Exhibition "Cartographies of Otherness"

Fading borders, reconstructed national flags, and performances that leave no trace: three artists question the systems that shape identity and belonging. The exhibition Cartographies of Otherness brings together the work of three artists – Benjamin Sebastian, Vaida Tamoševičiūtė, and Mauricio Esquivel – and explores how coloniality manifests through bodies, identities, and lived experiences, and how inherited power systems can be questioned and transformed. Using installation, textiles, sculpture, live performance, and performance documentation, the artists explore otherness not as an inherent state, but as a phenomenon created by political, social, and cultural structures. In her work, Vaida Tamoševičiūtė examines feelings of shame and guilt, norms imposed by society, and the connections between people, places, and personal experiences. Through minimal sculptural intervention, she opens the space of her work to invited artists. By fostering connections with other artists, friends, and students, she creates a constantly changing network. In this process, curating becomes an integral part of her artistic practice. Mauricio Esquivel explores the political and ecological systems through which borders, identities, and hierarchies are constructed. In his work, he uses interventions on the body, including tattooing, which marks a boundary that eventually fades. In this way, the artist raises questions about the permanence of imposed divisions. Also important in his work is the tension between technological progress, ecological interdependence, and ancestral knowledge. By examining these themes, he reveals the fragility of systems that seek to separate humans from the natural world. Benjamin Sebastian explores how coloniality shapes their experiences as a queer, autistic, disabled descendant of British colonists in Australia. In their work, they use dismantled and reconstructed national flags, homoerotic hybrid figures, and ritual performances. Exploring destruction, transformation, and renewal, they question inherited power systems. In their work, they rely on neurodivergent ways of knowing, creating new symbolic languages that allow for a rethinking of identity, belonging, and otherness. All three artists explore how established systems can be dismantled, rewritten, and transformed, opening up possibilities for different ways of knowing, relating, and belonging. In the exhibition co-curated by Vaida Tamoševičiūtė and Benjamin Sebastian, artist-led curating becomes a decolonial practice in which lived experiences are recognized as an independent source of knowledge, separate from traditional institutional hierarchies.

We would like to draw the attention of parents planning to visit with small children that the exhibition will feature intimate content and nudity.

Exhibition program – 2026 11 13–12 13 2026 11 13 | 18:00 – Exhibition opening, performance by Mauricio Esquivel (SV/US) 2026 11 22 | 14:00 – Meeting with choreographer and dancer Adrian Carlo Bibiano (MX/LT) 2026 11 28 | 17:00–19:00 – Performance program: Kainulainen & Latva (FI), Guadalupe Aldrete (MX/AT), Daina Pupkevičiūtė (LT), Lukas Kolmogorcevas (LT), and Vaida Tamoševičiūtė (LT) 2026 12 03–04 – Sound installation by Justinas Stirblys "Signal for Eternity" 12 04 | 17:30 – Presentation of the installation with the author 2026 12 10 | 17:00–20:00 – Performance program by 4th-year painting students of VDA KF: Simona Kudrevičiūtė, Gabija Vancavičiūtė, Danielė Gustaitė, Kateryna Kostarenko, Supria Radiant Didla, Karolina Misiūnaitė, Roberta Jonaitytė, Urtė Tia Smiltniekaitė 2026 12 12 | 16:00–17:00 – Exhibition closing event, performance program: Benjamin Sebastian (AU/GB), Vaida Tamoševičiūtė (LT)

The exhibition is one of the results of Vaida Tamoševičiūtė's artistic research "Networks of Care: Situated Identities – Performance Curating as Artistic Practice," carried out with an individual grant from the Lithuanian Council for Culture. The exhibition is part of the "Meno parkas" gallery project "Ether. 2026." The project is partially funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture. The exhibition will be on view at the "Meno parkas" gallery until December 13. Gallery opening hours: Tue–Fri: 11:00–18:30 | Sat–Sun: 11:00–16:00 | The gallery is closed on Mondays and public holidays.