On Thursday, 16 October at 6 pm, the Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) in Vilnius opens the international group exhibition ‘Bells and Cannons. Contemporary Art in the Face of Militarisation.’
Exploring the interrelations between art, war, and culture, the exhibition’s title refers to a historical paradox: in times of war, church bells were melted down to make cannons, suggesting that the potential for war has always been inherent in the bell itself. This metaphor serves as a starting point for reflecting on how war, security, and power permeate contemporary reality and artistic imagination.
Featuring works by artists from various countries, the exhibition examines how processes of militarisation, information, technology, and memory shape our perception of the world. It invites visitors to view art as a sensitive instrument for measuring geopolitical, ecological, and cultural tensions – an instrument capable of reflecting and reimagining the logic of a conflicted world.
Admission is free on the opening night; regular admission prices apply thereafter.
OPENING WEEKEND PROGRAMME
Thursday 16 October
18:00 – Official exhibition opening, 2nd floor
19:30 – Lina Lapelytė’s performance Instructions for the Woodcutters and Other Songs
This performance brings together excerpts from Lina Lapelytė’s works in the form of song, spanning more than ten years of her artistic practice. Combining sound, voice, and movement, the artist explores recurring themes in her work – labour, memory, silenced voices, rituals, and resistance.
Through humour, repetition, and subtle sonic clashes, Lapelytė’s songs invite gentle connection. Each piece responds to the specific setting of the performance, encouraging audiences to listen and reflect.
The performance will be held in Lithuanian and English.
Friday 17 October
Join exhibition curators Valentinas Klimašauskas and Virginija Januškevičiūtė, together with participating artists, for guided tours of ‘Bells and Cannons’.
Tour schedule:
17:00 – Guided tour with curators and participating artists (EN)
18:30 – Guided tour with curators and participating artists (LT)
IMPORTANT:
- Tours are included with a valid visitor ticket.
- Places are limited; advance online registration is required.
For more information, please contact: +370 673 67042. - If the minimum number of participants is not met, the tour may be cancelled up to 24 hours prior to the scheduled start time. Participants will be notified via the email provided at the time of ticket purchase. In the event of cancellation, tickets will be refunded or exchanged for a different tour.
Saturday 18 October
16:00 – Artist talk with Deimantas Narkevičius in the CAC Reading Room.
The artist will discuss his film The Legend Coming True (1999), which tells the story of Jewish life in Vilnius before the Second World War, the hardships of war, the Holocaust, and survival. The discussion, moderated by Judaic studies researcher Mantautas Šulskus, will explore the film’s contemporary relevance as well as the historical and cultural layers of the events it portrays.
ARTISTS
LINA LAPELYTĖ – based between Vilnius and London. She grounds her artistic practice – closely linked to musical composition and sound – in performance as her primary mode of expression. Her work critically examines constructs of pop culture, gender norms, and collective memory, especially nostalgia. Both trained and untrained performers often take part in her works, where the act of singing bridges genres from popular music to opera. Singing becomes a collective and emotional event that questions vulnerability and silencing.
In 2019, her collaborative work ‘Sun & Sea’ (with Vaiva Grainytė and Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, curated by Lucia Pietroiusti) was awarded the Golden Lion at the 58th Venice Biennale. In 2020, Lapelytė received the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts.
Lapelytė holds a BA in Classical Violin (2006), a BA in Sound Arts (2009), and an MA in Sculpture from the Royal College of Art, London (2013).
She has held solo exhibitions at FRAC in Nantes, Lafayette Anticipations in Paris, and Rupert in Vilnius. Her works have been exhibited or performed at the 13th Kaunas Biennial, Haus der Kunst (Munich), Kunstenfestivaldesarts (Brussels), Tai Kwun Contemporary (Hong Kong), Glasgow International, Riga Biennial (RIBOCA2), the Lithuanian Pavilion at the 58th Venice Biennale, Fondation Cartier (Paris), CCA Ujazdowski (Warsaw), Baltic Triennial 13 (Tallinn), Moderna Museet (Malmö), FIAC (Paris), Hayward Touring (UK), and Serpentine Galleries (London).
DEIMANTAS NARKEVIČIUS
Based in Vilnius, Deimantas Narkevičius has been making films since the early 1990s. His work explores memory and contemporary society’s relationship to complex historical processes. The main characters in his narratives often remain unseen – replaced by objects, drawings, or other symbolic substitutes.
In 2023, Narkevičius completed his first feature-length film, Twittering Soul. Recently, he has held a solo exhibition at Maureen Paley, London (2024), participated in the 17th Biennale de Lyon (2024) and the 14th Shanghai Biennale ‘Cosmos Cinema’ at the Power Station of Art (2023), as well as the International Film Festival Rotterdam (2024).
His works have been acquired by numerous art institutions and private collections, including MoMA (New York), Centre Pompidou (Paris), Tate (UK), Museo Reina Sofía (Madrid), the French National Collection, the Museum of Modern Art (Warsaw), Louisiana Museum of Modern Art (Humlebæk, Denmark), and the Lithuanian National Museum of Art (Vilnius).
In 2008 he received the Vincent Van Gogh European Artist Award and the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts.