The Virtual Collective Exhibition “Connections” Accompanying the International, Interdisciplinary Students’ Conference “Forum of Ideas 2026”
The annual international interdisciplinary student conference “Forum of Ideas” is accompanied by a virtual collective exhibition that attracts students from the Academy of Arts of the Faculty of Arts and Education and international participants. This exhibition is an interdisciplinary creative platform that provides students with an opportunity to present original artworks reflecting themes relevant and meaningful to them.
The collective virtual exhibition “Connections” features students from the Fashion Design and Object Art programs of the Academy of Arts of the Faculty of Arts and Education, as well as students from the Textile and Fashion Design program of Istanbul Aydın University this year. The exhibition’s theme – connections – is explored from the perspectives of various visual art and design disciplines, broadening the interpretations of the themes developed in the artworks.
The exhibition brings traditional creative practices – embroidery, clothing design, and stained glass – into the present and interprets them within the context of contemporary visual art. The exhibition does not aim merely to represent these traditional techniques. It seeks to draw attention to their creative use by students, through experiments with materials, forms, and the possibilities of their transformation. The exhibition revisits traditional creative techniques – embroidery, clothing design, and stained-glass techniques – and reinterprets them within the context of contemporary visual art.
Traditional techniques serve as a conceptual starting point, inspiring new ideas and expanding the boundaries of conventional artistic practices in the creative process. In this way, interdisciplinary connections are formed, opening up space for authentic artistic expression. The artworks presented by the students in the exhibition reveal not only their mastery of technical skills but also their relationship with tradition, materials, and the contexts of contemporary art.
“Connections” is a dialogue between the younger generation and the past, with the tradition of craftsmanship, in search of individual creative strategies.
Participants of the exhibition: Agnė Kulbokaitė (LT), Betül Solak (TR), Caroleen Abu Akel (TR), Daiva Kupstienė (LT), Gerūta Sokaitė (LT), Laura Grybauskaitė (LT), Nisanur Topkaya (TR), Ugnė Černauskaitė (LT), Ugnė Karčiauskaitė (LT)
Exhibition curator: Ainė Jacytė, Kauno kolegija, HEI, Faculty of Arts and Education.
Exhibition designer: lecturer Juozas Dundulis, Kauno kolegija HEI, Faculty of Arts and Education.
Translator of exhibition annotation: : Ieva Brazauskaitė–Zubavičienė, Head of the Language Centre of the Faculty of Arts and Education of Kauno kolegija HEI.