Stories of Holiday Resort: Transparency

Published on Monday, 03 April 2017 21:29

A resort (in this case – Nida) during the off-season exists as a periphery, while in the summer it becomes a center. It is a center where one may become the other (or vice versa – you can become yourself), one can live the life of the other. It is no accident this exhibition is going to be opened in Nida Art Colony hangar and not in Vilnius or any other city. Starting points for the exhibition was to establish stories of a holiday resort and the concept of transparency. The exhibition raises a series of questions: What kind of stories develop in a resort? How are they created and who is responsible for them: vacationers, resort itself or its environment? Or maybe resort is just a myth created to comfort our lives.

Transparency, although appreciated by the society, encodes a duality. On one hand, the term “transparency” sounds positively: clean, clear, pure. Those keywords evoke feelings of reliability or clarity. On the other hand, the term also holds negative connotations linked to politics, corruption, lies and betrayal. For example in the field of art, traditional galleries with white walls give us the impression of transparency. All the same, institutions are always criticized for their lack of transparent policy. Paradoxically, even though transparency in sociology or politics is associated with publicity and clarity, the concept would not exist in this context if our public or private life, relationships and activities would truly be transparent.

Various young artists focus on their own and others’ holiday transformations. That is how new (non) transparent resort stories are being established. Different artists’ approach to the subject of holidays as well as intimate and authentic artists’ experiences and visions of secret resort stories unravels in the exhibition.

Rūta Šatalovaitė, Time and Memory, 2012