Lithuanian Artists’ Association, in cooperation with the Centre Of Contemporary Art In Toruń (Poland) and the Academy of the Senses organization from Reykjavík (Iceland) started implementing an international project Common Ground/ComG (it began in 2020 and will continue until 2023) which aimed at considering and contemporizing these issues via artistic means, thus contributing to positive changes and awareness raising. The topics of the project are focused on a social discourse: challenges of migration, interactions between different cultures, integration of ethnic minorities and local communities, mutual understanding while creating a favourable microclimate for all. In the face of ecological, economic, environmental and forced displacement crises, the “common ground” must be rethought in order to reflect the changed situation in this ever-changing world.
The project included residencies, exhibitions and accompanying activities in Reykjavik, Toruń and Palanga. Its participants consisted of 18 artists, 3 researchers from each country, 6 cultural field managers and a large creative team of participating institutions. During the residencies, artistic-social research and open direct dialogue were developed, which became material for the project participants to refer to with works of art. These studies are presented in the form of a group exhibition at the [Up]rooting exhibition in the Arka Gallery in Vilnius which is about relocation as a processual event. About the fact that location is not necessarily defined by unchanging location coordinates, but rather functions as a place of existing state and experience. After all, what a homey place refers to is everyone’s autonomous and individual experience, which can be transferred to another place each time and still not lose that sense of homeyness. The term uprooting can mean both settling in (to put down roots) and moving away (moving elsewhere) as well as displacement (the forced moving away) and at the same time, the repetition of these sensations in any part of the world.
The exhibition invites you to think about the search for a place to establish yourself, about the fact that the concept of land is both the physical place that a person occupies (Land), and the relationship with the land that is important to Lithuanian consciousness, i.e. the soil in which something is sown, in which something sprouts, grows (Ground), and the earth as the human planet, which reminds us that each unique medium of life is also a global entity and an interdependent organism (the word plantae – the Latin name for the plant kingdom – is an anagram of the word Planet!).
The sustainable dialogue between the artists of the three countries, which was raised primarily as one of the goals of the project, finally showed that the main goal and the achieved result are connections between people, nature, environment and ideas. It is a communication that creates coexistence, an opportunity to communicate, travel, discuss, get to know and experience space and time. It is a place not only around us, but also in our consciousness, dedicated to protecting these connections as well as cultivating them. It’s as if you were constantly replanting, in other words – rooting – plants that have grown beyond the limits of their space. This exhibition is not about a place but about its creation here and now based on connections.
Artists: Andrii Dostliev, Sylwia Gorak, Maciej Kwietnicki, Ala Savashevich, Wiola Ujazdowska, Joanna Małecka, Páll Haukur Björnsson, Sindri Leifsson, Pétur Magnússon, Anna Sigríður Sigurjónsdóttir, Ragnhildur von Weisshappel, Kristín Reynisdóttir, Tomas Andrijauskas, Andrius Grigalaitis, Marija Griniuk, Solveiga Gutautė, Živilė Minkutė, Julija Pociūtė.
Art director of the project: Anna Eyjólfsdóttir.
Exhibition architect: Darius Baliukevičius.
Organizer of the exhibition: LDS galerija „Arka“.
Organizers of the project: Lithuanian Artists’ Association, Centre Of Contemporary Art In Toruń, the Academy of the Senses.
Sponsors: program „Creative Europe“, Lithuanian Council for Culture.
Dates: 2022.12.16 – 2023.01.18.
Venue: gallery „Arka“ (Aušros Vartų st. 7, Vilnius, Lithuania)
Photography: Lukas Mykolaitis.
“[Up]rooting“ exhibition view.
“[Up]rooting“ exhibition view.
“[Up]rooting“ exhibition view.
Andrii Dostliev. “Sviatohirsk school of photography“
Andrii Dostliev. “Sviatohirsk school of photography“
Julija Pociūtė. “Monuments of momental connection (in collaboration with “common ground“ artists)“
Julija Pociūtė. “Monuments of momental connection (in collaboration with “common ground“ artists)“
Julija Pociūtė. “Monuments of momental connection (in collaboration with “common ground“ artists)“
Andrius Grigalaitis. “Exploring the mist”
Andrius Grigalaitis. “Exploring the mist”
Živilė Minkutė. “Nowhereland” and “Hang in there”
Živilė Minkutė. “Hang in there”
Sylwia Gorak. “Eglė and hydrofeminism”
Solveiga Gutautė. “Impact”
Tomas Andrijauskas. “Melting longing”
Maciej Kwietnicki. “Ceilling”
Maciej Kwietnicki. “Ceilling”
Páll Haukur Björnsson “Self portrait & imported fruit” and Sindri Leifsson “Built better”
Sindri Leifsson. “Built better”
Páll Haukur Björnsson. “Imported fruit”
Živilė Minkutė. “Friend”
Živilė Minkutė “Friend” and Ala Savashevich “Forgetting about tomorrow”
Joanna Malecka ir Magda Wegrzyn. “Noise of common ground”
“[Up]rooting“ exhibition view.
Marija Griniuk. “Reflexive painting and performative actions”
Ragnhildur Weisshappel “Tilted trees of Palanga” and “Mice”
Ragnhildur Weisshappel “Tilted trees of Palanga” and “Mice”
Ragnhildur Weisshappel “Tilted trees of Palanga” and “Mice”
Solveiga Gutautė. “Call God”
Solveiga Gutautė. “Call God”
“[Up]rooting“ exhibition view.
Pétur Magnússon. “Sleeping Dogs”
Kristín Reynisdóttir. “Balance III”
Kristín Reynisdóttir. “Balance III”
Kristín Reynisdóttir. “Balance III”
Anna Sigríður Sigurjónsdóttir. “Listen deep within”
Anna Sigríður Sigurjónsdóttir. “Listen deep within”
Julija Pociūtė. “Unnumbered tree” (HD video, 7:20 min.)
Ragnhildur Weisshappel “Tilted trees of Palanga” and “Mice”
