Gallerist’s portrait – different approaches to running the gallery today
Today, a contemporary art gallery juggles many roles. It is not just a space for experiencing and selling art, but a platform for dialogue and ideas—acting as a mediator between artists and diverse audiences while actively engaging in contemporary art discourse. Although galleries operate in different geographical and cultural contexts, each develops its own distinct model. This is shaped not only by economic circumstances, but also by the gallerists’ personalities, values, and long-term curatorial or personal vision. Inseparable from their spaces, gallerists build communities and connections, taking on risks and growing cultural capital.
This discussion will explore how gallerists build networks today, how they contribute to a broader art discourse, and the responsibilities they accept in fostering a vibrant art market and engaging with the international contemporary art ecosystem.
Panellists:
Olga Temnikova is a collector and the co-founder and owner of the Temnikova & Kasela gallery in Tallinn. Together with Margot Samel, she also co-founded the Esther art fair in New York. Established in 2010, Temnikova & Kasela is one of the most internationally active galleries in the Baltics, representing artists whose work has been presented at the Venice Biennale and is held in major museum collections internationally.
Berta Zubrickaitė is a curator with a proven track record of developing and overseeing cultural programmes in both large-scale public institutions and independent galleries. She has collaborated with artists across all disciplines, organising solo exhibitions, thematic group shows, and site-specific commissions. She is currently Director at Edel Assanti in London, where she leads the gallery’s artist development, institutional relations, and exhibition strategy. She has previously held roles at leading organisations, including Somerset House and Frieze. She holds an MFA in Curating from Goldsmiths, University of London, and a BA in Criticism and Curation from Central Saint Martins. Berta also writes a regular column, Meno dienoraštis (Art Diary), for Lamų slėnis magazine.
Agnieszka Faferek is a Milan-based gallerist and the founder and director of eastcontemporary. With a multidisciplinary background spanning theatre, music, and visual arts, she founded eastcontemporary in Milan in 2020, initially as a non-profit project space before developing it into a contemporary art gallery in 2021. Fąferek conceives the gallery as a dynamic platform for emerging international voices and cross-cultural dialogue, with a particular commitment to artists from Central and Eastern Europe. Her program focuses on experimental and research-driven practices across sculpture, installation, textiles, new technologies, video, and performance, combining exhibitions with public programmes, institutional partnerships, and long-term support for artists.
In 2024, Fąferek received the Diana Bracco Award for Women Art Entrepreneurs at Artissima, recognizing an emerging female gallerist for her commitment to artistic quality and research. The jury included Isabella Bortolozzi (Founder, Galerie Isabella Bortolozzi, Berlin), Giovanna Forlanelli (President, Fondazione Luigi Rovati), and Chiara Parisi (Director, Centre Pompidou-Metz). Under her direction, eastcontemporary was also awarded the Opening by Allianz Award at ARCOmadrid 2022 for its presentation of Nour Jaouda and Ania Bąk. Through the gallery’s programme, Faferek has introduced numerous international artists to Italian audiences with their first solo exhibitions in the country, including Anastasia Sosunova, Pakui Hardware, Barbara Wesołowska, Eliška Konečná, Aziza Kadyri, and Slavs and Tatars, among others.
Justė Kostikovaitė is a Vilnius-based curator whose practice explores fluid formats at the intersection of institutions, artist residencies, empowerment and collective curatorial initiatives. Together with Laima Kreivytė and Eileen Myles, she co-created the performance Gimbutas Street Band, presented at the Vilnius Performance Art Biennial (VB23). In 2022, Kostikovaitė curated the public event programme for the international exhibition Goddesses and Warriors: 100 Years to Marija Gimbutas at the National Museum of Lithuania. Alongside Merilin Talumaa, she co-curated Dryads of Cosquer (2024), an exhibition, performance and screening programme staged across Marseille at Art-O-Rama, La Traverse and FRAC Sud. In 2025, she co-curated the international exhibition Rave Nation: Dancing to the Sounds of Freedom 1992–2004 at the National Museum of Lithuania with Eglė Mikalajūnė. Kostikovaitė is also the co-founder of the art marketplace Art&Potatoes, and the curator of the 2026 exhibitions Noise Portals and Viltė Fuller’s solo show Mouths.
