On August 1st at 6 PM, the group exhibition ‘miela, gražu, žavu / Cuuute!!!’ will open at the Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania (Gedimino Ave. 51, Vilnius).
The exhibition miela, gražu, žavu / Cuuute!!! explores cuteness as a contradictory aesthetic category. Cuteness arouses the desire to protect and soften, but at the same time diminishes – it makes the object fragile and easily controllable. Cute things can also conceal the possibility of violence: the desire to crush, devour, consume. Therefore, cuteness is not just a synonym for gentleness. It evokes a whole range of affects: from curiosity to desire, from fannish passion to the grotesque.
Through drawings, sculptural objects, collections of images, and textual works, the exhibition intertwines images of girls’ internet culture with the desire to consume others and the fear of being consumed. Alongside them are fragments of everyday life and fannish involvement, restrained sexuality, grotesque self-formation, a naive search for symbols of natural culture, and cruel hope and longing.
Cuteness is concentrated in small and powerless things, thus becoming a powerful code of emotional communication. In contemporary culture, it is particularly prominent on social networks, where cute objects, images of animals, or toys are easily turned into commodities sold through emotional response. The exhibition offers an understanding of cuteness not only as a desire to possess, but also as a way of being affected.
The library, one of the most accessible cultural resources, is a natural meeting place for different people, and the duration and frequency of their visits can vary greatly, depending on their own choices. The emergence of the exhibition in this space means not only its inclusion in an open and reflective environment, but also the incorporation of more diverse and less heard perspectives into the library. In such a public space, the exhibition invites us to rethink cuteness not only as a visual category, but also as a social practice arising from violence, power relations, pleasure, and freedom.
Artists: Ieva Marija Andrulytė, Julius Jančauskas, Nojus Juška, Nancie Naive, Gabija Pernavaitė, Ona Barbora Šlapšinskaitė, Saulė Tamašauskaitė.
Curators: Julija Šilytė and Ona Barbora Šlapšinskaitė.
Designer: Akvilė Paukštytė.
Architect: Algirdas Jakas.
Photographer: Jurga Sako.
Model: Liuka Jefremovaitė.
Exhibition dates: August 1–31, 2025
Sincere thanks to Milda Dainovskytė, Alanas Gurinas, Karolina Tomkevičiūtė, Bon Alog, Dominykas Mazaliauskas, Justas Drakšas.
Partners: Martynas Mažvydas National Library of Lithuania, JCDecaux, Artnews.lt.
The project is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.
Public program of the exhibition:
writing workshop with Julija Šilyte,
08 30 performance program (featuring Julius Jančauskas, 😉, in collaboration with Inga Zybalaite and Alina Pilecka; Nancie Naïve, A Woman is A Thing, in collaboration with Vicera; the duo to try to attempt (Erikas Siliuk, Algis Sprindžiūnas) and readings of unsanctioned poor poetry.)
