ArtVilnius’25 project zone. Focus Baltic

ArtVilnius’25 projektų zona. Focus Baltic

Oct 3 2025

Litexpo

For the first time, ArtVilnius places Baltic collecting at the centre, and the spatial design responds by treating the fair less as a marketplace and more as a shared field of relations. Focus Baltic unfolds as a layered landscape where private and institutional collections from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania appear not as isolated showcases, but as interconnected nodes within a wider regional ecosystem. The architecture resists monumentality, instead creating conditions for proximity, encounter, and comparison—allowing different scales of collecting, from intimate family archives to institution-building initiatives, to coexist within a single spatial rhythm.

Rather than imposing a unifying narrative, the space accommodates multiplicity. Works from different contexts and histories are held together through openness and carefully calibrated distances, encouraging slow looking within the compressed time of the fair. The spatial logic echoes the Baltic condition itself: distinct voices shaped by different histories, yet bound by shared transformations and a heightened sensitivity to place, memory, and continuity. Collecting emerges here not as accumulation, but as a form of care—one that sustains artistic life, preserves fragile narratives, and allows lesser-seen works to surface.

In this way, Focus Baltic operates as more than a regional highlight. It becomes a temporary stage where Baltic practices step into public view, addressing both local and international audiences. The architecture supports this shift quietly, framing collecting as an active cultural force—one that links personal commitment with institutional responsibility, and regional specificity with global dialogue.

team:

Curators:
Inga Lāce, Maria Arusoo, Sonata Baliuckaitė Arlauskienė

Collections:
Art Museum Zuzeum (Latvia)
Boris Symulevič kolekcija (Lithuania)
COBALT kolekcija (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia)
Kruus kolekcija (Estonia)
Noewe Foundation (Lithuania)
Sapiegų Rūmai (Lithuania)
Stasys Museum (Lithuania)
Rothko Museum. The Rothko Bridge (Latvia)
VV Foundation kolekcija (Latvia)

Architecture:
Gabrielė Černiavskaja

Head of technical team:
Jonas Aničas

Technical implementation:
Liudvikas Kesminas,
Rokas Janušonis,
Lukas Narvilas,
Kęstutis Montvidas

ArtVilnius Director:
Diana Stomienė

Communication:
Laisvė Radzevičienė, Rasa Barčaitė, Augustė Marija Radzevičiūtė

Volunteers Coordinator:
Genutė Straigytė

Translators and copy editors:
Kristina Kudriašova, Sandra, Balžekaitė

Photo by Andrej Vasilenko

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Photo by Andrej Vasilenko