Oksana Valionienė, Plan of Vilnius Paleorelief, scale 1:20000, 2015, fragment. Courtesy of the author
The exhibition Citynature: Vilnius and Beyond is a showcase for art and scientific research which reflects the city not solely as a man-made creation, but rather as an ecosystem where human activity is in a constant interplay with processes of both an animate and inanimate nature. One of the key elements of the show is an attempt to look closer at Vilnius, the city hosting the exhibition, in an attempt to perceive it not as a closed unit, but as a formation existing in the broader contexts of nature and culture, time and space.
The two-part exhibition will present five new works by Lithuanian and foreign artists, made in collaboration with scientists, in the search for parallels between the city and an anthill, offering a glimpse at the city from the perspective of a bat, viewing robots as members of society, reflecting post-traumatic healing processes common to the community and the individual physical body, and trying to imagine gardening in a cosmic city. Alongside the new works, there will be a display of scientific research spanning recent decades, where issues of urban nature are examined by historians, paleoanthroplogists, archaeologists, botanists, meteorologists and specialists in other fields. Their research will be presented in an accessible and creative form.
The exhibition will be accompanied by an extended educational programme: no less than five seminars and workshops are intended for 2016 and 2017. They will be hosted by the artists and scientists taking part in the project. Some of the workshops and seminars will merge with the creative process, and the ideas generated or the products made will be incorporated into the exhibition.
Participants: Kader Attia; Julius von Bismarck; Pakui Hardware (Neringa Černiauskaitė & Ugnius Gelguda); Kuai Shen; Julijonas Urbonas; Rimantas Jankauskas, Šarūnas Jatautis and Ieva Mitokaitė; Iwona Janicka; Vida Motiekaitytė; Egidijus Rimkus, Dovilė Keršytė and Justas Kažys; Oksana Valionienė, Aistis Žalnora
Curators: Vytenis Burokas, Vitalij Červiakov, Eglė Mikalajūnė, Eglė Nedzinskaitė
Organiser: National Gallery of Art, Lithuanian Art Museum
Partners: Rupert Residency Centre, Department of Laser Technology at the Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius University Faculty of Mathematics and Information Technology, Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Herbarium of Vilnius University, Vilnius University Department of Hydrology and Climatology, Vrublevskis Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Library of Vilnius University, Botanical Garden of Vilnius University, Lithuanian Library for the Blind, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum, ABB UAB, Vilniaus vandenys UAB, Vilnius City Municipality, Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania: National Museum, Teleport, City of Nürnberg, “Technariumas”
Sponsors: Lithuanian Council for Culture, Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, Goethe-Institut Lithuania, Institut Français de Lituanie, North-Rhein Westfalian Ministry of Family, Children, Youth, Culture and Sport, Precizika Metrology UAB, Exterus UAB, Lrytas.lt UAB, Terra Modus UAB.
