At the Marcinkonys train station gallery artist Marija Nem\u010denko is presenting \u201cBlessed are those that move\u201d \u2013 an exhibition looking into multifold meanings of moving and migrating. Taking Marcinkonys train station as a starting point, the stories of traveling disperse their own unique ways. Is it white storks\u2019 roosting stop during their long migratory journey, is it seasonal market stall holders\u2019 migration from the villages to the city, is it people\u2019s hopes to find a safer stay behind the border\u2026 In the exhibition \u201cBlessed are those that move\u201c a strongly politized term migration acquires multiplicity of forms, paradoxically temporarily rooted in the stop or a station.<\/p>\n
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Amidst the new works, Marija Nem\u010denko will show her artist moving image work \u201cLAK\u201d (2021),
\nwhich focuses on white storks (Ciconia Ciconia) and their migration routes. While making the
\nfilm, Nem\u010denko traveled around Lithuania by bicycle, interviewed ornithologists, talked to people
\nin the villages and towns, workers in the fields, elderly residents of individual farms, a closed
\nreligious community near the Belarusian border and different other people including the local
\npeople in and around Marcinkonys. The Film includes dialogues, reflections, knowledge, facts
\nand fiction that touch upon the topics of storks, birds, migration, homeland, movement,
\nbiodiversity and interdependence, transforming artistic work into a space for the exchange of
\nideas and cultural knowledge. The musical track for the documentary was created by composer
\nAndrius Arutiunian. \u201cLAK\u201d was created with a kind support by Kaunas Artist House and
\nLithuanian Cultural Ministry.<\/p>\n
During the exhibition making process Marija Nem\u010denko consulted and collaborated with local
\ninhabitants, who kindly shared their stories about the importance of the station to the
\ndevelopment of Marcinkonys. Based on the exhibition\u2019s theme and Marija\u2019s explanation of it, a
\nlocal artist Kastytis Skromanas has created an artwork that will be exhibited in the gallery too.<\/p>\n
Marija Nem\u010denko\u2019s practice is connected with exploring \u201cEastern Europeanness\u201d and a
\nfragmented understanding of this geopolitically rapidly changing region and its historical, social,
\npolitical, and environmental connections with the rest of the world. Reflections on migration and
\nidentity politics are often revealed in this eclecticism of Marija\u2019s Eastern European futurism. In
\nher works, the artist makes connections, tries to transfer and acquire knowledge from outside
\nthe traditional knowledge transfer frame. Learning from birds, plants and gossip in the market, in
\nher practice it creates a kind of fictional world that can sometimes reveal more about our
\neveryday reality than a direct look at it.<\/p>\n
Marija holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sculpture from the University of the Arts in London in 2013
\nand a Master of Arts in Visual Arts from the Glasgow School of Art in 2016. She is a co-founder
\nof BRUT Collective. Her and BRUT Collective\u2019s works can be found at
\nwww.marijanemcenko.com and www.brutcollective.com<\/p>\n
Exhibition opening 2022 05 21, 15 pm.<\/p>\n
Organiser: V\u0161\u012e Verp\u0117jos<\/p>\n
Partner: UAB Merkin\u0117s fabrikas<\/p>\n
Supported by Lithuanian Council for Culture, EEA grants.<\/p>\n
The exhibition will run until June 19, 2022 at Marcinkonys Station gallery (Kastinio g. 1C,
\nMarcinkonys, Var\u0117nos sav.).<\/p>\n
Marcinkonys Station gallery is open Saturdays and Sundays, noon\u20135 pm.<\/p>\n
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