From 7 to 14 June 2024, RUFA students Sofia Sonvico and Vittorio Venturoli flew to Vilnius to take part in the Erasmus+ BIP (Blended Intensive Programme): “Uncovering. The Magnetism of the Lithography Stones”, a 7-day intensive workshop to discover the art of lithography at the Vilnius Academy of Arts (VDA), in the company of over 20 students from Estonia, Latvia, Finland, Greece, Iceland, Poland and Spain.
The workshop was supervised by the lecturer of the Graphics Department Jolanta Mikulskutė.
Lithography, the youngest and most direct of printmaking techniques, allows artists to dialogue with stones that are millions of years old. The lithographic stone, with its extraordinary magnetism, inspires artists to explore the possibilities of print culture. The Uncovering course focused on these possibilities, making lithography one of the greatest artistic adventures of our time.
In just seven days, participants engaged in an intensive and in-depth workshop on creative stone lithography at the Graphic laboratory of the VDA faculty in Vilnius. From choosing lithographic stones, grinding them, creating extraordinary conceptual compositions, etching with a mixture of gum arabic and nitric acid, inking, and printing, the students worked with vigor and intensity for seven stimulating days.
It was exciting to witness the production of numerous high-quality lithographic prints, some of which may turn into new printmaking projects. Lithography is a particularly promising form of creative expression, encompassing a wide range of expressive techniques: from expressive drawing to watercolor-like color treatment, miniature drawing, raster offset printing, ink art, and much more. During the course, participants were introduced to the specifics of planographic printing: stone and offset lithography, polyester lithography, and mixed media, with the main technological image creation principles that distinguish it from other graphic printing methods. Students were encouraged to experiment with traditional and non-traditional means of lithographic image creation and to find their own individual artistic style.
The young students from various schools had different levels of lithographic experience: those already familiar with the technique helped others, sharing skills and knowledge, including students working with stone lithography for the first time. This generated hope and enthusiasm for reviving stone lithography in academies that still have the equipment and stones but no longer have specialized instructors.
All Academies and Universities participating in the Erasmus+ BIP programmes: RUFA – University of Fine Arts, the Latvian Academy of Arts (Latvia), the Aleksander Zelwerowicz National Academy of Dramatic Art – Warsaw Campus in Białystok (Poland), Maria Curie Skłodowska University in Lublin (Poland), Estonian Academy of Arts (Estonia), Academy of Fine Arts in Helsinki (Finland), Academy of Fine Arts in Macerata (Italy), Academy of Fine Arts of Brera in Milan (Italy), Fine Arts and Art Sciences at the University of Ioannina (Greece), TAI, Madrid (Spain), Iceland University of the Arts (Iceland), Trondheim Academy of Fine Art (Norway), and KMD in Bergen (Norway). .
