The work Goodbye Gestures by artist and curator Vsevolod Kovalevskij, which invites reflection on the meaning of parting as a state between ending and renewal, was first commissioned in 2021 for the exhibition ‘To Live as a Mayfly’ in Tromsø, Norway. The piece comprised two identical 140 × 200 cm flags painted with cold beetroot soup, creating a shade the artist called ‘Baltic Pink’. One flag hung at the bus station, the other at the seaport, marking the trajectories of daily transit and departure.
This installation was Kovalevskij’s final ritual for the city of Tromsø, forming part of his personal reflections on farewell rituals. Now, Goodbye Gestures returns in a new form – on the facade of the Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) – where it takes on new meaning. Since 2022, Vsevolod Kovalevskij has served as Head of the Technical Department at the CAC. The flag will be raised on his last working day at the institution – 20 October – and will remain on view for a month. This gesture marks Kovalevskij’s farewell to the institution, but also signals the beginning of a new stage – both in the artist’s creative practice and in the CAC itself, which is also undergoing a period of transformation. ‘It seems that, amid changes in leadership and the rapidly shifting political, economic, and other circumstances, the CAC as an institution is experiencing – and will continue to experience – quite a dynamic period. Such a state of constant change is not favourable for the CAC team or its collective spirit, and therefore calls for special attention and care. Vsevolod’s artistic gesture can be interpreted as a poetic canary of this situation,’ said CAC Director Valentinas Klimašauskas, commenting on how the work resonates with the institution’s ongoing transitions.
Anthropologist Krystal D’Costa writes in her article ‘The Meaning of Goodbye’ published in the magazine Scientific American, that gestures of farewell are an important part of our social lives. They help maintain connections between people and reflect changes taking place within social groups.
Short farewells – such as ‘I’ll be right back’ or ‘see you later’ – suggest that the separation is temporary and affirm that the person will soon return to the community. However, long farewells carry a deeper meaning. Such gestures become rituals that express a person’s bond with their environment and mark a transition from a familiar social space to a new, yet undiscovered one.
VSEVOLOD SEVA KOVALEVSKIJ (born in Vilnius) is an artist and curator whose work questions and reimagines contemporary perceptions of identity, memory, and space. He works across moving image, sculpture, textiles, photography, and installations, creating immersive experiences that transform everyday environments into provocative arenas for critical engagement.
Kovalevskijs’ practice is characterised by a fascination with the hidden narratives of our lives. By transforming intimate domestic spaces – particularly in the gallery InTheCloset – he probes the boundaries between public and private, visibility and secrecy. His works skilfully combine research-based insights and playful humour, inviting viewers to engage in a thoughtful and unexpected dialogue. Exploring themes of social disclosure and the politics of secrecy, his projects encourage a radical rethinking of the familiar.
His works have been exhibited in Lithuania and abroad, including at the National Gallery of Art in Vilnius; Galerija Vartai, Vilnius; Contemporary Art Centre (CAC), Vilnius; Tromsø Kunstforening, Norway; Kunstnernes Hus, Oslo, and many other international venues.