What do you want to say by that?..  2

Miglė Munderzbakaitė
www.kamane.lt, 2014-05-05

In brief: ...One of the characters of works of the exhibition asks this question. The annotation of the exhibition “Concerns and Expectations” open at A.Žmuidzinavičius Memorial Museum of the National M.K.Čiurlionis Art Museum in Kaunas speaks about the importance of the present world and the majesty of the present moment. The authors of the exhibition, contemporary interdisciplinary artists: Rolandas Rimkūnas, Benigna Kasparavičiūtė, art critic Kęstutis Šapoka, wanted to say a lot. For that purpose they chose various methods of expression: photography, collages, drawings, paintings.

If the author attempted to define the works hanging on walls of the museum, she would call them critical, asking ambiguous questions and criticising in a way. The displayed works, at least the majority of them, are textual enough. Soviet years are in the first plan of criticism of works. Beside these critical works, artworks with motifs of calm nature are showcased. Some harmony appears in the exhibition in this way. The artists tried to turn attention to the dramatic consumer culture too. Artists touched some other topics too, but the most interesting phenomenon is the reaction of visitors to the exhibition, which the author discusses. What did artists want to say, what have visitors heard, understood or misunderstood? It appears that the exhibition received quite controversial reactions from visitors of different nationalities.

Therefore, the author decided to ask artists themselves about the exhibition and things they wanted to express by it. According to one of the participants and interlocutors, K.Šapoka, the title of the exhibition “Concerns and Expectations” is an ironic allusion to the artificial style of Soviet times. “We suggest to the viewer that he/she should not regard these works too seriously. Still, we turn back to the Soviet times not to dig in the waste yard of history but in order to pay attention to the Soviet times which continue until today. We continue living in the epoch of Brezhnev, and the Soviet times never ended, at least in Vilnius,” the artist and art critic states.

Photos by the author of the article

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