Rimaldas Vikšraitis: Daily Rituals of Work and Play – The Collective Life of a Village 1975-2012
1 October 2022 – 15 January 2023
FREE / No booking required
NGCA Main Gallery
Please be advised this exhibition contains nudity
Daily Rituals of Work and Play is the first major survey exhibition in the UK of Lithuanian artist-photographer Rimaldas Vikšraitis (b. 1954, born Sintautai, Lithuania). The exhibition spans nearly 40 years of Vikšraitis’ artistic practice, from early unseen archival material and 8mm films through to 70 photographic works, a large number of which are being shown for the first time.
The photos on display in Daily Rituals of Work and Play explore creativity and disability, challenge gender roles and attest to ‘Europe’ as seen from its eastern edge in Lithuania. Many of the photos document the demise of traditional village life in Lithuania before and after the break-up of the Soviet Union (1988-91).
Since the mid-1970s Vikšraitis has created a series of performative self-portraits exploring and challenging gender role-play in a way almost unparalleled in Eastern Europe. His work is decades ahead of its time and an extraordinary act of bravery against powerful authority, revealing artistic experimentation and freedom against all the odds.
This exhibition has been curated by Janina Sabaliauskaitė emerging from a curatorial residency awarded to the artist by Sunderland Culture and with mentorship from NGCA.
About the artists
This project is in partnership with the Lithuanian Culture Institute and supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England.
Image: Rimaldas Vikšraitis, Lėlės vietoj tankų / Dolls instead of Tanks, 1989, photograph. Courtesy of the artist.
