Unveiling the Unexpected: X. Rey Explores Lithuania’s Cultural Odyssey in France

On Friday, the grand opening of the Lithuanian season in France took place at the Pompidou Center in Paris. After the press conference for the French audience, 15min interviewed the director of the Pompidou Center Xavier Rey.

During the interview, he shared his insights about Lithuanian art in the context of European contemporary and modern art, Kazi Varnelis, the donation of the MO Museum and what connections the institution he leads has with Ukraine.

– How does the Lithuanian art scene look in the broader picture of contemporary art in Paris or Europe?

– Regarding modern art, since the Pompidou Center is a center of modern and contemporary art, Lithuanian creators, especially those who traveled around Europe, were already known and were part of the Eastern European avant-garde in the early 20th century.

But perhaps some important works were inside Lithuania, especially more contemporary art, so the donation of 11 works from MO Museum greatly contributes to the history of contemporary art in Europe, because our aspiration is to have the best set of creators in every field, from every country, especially Europe.

That is why we are very happy to cooperate with Lithuanian partners to include Lithuanian creators in that story.

Greta Skaraitienes/BNS photo/The Lithuanian season in France was opened by the historical exhibition of the Museum of Mo and the Pompidou Center

– The Pompidou Center, together with the National Museum of Lithuania and the MO Museum, curated exhibitions of Kazios Varnelis and Lithuanian creators of late Soviet and contemporary art. What were the biggest challenges?

– About ten years ago, we started a very detailed academic optical art program about the Hungarian artist Victor Vasarely, who moved from Hungary to France and became the most famous creator among authors such as Carlos Cruz-Diez, Julio Le Parc and others.

One was missing – Kazios Varnelis. In the exhibition, you can see how close K. Varnelis is to other creators of the optical art direction, but at the same time peculiar. This, again, greatly contributes to the understanding and global vision of this movement. Since we are the most important collection of optical art in Europe, it was very interesting to have this K. Varnelis retrospective and to acquire one masterpiece for our collection, which we will be able to exhibit with the other creators I mentioned.

– Would you consider one work by K. Varnelis, which will arrive a little later and complement the Pompidou collection, as one of the most important works of this Lithuanian optical artist?

– I would say that this is a very representative example of K. Varnelis’ work in a very bright ecosystem with other optical artists, such as the aforementioned V. Vasarely, who we already have in the collection. The uniqueness of K. Varnelis is his immersion in Lithuanian traditional and folk art.

It is close to other creators of optical art, but different, and therefore very interesting, because optical art is not associated with tradition, more with a scientific look, a certain innovation of the 1960s and 1970s. It is pleasing to find in these works the connections between tradition and the evolution of forms that lead to this innovative way of painting.

– Do you see optical art rising on a new wave, acquiring new forms and meaning due to the application of artificial intelligence to visual creation?

– Undoubtedly. You’ve probably noticed young artists delving into optical art today. I would say it started before the AI ​​rendering generation. Perhaps also because optical art was born about 50 years ago. After such a period of time, the art current is usually rediscovered. Of course, this is particularly relevant to our times and, as you mentioned, is now part of the AI ​​movement.

Greta Skaraitienes/BNS photo/The Lithuanian season in France was opened by the historical exhibition of the Museum of Mo and the Pompidou Center

It was a very difficult time for optical art works, when in the nineties of the last century they were strongly ignored, most of the decorative works, large-format canvases simply disappeared. Therefore, ten years ago, with the senior curator Michel Gauthier, we started researching optical art, collecting works, organizing exhibitions, and these were the first studios that allowed us to rediscover this direction.

And the new monographic exhibition of K. Varnelis is part of the research of optical art carried out on a global scale.

– Which Lithuanian creators surprised you the most?

– I would not like to mention. The great thing is that because we have a collection of different formats, we have made video installations, sculptures and paintings that complement the collections. We are already anticipating dialogues that we can build in the future between Lithuanian and other European, especially French creators.

– Tell me honestly – was it difficult to communicate with the Lithuanian institutions?

– Frankly speaking, and I could not say the same about all communication with other foreign countries, we saw a sincere desire to work with our colleagues. Also, the National Museum of Lithuania contributed very generously by lending 15 masterpieces by K. Varnelis and helped these works to come to France.

This is a proof of dedication and, again, the selection and donation of significant works of the 1960s and 1970s by the MO Museum to another museum is quite unusual and shows friendship, a strong bond in cooperation. The work went quite easily, so we are happy to look ahead and give back what we got today to our Lithuanian friends.

We discussed the idea of ​​a joint exhibition with works from Paris that would be presented in 2028 to celebrate the decade of the MO Museum.

– Regarding this fellowship you mentioned, it was mentioned that it will be a comprehensive, large-scale exhibition. How big is it and have you already had a chance to discuss its topic more specifically with the MO Museum?

– Maybe I will disappoint, but it is too early to talk about it. The idea was to review the connection between Lithuania and the rest of Europe. We should build strongly on this, 2028 is also very important as it will be the very middle of the Pompidou Center closing for a major renovation.

Greta Skaraitienes/BNS photo/The Lithuanian season in France was opened by the historical exhibition of the Museum of Mo and the Pompidou Center

During this period, we are all the happier to be able to cooperate with our colleagues, continue our work, and present the collection to the public. And, of course, to contribute to the European identity in a very difficult diplomatic situation. Therefore, we are extremely enthusiastic about being close to our Lithuanian colleagues, especially at that time.

– Lithuanian art places a strong emphasis on the war in Ukraine. Wasn’t that too radical for you as French?

– Of course there is, although when we talk to our colleagues, we notice that we cannot have the same feelings when comparing France, located in the middle of Europe, with a country that shares a border with Russia. However, we are deeply aware of the threat posed not only to our neighbors but to Europe as a whole, which is partly why we want to contribute to a kind of cultural resistance and witness.

– We talked to Parisians, about 16 of them, and only two knew about the Lithuanian season in Paris. Do you think the French will be involved in these events?

– Hopefully, the press conference will trigger a wave of publications in French art newspapers and magazines. You may be disappointed, on the other hand, I was very happy to see that most of the major newspapers had articles about the season. Of course, it is always difficult in the beginning. But since we have strong works, I would say that after the end of the season, the result should be good in various fields of art.

It’s hard to tell before the performances, plays, other shows happen, but you should come back at the end of the season, ask the same questions and find out if people participated, became part of a very large program of 200 events.

– Can initiatives like the Lithuanian season in France influence how art institutions treat national and international cultural exchanges?

– Of course, because if we work together successfully, it means that we share the same vision of national meetings. We are called the National Museum of Modern Art, but we certainly represent a broader, more open definition of a national museum.

Greta Skaraitienes/BNS photo/The Lithuanian season in France was opened by the historical exhibition of the Museum of Mo and the Pompidou Center

We are not only talking about what French art could be for French people, but we welcome 40 percent foreigners in our spaces to show a very diverse range of works from the 20th and 21st centuries. This makes particular sense for France, as the strength of our Eastern European and modern art collections is made up of foreign artists who have come to France to create.

Let’s say Constantin Brancusi from Romania, Wassily Kandinsky from Russia, Sonia Delaunay from Ukraine. It is part of our identity and we are very proud to show how culture leads forward, not pulls back like war.

– How do you view Ukrainian art? Do you have connections with Ukrainian museums, joint projects?

– In fact, we received a great donation of Soviet and post-Soviet Ukrainian art, which we managed to exhibit very quickly after the start of the open war, thus expressing our support for Ukraine. We have a good relationship, we hosted the deputy director of the Kyiv National Museum in Paris for half a year, we accommodated him in an apartment near the Pompidou Center.

She worked partly at the Pompidou, partly at the Musée d’Orsay, with works from the 19th century. The deputy specialized in 19th century art. The significance of this work will be long-term, unfortunately, we notice that now Ukrainians suffer more and more from the situation and have less opportunities to continue their activities as before. I hope to get back to them as soon as possible.

– By the way, what is the scope of Pompidou’s collection of Ukrainian creators?

– It is difficult to answer this question, because our collection starts from the early 20th century. At that time, Ukraine was part of the Russian Empire. Many great creators like S. Delaunay were born in the regions of the Russian Empire, which now belong to Ukraine.

Therefore, we have a strong connection with Ukrainian culture from the beginning of the 20th century to the post-Soviet period, and we try to consider this as an exclusive part, bearing in mind that according to the diplomatic definition S. Delaunay was born in Ukraine. We try to emphasize that they are brothers, as they are seen in the history of art, and we hope that eventually this brotherhood will be restored.

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