Sheets and Splashes. Leisure in 20th and 21st century Lithuanian art

What do people do when they don’t have to do anything? When they are no longer limited by office walls, not obliged to work to cover their basic needs, and when business hours are officially over? Whatever we choose – to stay at home, to hang out in the neighborhood, to go out, to escape into nature, to immerse our feet in the sea or to travel abroad, this choice is determined not only by our personal wishes, but also by social and economic possibilities and the available infrastructure.

 

In Lithuania, which has lived through long years of oppression and hardship, leisure is a complicated concept. After long decades of denying ourselves so many things, what do we envisage when we hear the word „leisure“? The images that come to mind – are they memories of our experiences, or do they come from art, cinema, advertising? We revisited these questions as we were looking through almost thirty public and private collections in search of images of leisure in the artefacts of Lithuania’s modern visual culture: painting, graphic art, sculpture, photography, applied art, contemporary art, advertising, feature and documentary films, and amateur art.

 

Works by more than a hundred creators and archival material allow us to observe how the ways of maintaining mental and physical health were shifting in this country during the last century, which activities remained unchanged, and which motifs did not cease to pique artists’ interest despite political and ideological shifts. The panoramic view offered by the exhibition shows the activities that are presumed to arouse only positive emotions, and alongside, attention is drawn to personal and collective tensions inside or around the exhibited works.

 

 

 

Participating artists: Aleksas Andriuškevičius, Robertas Antinis, Gerardas Bagdonavičius, Julijus Balčikonis, Marijonas Baranauskas, Jurga Barilaitė, Leokadija Belvertaitė, Augustas Bidlauskas, Eglė Ganda Bogdanienė, Stanislovas Bohušas-Sestšencevičius, Alfonsas Budvytis, Walter Buhe, Zenonas Bulgakovas, Gailė Cijūnaitytė, Vaclovas Čechovičius, Darius Čepulionis, Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis, Milda Dainovskytė, Evaldas Darškus, Kazys Daugėla, Kostas Dereškevičius, Mstislavas Dobužinskis, Ona Dokalskaitė-Paškevičienė, Pranas Domšaitis, Vladas Drėma, Jonas Dvariškis, Silvestras Džiaukštas, Vladas Eidukevičius, Juozas Galkus, Vincentas Gečas, Antanas Gerlikas, Adasa Gurevič, Algis Griškevičius, Henrikas Horodničius, Vytautas Ignas, Linas Jablonskis, Rimvidas Jankauskas-Kampas, Ksenija Jaroševaitė, Zina Jockutė-Martinaitienė, Vytautas Kazimieras Jonynas, Patricija Jurkšaitytė, Linas Jusionis, Romas Juškelis, Vytautas Kairiūkštis, Petras Kalpokas, Juozas Kamarauskas, Irena Karpinska, Zinas Kazėnas, Giedrius Kazimierėnas, Vincas Kisarauskas, Elena Kniūkštaitė, Algimantas Kunčius, Stanislovas Kuzma, Juozas Laurinkus, Antanas Liutkus, Indrė Liškauskaitė, Dainius Liškevičius, Vitas Luckus, Aleksandras Macijauskas, Jonas Mackevičius, Liudgardas Maculevičius, Gintaras Makarevičius, Algimantas Maldutis, Ignas Maldus, Auksė Miliukaitė, Paulina Mongirdaitė, Kazys ir Mečys Motuzai, Jadvyga Nalivaikienė, Aldona Maria Nebelska-Romanowicz, Eglė Norkutė, Lidia Novicka, Vita Opolskytė-Brazdžiūnienė, Valdas Ozarinskas, Vygantas Paukštė, Lili Janina Paškauskaitė, Viktoras Petravičius, Algirdas Pročkys, Artūras Raila, Vaclovas Ratas-Rataiskis, Edvardas Riomeris, Valentas Romanovičius, Antanas Samuolis, Augustinas Savickas, Augustas Serapinas, Józef Sękalski, Romanas Sirotskis, Miša Skalskis, Kajetonas Sklėrius, Gediminas Skvarnavičius, Vincentas Slendzinskis, Raimundas Sližys, Jūratė Stankevičiūtė, Magdalena Birutė Stankūnaitė-Stankūnienė, Jonas Steponavičius, Andrius Stonys, Gintautas Stulgaitis, Ignas Stropus, Arvydas Šaltenis, Algirdas Šeškus, Aleksandras Šepetys, Veronika Šleivytė, Virgilijus Šonta, Algirdas Tumas, Benediktas Henrikas Tiškevičius, Jonas Tiškevičius, Vincas Uždavinys, Julius Vaicekauskas, Birutė Vaitiekūnienė, Adelė Velykienė, Nikolajus Zelinskas, Kazimiera Zimblytė, Česlovas Znamierovskis, Darius Žiūra, Antanas Žmuidzinavičius, Algirdas Žukauskas, Olga Žukovska

 

The works in the exhibition are courtesy of: Jurbarkas Regional History Museum, Kaunas District Museum, Kretinga Museum, Kupiškis Local Lore Museum, Lithuanian Central State Archives, Lithuanian Artists’ Union, Lithuanian Union of Art Photographers, Lithuanian Film Centre, Lithuanian Archives of Literature and Art, National Museum of Lithuania, Lithuanian National Radio and Television, Maironis Lithuanian Literature Museum, MO Museum, Museum Aschersleben, M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum, Šiauliai Aušra Museum, Contemporary Art Centre, Lithuanian Art Centre Tartle, The Rooster Gallery, Trakai History Museum, Museum of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, Vilna Gaon Museum of Jewish History, Dangis Babikas, Ona Marija Horodničiūtė, Algimantas Kunčius, Arūnas Muliuolis, Elena Ozarinskaitė, Kristupas Petkūnas, Dainius Raupelis

 

 

Exhibition curators: Goda Aksamitauskaitė, Eglė Juocevičiūtė, Austėja Tavoraitė

 

Exhibition architects: Povilas Marozas, Vladas Suncovas

 

Designer: Laura Grigaliūnaitė

 

Exhibition architecture coordinator: Mindaugas Reklaitis

 

Partners: Lithuanian Central State Archives, Lithuanian Film Centre, M. K. Čiurlionis National Art Museum, Šiauliai Aušra Museum, LRT

 

Sponsors: Exterus, Fundermax

 

Media sponsor: LRT

 

The project is financed by

​

22 Konstitucijos Ave, LT-08105, Vilnius, Lithuania
+370 5 212 2997,

info@ndg.lt
www.ndg.lt