Changing habits in art spaces—is it easy or difficult? This is what the ninth edition of Vilnius Gallery Weekend (VGW) will try to find out September 5–8.
VGW is organized by the public institution “Galerijų savaitgalis” together with the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association. It is funded by Lithuanian Culture Council and Vilnius City Municipality.
Since 2016, VGW has marked the symbolic beginning of the exhibitions season. As for every year, the event aims to draw attention to the wide panorama of contemporary art in Vilnius and encourage visitors to discover new checkpoints on the cultural map. In 2024, the format of VGW transforms: the program now curated by the curatorial teams of selected galleries and art spaces. The first such team will be the single artwork gallery apiece and its founders Milena Černiakaitė and Aušra Trakšelytė.
The curators proposed the theme of habits as the focus of this years VGW. How are new habits cultivated through exchange, communication and cooperation? This is an invitation to expand the notion of what an art presenting space does—a rethinking of the purpose and principles of art organizations.
The curators of the apiece gallery are no strangers to changing habits, nomadism and mobility. Since 2018, Černiakaitė and Trakšelytė have been organizing single artwork exhibitions on Didžioji Street in Vilnius. After losing their display window there, apiece wandered between the Lithuanian capital and the seaside town of Palanga before returning to Vilnius in 2021 to settle in a small-scale construction, a building containing no more than a room with two large display windows.
The curators say that despite their current permanent location, they are still on the move: not in terms of space, but rather in terms of activities, as they participate in various projects, organize gallery exchanges with similar spaces abroad and invite other curators to organize exhibitions at apiece.
The idea of exploring new habits of collaboration among the capital’s galleries was successful. Seven galleries decided to exchange spaces for one exhibition during VGW: InTheCloset is exchanging with Offshore Eyes, Rooster Gallery is swapping with apiece, while Vilnius Academy of Arts Outdoor expo is switching with the exhibition space 5 malūnai.
The HABITS program has also attracted the attention of a museum—the National Museum of Lithuania—who has joined the exchanges. Four of its departments will exhibit the works of artist Robertas Narkus presented by the Vartai gallery, while the National Museum will present at Vartai a table designed by Jonas Prapuolenis that embodies a synthesis of art deco and folk style.
Other Vilnius galleries and museums that do not participate in the habit-changing exchanges will join the common VGW program on September 5–8, inviting visitors to new exhibitions and special events.
Finally, the HABIT curators invited the artistic persona behind the Instagram account avocado_ibuprofen to join in. In collaboration with designer Gaile Pranckūnaitė, communication specialists Stefanija Jokštytė and Eglė Trimailovaitė, avocado_ibuprofen created visual identity and merchandise for VGW.
VGW will take place on September 5-8. It is organized by the public institution “Galerijų savaitgalis” together with the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association. It is funded by Lithuanian Culture Council and Vilnius City Municipality.