When was the last time you jangled coins for the payphone in your pocket? When was the last time your tongue slid along the strip of glue on an envelope? When was the last time you had to peel your smartphone away from your cheek? Each time, the intention was the same: to reach someone who was not around at that moment, to use the means of communication that was the most reliable, most accessible, and quickest.
Some means of communication, such as the telegraph, have all but passed into oblivion. After all, in today’s world, we always have smart technology within reach, making other means of communication obsolete. However, the evolution of communication technology has not been a linear process. People invent things, learn how to use them, become dependent on them, grow tired of them, grow concerned about privacy, develop new habits, and yet still sometimes have trouble getting their message across to others.
We also interact with works of art from a distance: we consume digital images, read descriptions, and listen to friends’ descriptions. A face-to-face relationship, especially in a museum space, requires an effort, which might have been triggered initially by a friendly recommendation or a persuasive advertisement. In other words, the first point of contact is still from a distance.
This exhibition uses works of art, historical material, and interactive solutions, to present means of communication that are still within living memory: the telegraph, the postal service, the landline, the mobile phone, and the internet, and the challenges and expectations that came with them. How much effort are you ready to put in to reduce the communication distance? The exhibition runs until 31 December, which will be enough time to reach the person you have in mind by any means of communication.
Curators:
Goda Aksamitauskaitė
Jurgis Atroškevičius
Artists:
Gabija Vėja Bagdonaitė
Vytautas Balčytis
Ina Budrytė
Alfonsas Budvytis
Aleksys Churginas
Kostas Dereškevičius
Vaiva Grainytė
Norbert Hinc
Ona Juciūtė
Rimvydas Kepežinskas
Vytautas Kumža
Algimantas Jonas Kuras
Aurelija Maknytė
Petras Mazūras
Jonas Mekas
Dominykas Sidorovas
Rūta Spelskytė
Birutė Nomeda Stankūnienė
Vitalij Strigunkov
Arvydas Šaltenis
Virgilijus Šonta
Vytautas Tomaševičius
Remigijus Treigys
Raimundas Urbonas
Mantvydas Zaukas
Simona Žemaitytė
Exhibition design:
Jurgis Dagelis
Graphic design:
Sigitas Gužauskas
Interactive elements:
Eisvina Jurkevičiūtė
Živilė Miežytė
Marija Vaicekauskaitė
Translators:
E-vertimai
Editors:
Joseph Everatt, Gemma Lloyd (EN)
Jurgita Radzevičiūtė (LT)
Voices and faces of audio and video guides:
Agnė Šimkūnaitė (LT)
Andrius Baranovas, Mantas Radavičius (gestų kalba / sign language)
Technicians:
Jokūbas Čižikas
Stanislovas Lučunas
Kazimieras Sližys
Giedrė Šimkūnaitė
Vadim Šamkov
Spaudos idėjos
Partners:
Baltisches Haus
Lietuvos kino centras
Lietuvos kultūros taryba
Lietuvos paštas
Vilniaus miesto savivaldybė
Vilniaus viešasis transportas
Items were lent for the exhibition by:
Gabija Vėja Bagdonaitė
Almantas Burauskas
Vaiva Grainytė
Norbert Hinc
Ona Juciūtė
Vytautas Kumža
Algimantas Jonas Kuras
Aurelija Maknytė
Petras Mazūras
Vilius Racevičius
Birutė Nomeda Stankūnienė
Vitalij Strigunkov
Miglius Šimkūnas
Vytautas Tomaševičius
Gintautas Trimakas
Eugenijus Valavičius
Mantvydas Zaukas
Simona Žemaitytė
Energetikos ir technikos muziejus
Kauno miesto muziejus
LATGA
Lietuvos centrinis valstybės archyvas
Lietuvos fotomenininkų sąjunga
Lietuvos kino centras
Lietuvos nacionalinis dailės muziejus
Lietuvos nacionalinė Martyno Mažvydo biblioteka
Lietuvos nacionalinis muziejus
LITNET
LRT archyvai
Maironio lietuvių literatūros muziejus
MO muziejus
Šiaulių „Aušros“ muziejus
The Rooster Gallery
Vilniaus dailės akademija
Vilniaus regioninis valstybės archyvas
The residents of Vilnius helped us remember some of the peculiarities of communication. We are grateful for their time and stories!
Karolis Dambrauskas
Eglė Gutauskaitė-Paulauskienė
Aleksandra Ivanova
Anastazija Jonaitienė
Vsevolod Kovalevskij
Ernestas Parulskis
Regina Pučinskienė
Adomas Rutkauskas
Valdas Stambrauskas
Rolanas Stankūnas
Daiva Šniukaitė
Zigmas Vitkus
Gražina Regina Zinkevičienė
Special thanks to:
Jurgita Adomaitienė, Sigitas Banionis, Alfredas Antanas Basevičius, Marius Brigmanas, Jogintė Bučinskaitė, Vladas Burokas, Rima Čelnaitė, Regina Dvaržeckytė, Kęstutis Gerliakas, Karolina Jakaitė, Lina Jonkuvienė, Jurgita Juospaitytė-Bitinienė, Auksė Kaminskaitė, Jūratė Katilienė, Nerijus Linkus, Evilin Lubienė, Lina Miežienė, Dalia Mikonytė, Marius Morozas, Simona Paulionytė, Reda Rėklytė, Ieva Stasevičiūtė, Severija Subačiūtė, Mantas Umbrasas, Neringa Žukauskaitė
