The final stage in the project Climbing Invisible Structures in an exhibition opening Feb 10 in Akershus Kunstsenter. Artists presented are: Mo Abd-Ulla, Eglė Budvytytė, Tanya Busse, Victoria Durnak, Gunnhildur Hauksdóttir, Berlind Jona Hlynsdóttir, Saulius Leonavičius & Vida Strasevičiūtė, Robertas Narkus, Augustas Serapinas, Kristin Tårnesvik.
Climbing Invisible Structures, is a curated visual arts residency exchange and exhibition programme organised by the Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts (NAC) (Lithuania), in collaboration with the Office for Contemporary Art Norway (OCA), the Nordic Artists’ Centre Dale (Norway), the Skaftfell Center for Visual Art (Iceland), and the Ars Communis Residency Centre YO-YO (Lithuania). The programme is financed by the European Economic Area Financial Mechanism 2009-2014 (www.eeagrants.lt/en/programmes/description/program-description/program/31) and the NAC.
More about the exhibition
The expression Climbing Invisible Structures invokes something steep and hidden, something vertiginous and inaccessible. The idea of coping with such constructions, invites us, artists and participants, to reflect on the complex, multilayered and often imperceptible relationships that govern our lives and relationships. For what sort of social structures dictate things like career choice, way of life, or art productions? And can we be sure that our human relations, in fact, are not already organized according to pre-established power relationships, unstated rules and rituals? How can we know that what we take for granted, that which appears so natural, are actually social constructions and false consciousness?
The various works in this exhibition, each in a very distinct way, investigate different modes of existence, aspects of art production, and social life. They explore deep-rooted practices, conceptual systems, and rituals. They manipulate, disorganize, and disrupt fixed ways of thinking and patterns of behavior. Of course, the aim is not to establish new ones, but to puzzle, to make us wonder, and by the same token to raise questions about the legitimacy of existing conventions and established institutions.
Friday, February 10, 8–9:30pm:
performative dinner “Today’s Menu: table-talk-manners-food policies” by Mo Abd-Ulla
Sunday, February 12, 1–2pm:
performative presentation by Robertas Narkus & guided tour with the curator Eglė Mikalajūnė
Sunday, March 12, 1–2pm:
artist-talk by Victoria Durnak and guided tour with the curator Samir M’kadmi
This exhibition is part of a two-year-long residency and exhibition project involving six institutions in three different countries: Iceland, Lithuania and Norway. Ten artists have been invited to do residencies and to create works for four exhibitions in Vilnius, Nida, Žeimiai (Lithuania) and Lillestrøm (Norway). This exhibition presents works by all participating artists. Akershus Kunstsenter is the fourth and the last stop in the travelling exhibition’s tour.
Organiser: Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts
Project Partners: Nordic Artists’ Centre Dale, Norway / Office for Contemporary Art, Oslo, Norway / Residency Centre YO YO, Žeimiai Manor Estate, Lithuania / Skaftfell – Center for Visual Art East Iceland, Seyðisfjörður, Iceland
Vilnius Academy of Arts’ project Discipline Today. Residency Exchange and Exhibitions, project no. EEE-LT07-KM-01-K-01-035, benefits from a grant through the EEA Financial Mechanism and Lithuanian State programme LT07 “Promotion of Diversity in Culture and Arts within European Cultural Heritage.” The project is also financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
