An exhibition opens its doors in Kaunas: a duo of female artists will invite you to rethink traditional space and current states | Culture

During it, E. Vēvere’s continuous video project “The greenhouse might be” will be exhibited. On the opening night, there will also be a performance by Ž. Janušaitė, exploring the greenhouse as a metaphor for internal transformation.

The origins of the exhibition are in Žagare

Latvian visual arts representative E. Vēverė mainly focuses on installations and processes in which she explores the architecture of time and philosophical questions. Her works are included in prominent Latvian art collections. Ž. Janušaitė is engaged in painting, installations, land, video art and performance. She actively participates in and organizes cultural events, was one of the co-organizers of the Fringe festival in Žagarė and the curator of the artists’ residency, where the first joint performance of the artists took place.

Photo by Valdis Jansons/Eva Vēvere

“Eva and I met nine years ago at the Tāši manor residence in Latvia, and in 2023 we showed three video works at the Fringe Festival in Žagarė in the premises of the old dairy. They filmed performative actions with plants and objects found in the greenhouse space. During the same event, in a notebook prepared by Eva, the audience wrote down their imaginations of what the greenhouse might be without its main function. From these notes, the name and structure of the future exhibition was born,” says Ž. Janušaitė.

E. Vēverė adds that at that time he received many interesting answers, starting with the fact that the greenhouse can be a musical instrument, an artists’ residence or an aquarium. “Many of the responses also contained elements of longing for a place of refuge where one might enjoy a moment of peace, a place that radiated strong and focused energy. My desire in this exhibition is to give people exactly that.”

Photo by Irene Arango/Z. Janušaitė, Performance Festival “Territory”, Ibiza

Rethinking traditional spaces through visuals

E. Vēverė says that the continuous video project “The greenhouse might be” exhibited at the exhibition is an idea developed over a long period of time: throughout the project, the Latvian artist invites women to perform a chosen creative action in a certain space, for example, in a greenhouse – a traditional auxiliary building of the Baltic countries.

“The result of this ongoing project are video works in which women stand out in their full potential, performing extraordinary and seemingly absurd actions in traditionally functional spaces. I aim to show how their creativity expands our life experience beyond normality and practicality, emphasizing the constant presence of this creative element in our lives,” explains the artist.

E. Vēverė says that although she shot the video with Ž. Janušaita in the winter of last year, it took regarding half a year to create the future exhibition. The duration of the process was influenced both by the filling of the gallery space and by the more accurate sense that the exhibition and its performative elements can work together, which has developed over the past two months. “The moving image is just one way of creative storytelling and in a sense it is a starting point for this exhibition to develop and expand into a wider conversation with more media, for example, the performance of Židrija at the opening.”

The main axes of the performance are present states and kismas

After Ž. Janušaitė joins the exploration of the greenhouse space started by E. Vēverė, it will be possible to see the performance of the Lithuanian artist in the exhibition – it will fit into the common space, creating a certain state of “being here”, and will also connect the objects of the exhibition with certain means that Ž. Janušaitė will use during the performance.

“Besides, the metaphorical spaces of refuge and temple chosen for the realization of the exhibition are those places where the current states, their perception, purification and expansion are important. After all, in the greenhouse, both the seed and the plant change, go through all the stages of their life. I think transformation, transitions in our lives are the thresholds of growth and maturity that greet us. I will try to embody this during my performance,” says the artist.

“Shelter, temple, monument” is the first joint exhibition of artists in the space of the “Art Park” gallery. It can be seen until August 11. More information is available here.