The project “Aurelija Maknytė: Cabinets of Nature” funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture was held at Vilnius Town Hall from September to October 2020.
Exhibition Curator: Art Historian, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Agnė Narušytė
About the Exhibition:
The sense of an impending climate catastrophe prompts a reconsideration of homo sapiens’ “inherent” right to exploit nature for its needs. Artist Aurelija Maknytė, known for observing the habits of beavers and other less visible animals, invites viewers to see from their perspective. The exhibition, resembling a natural history museum display but also an “invasion” of pests into a central urban building, highlights the relativity of knowledge, power dynamics, and aesthetics.
Vilnius Town Hall is an especially suitable venue, as art here frequently intersects with politics. Politics often determines which species survive and which disappear. The natural objects placed within the classical spaces of the Town Hall will engage in dialogue with the strict lines of architecture, nature will converse with culture, and viewers will be encouraged to experience and recognize these interactions. The exhibition’s theme will extend into a tour that reveals the landscape not only as a natural vista but also as a human creation continually modified by other inhabitants.
