RITUMS IVANOVS

Art Fair ArtVilnius

From October 2 to 5, Ritums Ivanovs is participating at the International Contemporary Art Fair ArtVilnius with Bastejs Gallery (stand 3.17). The 16th edition of the international contemporary art fair ArtVilnius’25 will take place at the Exhibition and Congress Centre Litexpo in Vilnius, featuring 81 contemporary art galleries and art institutions, showcasing more than 320 artists from 16 countries. Each year, the fair attracts 18,000 to 23,000 visitors of all ages.

In 2024, Bastejs Gallery relocated to its new location of Jurmala (LV) and is led by Baiba Morkane. The gallery's primary focus is on Baltic contemporary art, and it collaborates closely with its represented artists, building a reputation for exhibiting established artists and emerging talent. The gallery's mission is to promote the works of its artists to the international art market and to provide art for both private collections and institutions.

ArtVilnius’25 will place special emphasis on art collecting in the Baltic States, and for the first time ever, will comprehensively present a curated range of private and institutional collections from the region. Focus on collecting will run throughout the ArtVilnius’25 programme (including Project Zone and the installations, sculptures and performances exhibition The Path), offering insight into the practices and narratives shaping collections across Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. The Focus Baltic programme curators: Maria Arusoo (Estonia), Inga Lāce (Latvia) and Sonata Baliuckaitė (Lithuania).

ArtVilnius started in 2009 and has expanded and become firmly established on the local and international art scene, as well as on the list of must-visit events for art lovers. Every year ArtVilnius has over 23,000 visitors, with about 65 art galleries from a dozen or so countries (Germany, Estonia, Latvia, Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Italy, France etc).

The applications of galleries wishing to participate in the art fair are reviewed and selected by a jury made up of art critics and art market experts, thereby ensuring the professionalism of the galleries at the fair. During a decade of existing, in ArtVilnius participated such famous galleries as Suzzane-Tarasieve, Eric Mouchet (France), Ulf Larsson (Germany), Maksla XO (Latvia), Czułość, local_30, (Poland).

As the only art fair of its type in the region, it aims to be universally democratic. For this reason, the main objectives of ArtVilnius are not limited to stimulating the art market in the Eastern and Northern Europe region, as well as the presentation of a representative panorama of contemporary art galleries. The fair’s organisers have integrated Vilnius into the system of the most significant centres of contemporary art in Europe and have helped it become a bridge between East and West. The ArtVilnius team has established and continues to develop international contacts with contemporary art museums, institutions, curators, collectors, and journalists.

Selecting the best galleries, the best artist and the best artworks has become a traditional part of the ArtVilnius programme. A committee of art critics chooses the winners of the following 5 categories: Best Artist, Best Gallery (7 best galleries are selected), Best Foreign Gallery, Best Installation, and Best Young Artist. Additionally, visitors to the fair can vote for the artist and gallery they like the best. Already for several years, the law firm COBALT, the fair’s Maecenas, has been awarding a money prize to the best young artist exhibiting at the fair.

ArtVilnius is organised by the Lithuanian Art Gallerists’ Association, of which organisation Diana Stomienė, as well as being the director of ArtVilnius, is also the president.


16th International Contemporary Art Fair
Exhibition and Congress Centre LITEXPO
Vilnius, Lithuania
3, 4, 5 exhibition halls and outside
3-5 October 2025
Thursday 2 October: 2 – 8 pm VIP preview (invitation only)
Friday 3 October: 11 am – 8 pm
Saturday 4 October: 11 am – 8 pm
Sunday 5 October: 11 am – 6 pm

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