Sweet Dreams Foundation

Exhibition Opening 15 July, 6 pm

16 July – 16 October 2022

Open Tuesday to Sunday, 11am–5pm

Nida Art Colony of the Vilnius Academy of Arts

E. A. Jonušo Str. 3

Nida LT-93127

Participating artists: Yana Bachynska, Dasha Chechushkova, Fattucchiere (Marta Margnetti and Giada Olivotto), Agnė Juodvalkytė, Borys Kashapov, Mila Kostiana, Natasha Kushnir, Zoya Laktionova, Marta Margnetti, Daniela Palimariu, Christian Raduta, Kseniia Shcherbakova, and Anna Sorokovaya.

Curator: Lesia Kulchynska

In this space, amidst the woods, it is easy to get lost in dreams. Should we take this chance? Being safe in a shaking world is a privilege, and likely a temporary one. How to use it properly? Being lost safely offers us the opportunity to explore uncertainty and adjust to it smoothly, making preparations for the real perplexities awaiting outside this welcoming forest.  

Very close to this serene place there is a war happening. War is a source of instability, unpredictability, and precariousness. During war, the future is only to guess or to pray for, not to rely on. “Planning puts me in a paralyzed state,” said my friend from Mariupol, a Ukrainian coastal city that ceased to exist having been burned down together with its inhabitants. Planning, which is an option for “normal life” with a clear perspective, is irrelevant during uncertain times. What other strategies do we have to relate to the future, and to handle the present?

Let’s suppose that we are stuck in a transitory state. Whatever we experience now, it is temporary. The rules of the state of emergency are temporary. The decisions made under a state of emergency are temporary. Those of us who left their homes and settled elsewhere are there on a temporary basis. The tremendous support that we are receiving and giving each other is temporary. How do we settle in this interim space? How do we furnish a home that is a provisional one? What do we dream about while having no foreseeable future? 

“Don’t get back to normal life,” wrote my artist friend who has remained in Kyiv since the beginning of war on his FB page. Too many amazing things are happening there right now under the state of exception. All of a sudden many people have discovered that being lost in unpredictability is a privilege with neither a desired future nor a defined present restraining them. Even if it lasts a day or less, who cares—tomorrow is not guaranteed anyway. Should we discover these opportunities? 

When reality is falling apart, dreamers might perceive their own special mission. It is not decided what world we will face after the transition is over. The dreams of the dreamers could be the foundation for it. Let’s talk to them.

Funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Ukrainian Emergency Art Fund and the Embassy of Switzerland to Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia. The exhibition is funded by Goethe-Institut and incorporated into a comprehensive package of measures for which the Federal Foreign Office provides funding from the 2022 Supplementary Budget to mitigate the effects of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

Installation view. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko. 

Installation view. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko. 

Installation view. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko. 

Dasha Chechushkova, Mara, the Spectre of a Fox, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko. 

Installation view. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

Borys Kashapov, The Charm, 2022. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

 Installation view. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

Kseniia Scherbakova, The Guardian Angel, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

Kseniia Scherbakova, Vision, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

Installation view. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

Dasha Chechushkova, Seeing water in a room foretells change, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

Installation view. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

Installation view. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

Dasha Chechushkova, Monument to the Unknown Hostage, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

Natasha Kushnir, Someone, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.

Marta Margnetti, Lead Eggshels, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Fattucchiere, Prêtes-à-pleurer, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Fattucchiere, Archivietta, 2022. Courtesy of the artists. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Christian Raduta, Dog with Bone (Finder), 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Anna Sorokovaya, Stones, Varnish, Rhinestones, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Marta Margnetti, Coro ft. Dizzy Davis, 2020. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Dasha Chechushkova, Monument to the Unknown Hostage, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Yana Bachynska, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Installation view. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Nataliia Kushnir, The Place of the Unknown, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Marta Margnetti, Lead eggshells, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Nataliia Kushnir, The Place of the Unknown, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Nataliia-Kushnir, The Place of the Unknown, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Dasha Chechushkova, The Book of Fire, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Nataliia Kushnir, The Place of the Unknown, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.Fattucchiere, Archivietta, 2022. Courtesy of the artist. Photo by Andrej Vasilenko.