October 11 - November 10, 2013
Carlos Garaicoa
Trip and Traveling
Klaipeda Culture Communication Center (KCCC), Lithuania
On the 11th of October at 6 p.m. at KCCC exhibition spaces will be presented contemporary art exhibition "Trip and Traveling - Introduction".
Historical Reminiscences of Klaipėda Region in the contemporary art exhibition
Marco Polo travels, Nida and the Internet have more things in common than it might seem at first glance. Those interested in learning more are kindly invited to the exhibition of the project „Trip and Travelling. Introduction“ to be opened on Friday, 11th of October at 6:00 PM at the Exhibition Hall of Klaipėda Culture Communication Center (KCCC) (Didžiojo Vandens str. 2).
The subject chosen by Italian curator Lorenzo Bruni (Italy) for the exhibition in Klaipėda invites for a dialogue between the aesthetics of video-art, the art of the early and the approach of contemporary young artists towards artistic practices of authors of the above period. The exhibition coordinated by Julija Cistiakova (France-Lithuania) speaks about a new concept of travelling in the Internet era: travelling in post-colonial times, travelling in the world where everything had already been explored and ideological future is irrelevant.
This concept calls attention to two major problems: the first refers to cultural identity that provides us with a framework for judgement on personal and collective experience, the second – to perception linking our experience with historical changes. A part of the project implemented in cooperation with the Lithuania Minor History museum offers a fresh look at views of old Klaipėda and its environs, which used to seem so familiar to the locals of the town.
The historical context of Klaipėda Region closely relates with its cultural identity. Nida served as a source of inspiration for German expressionists Max Pechstein, Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Ernst Kirchner, etc., writer Thomas Mann and renowned French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.
Trip or its documentation and accompanying narrative reveal the standards allowing an individual to judge and speak about historical facts that make a picture of the world. A book „Il Milione/ the Travels of Marco Polo“ by Marco Polo and diaries by other authors written in the Age of Exploration of America, as well as short stories by Joseph Conrad, Mark Twain and Lev Tolstoy also reflect on these issues? and the idea of a strive for so called „Paradise Lost“, discovery of which would allow to understand human nature.
Among the most famous examples of such reflection? – „In search of lost time“ by Marcel Proust, „Ulysses“ by James Joyce and „The Divine comedy” by Dante. Today we live in “liquid modernity” as described by sociologist Zygmunt Bauman, and we can freely travel without being lost thanks to various electronic gadgets and navigation devices, we are able to contact anyone, anytime and almost from any place of the world. Therefore, the difference between mental mind-travelling and physical travelling, exploring of the world and self-reflection in the world can and has to be interpreted, assessed and reconsidered in many different ways.
The international project represents the works of the following artists: Maria Teresa Alves, John Bock, Johanna Billing, Deniz Buga, Jordi Colomer, François Curlet, Stefania Galegati, Domenico Mangano, Ahmet Ögüt, Uriel Orlow, Paolo Parisi, Agnė Racevičiūtė, Anri Sala, Hans Schabus, Emilija Skarnulytė, Guido van der Werve, Raphaël Zarka, Jose Dávila, Nico Dockx, Carlos Garaicoa, Rainer Ganahl, Thomas Gillespie, Darius Mikšys, Jonathan Monk, Maurizio Nannucci, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Shimabuku, Matteo Rubbi, Marinella Senatore, Kamen Stoyanov, Driant Zeneli, Lawrence Weiner.
The exhibition „Trip and Travelling-Introduction” will run at KCCC Exhibition Hall until 10th of November, 2013.