THE ANNIVERSARY EXHIBITION OF VIRGINIJUS KINČINAITIS MOBILIOGRAPHY „MUSEION”

2025 March 21 - April 12 the anniversary exhibition of Virginijus Kinčinaitis' mobiliography "Museion" will be open at the Šiauliai Art Gallery.

The opening event of the exhibition is on Friday, March 21, at 5:00 p.m. at the Šiauliai Art Gallery. Admission is free during the opening of the exhibition.

MUSEION – FROM PASSIVE VIEWING TOWARDS ACTIVE MUSEUMING

In modern society, there is a clear transformation of museum spaces and visitor habits. The global audience transfers hedonistic habits to museum spaces, and art centers and museums create spectacular situations adapted to such consumption. This important change is conveyed in the cycle „Museion“, artistically actualizing the aspects of cultural tourism and aesthetic consumption. The drama of the interaction of museum space, spectators, and works finds itself under the lens. Pop culture elements appear in the medium of high culture, the aura of masterpieces is replaced by fetishes of mass culture, museum contemplation is replaced by tourist boredom. It is no coincidence that the cycle „Museion“ juxtaposes images of provincial museums, mass attractions and prestigious exhibitions, searching for unexpected interactions between entertainment spectacles and contemporary art exhibits. The scenography of museum spaces, the states of visitors, the iconography of works and the interactions of spectators’ poses in this cycle highlight the self-sufficient aspects of the existence of museum spaces, which are no longer noticeable due to haste and consumer optics. The optics of art criticism operate not only in the museum space but also in banal everyday life. The monotony of everyday life, the intersections of fence and sky, wall and passerby, the commonality of a country homestead, a classical sculpture and a town display mannequin become objects of contemporary art, fragments of exhibitions and works. These are visual events inviting dialogue, not so much a process of photography as an active recomposition and museification of reality. It is full of unexpected combinations and meaningful events – just like in a contemporary art exhibition.

Virginijus Kinčinaitis mobiliography exhibition „Museion” was first exhibited at the Vilnius Photography Gallery in 2022, but the exhibition presented at the Šiauliai Art Gallery is more extensive and thematically developed.

Virginijus Kinčinaitis (b.1965) – art historian, curator, photographer. Graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 1999. Actively participates in public and art research activities. Initiated and implemented dozens of international, republican and Šiauliai city creative-artistic projects, participated in more than thirty international and republican artistic projects, exhibitions and artistic actions. Organized several dozen personal mobiliography exhibitions in Lithuania and abroad. Published several hundred theoretical, cultural and critical articles. Published three monographs: “Interpretations: postmodernism, visual culture, art”; “Con/texts of visual culture”; “Photorega exercises”. Compiled several publications. In 2016, he was awarded the Culture and Art Prize of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania. Instagram photographs of Virginijus Kinčinaitis are in the collection of the MO Museum, Šiaulių Bankas, Vilnius Museum, JCDecaux and private collections.

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The opening event of the exhibition is open to the public, filming and photography can be done. By participating in the event, you agree to be seen in photos and videos of the event and are informed that these photos and videos may be published publicly.