TARA with Deimantė Jasiulevičiūtė
with a talk by editor Deimantė Jasiulevičiūtė, followed by a discussion with graphic designers Zuzana Kostelanská and Oriol Cabarrocas at 6.30pm
Friday May 2, 6pm
“Tara” was the nickname given by artists working in the graphic design field for their place of employment—the Experimental Package Design Bureau, established in the early 1960s in Soviet-occupied Lithuania. It was related to the modernisation processes, the increasing range of goods, the Soviet “Art for Everyday Life” programme, and the objectives of the Cold War. During its most productive period, from 1964 to 1984, the bureau employed over fifty designers, including a particularly large number of women, who shaped the aesthetics of everyday products. While many of the designers’ names, events, and works sank into obscurity, the editors’ extensive research has initiated an ongoing exploration, all of which is compiled and showcased in this comprehensive publication. With around 350 illustrations, the book introduces a playful way of exploring the Tara bureau’s projects through thematic ABC chapters and Glossary navigation that contextualize Tara’s narratives, stories, and identities.