Untill December 11th a group exhibition “Seeplessness” was displayed at the screening rooms of the Meno Avilys (corner of A. Goštauto and A. Vienuolio streets, Vilnius). The exhibition was created as part of the VIDEOGRAMOS’22 festival of artist’s films and moving images.
In the exhibition, visitors saw works by artists Tom Kobialka, Peter Wächtler, and Sallamari Rantala, which focus on archaic consumerism and the visual expression of economic systems and how it becomes part of a personal archive. This nighttime story brought together a vampire who spends his days in a castle tower and dreams about a warm blanket, heroes created by the largest Australian bank, which taught children about entrepreneurship, reliefs made of sand, and American marshmallows roasted over a fire.
The curator Gerda Paliušytė crafted the mood of the “Sleeplessness” together with the artist Gediminas G. Akstinas while thinking about an evening at the camping site when the night shadows and the fear they cause become oddly charming and even cozy in a familiar and safe environment.
In 2022, VIDEOGRAMS, a festival of artists’ films and moving images, traveled back and forth across the heterogeneous, controversial, and highly diverse region of Eastern Europe and its definitions of identity.
In the festival’s program, the Eastern European region was perceived not only as a local narrative or something that thrives in the socialist past but also as a participant in financial capitalism and patriarchy—abstract and surreal economic and social systems that enable each other. This theme was further developed in the exhibition “Sleeplessness”.
The viewing rooms, curated by the Meno Avilys, are located at the uninhabited apartment at A. Goštauto st. 2, the same building as Meno Avilys, its Cinematheque and the Skalvija Cinema Centre.
The full programme of 2022 Videograms Festival: https://videograms.online/en/programs/
Organized by Videograms and Meno Avilys
Artists: Tom Kobialka, Sallamari Rantala, Peter Wächtler
Curator: Gerda Paliušytė
Architect: Gediminas G. Akstinas
Graphic designer: Marke Voida
Editor and translator: Aistis Žekevičius
Supported by: Vilnius Municipality, The Lithuanian Film Centre
The activities of Meno Avilys are funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture
Photos by Andrej Vasilenko
