of old printing presses and design manuals. For many artists using drawing as part or all of their work they are familiar with the wider meanings of the term and how it is incorporated in a way of thinking visually whether in photography, sculpture or any
media used by artists working today.

The project is innovative in that this is an area relatively unexplored curatorially, and rarely used as a basis for contemporary exhibitions. Is drawing important to artists today?

Do people see it as a live, developing practice? Is it a craft or and intellectual/conceptual pursuit?

Most artists involved are used to hanging exhibitions site-specifically.

Drawings do not always end up between a mount and glass. Expectations of how a graphic exhibition might look will not be met by this exhibition.

How will the project be structured?
The curatorial side of the project will be led by Predrag Pajdic and Paul Ryan.

Areas of expertise listed above will be delegated to the relevant people.

Each leg of the tour will be tailored to suit the venue. (This will allow development over time)

EPR
We support EPR fully and recognise artists as professionals, if funding is obtained, we will be paying EPR of £50 to each exhibitor. Contracts
covering all arrangements including EPR will be issued to each exhibitor.

We support Equal Opportunities (See our policy below). Artists have been selected
on the basis of their work without discrimination or xenophobia.

Equal Opportunities
In carrying out this project we aim to create conditions whereby contributors and all involved are selected on the basis of the merits of the
artwork/advice/services etc.

They offer regardless of gender, colour, ethnic or national background, religious or political beliefs, trades union membership, family circumstances, sexual orientation or other irrelevant distinction.

Artists were selected on the QUALITY OF THEIR WORK, professionalism, and that fit into the brief - i.e. that drawing is central to their practice.

´Graphic´ in this sense can include any art form and is a visual language. We do not mean only
´graphic design´ or ´printmaking´. Once again we stress that this exhibition partly aims to
redefine the term ´graphic´ in a contemporary, fine art sense - Relationship between these artists exists already and collaboration has
taken place.

This project has strengthened these links and has also brought in new artists.

In our original, successful, application for R&D to the London Arts Board we proposed selecting artists from non-EEC, European countries especially Eastern Europe because we had
collaborated and exhibited with artists there.This was before Eastern Europe became an LAB
priority.

Throughout our plans have been to include a majority of artists from Eastern Europe and in no way was this a ´ticking the box´ syndrome.

This is a truly international show, involving the National Gallery of Lithuania in Kaunas, Norway at Gallery 3,14 in Bergen, The City Gallery in Sofia, Bulgaria as well as London UK at
Morley gallery. There are also possibilities emerging of taking the exhibition to Iceland and Yugoslavia.