*1964, Utena. Lives in Vilnius.
His-story, Geography, Fate, 1998 (film, video installation)
Deimantas Narkevicius is a conceptual artist, a critic, a curator of exhibitions and a curator for the Museum of Contemporary Art in Vilnius. For Manifesta 2 he has created his first large-scale installation consisting of three films. Just like their meaningful titles, "Geography", "History", "Fate", they swing from past to present, from Lithuania to the Soviet Union, from Russia to Europe, from personal to collective history. The material and the technology chosen by Deimantas Narkevicius stem from the former Soviet Union, while his filming resembles the hand-held camera technique. He is inspired by both the propaganda movies of the socialist era and the amateur video, as well as video art.
The Baltic States form an intermediary belt separating Central and Northern Europe from Russia. As a young democracy, Lithuania, formerly belonging to the Soviet empire, bears the burden of a past rather imposed than chosen. In an effort to distance itself from this part of its history, it turns to the West, while cultivating a specific national identity. With this work Deimantas Narkevicius reflects on the experiences he has gathered at various exhibitions in the West.
Musée d'Histoire de la Ville de Luxembourg
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