International Painting Biennale Chisinau 2009 ends with pleasant and less pleasant surprises

The International Painting Biennale Chisinau 2009 that started on December 1 ended with pleasant and less pleasant surprises. The organizers say the fact that the first prize was won by a Moldovan artist was a positive moment, but a number of problems appeared during the event owing to a shortage of funds. “If we were to organize the event again, we would refuse,” Ghenadie Jalba, the president of the Union of Plastic Artists, said during a roundtable meeting, adding that the mobilization of the artists and the financing were the most difficult aspects. “Our people are very disorganized. Nobody knows what to do, where to go and what to present. We repeated the program from the very beginning for numerous times,” Ghenadie Jalba said. According to him, the new authorities did not want to assume financial responsibilities. The budget of the event was only 150,000 lei. This money was given by the Ministry of Culture, the Chisinau City Hall’s Culture Division and Sturza Foundation. Tudor Zbarnea, the curator of the Biennale and director of the Museum of Arts of Moldova, said the Biennale showed that the small countries can promote the foreign policy through culture. The top prize of 2,000 dollars was awarded to Gheorghe Angel from Romania, the first prize of 1,500 dollars to Simion Zamsa from Moldova, the second prize of 1,000 dollars to Constantin Flondor from Romania, while the third prize to Kazama – de Ober Tomoko from Japan. The jury was composed of nine members – art critics, people of culture, writers, architects, scientists of the Academy of Sciences. It was headed by Valentin Ciuca from Iasi. The International Painting Biennale took place in Chisinau for the first time. It brought together 110 plastic artists from 13 countries that exhibited 142 works. The exhibition will be open until December 17.