On 19 November 2026 at 19:50, a screening of Marija Nemčenko’s film “LAK i” will take place at the cultural centre SODAS 2123. The film is presented as a part of the group exhibition “Fragile Home”, currently on view at the gallery “Atletika”. The exhibition is curated by Aistė Kisarauskaitė.
LAK i is a feature length experimental documentary exploring human connection, the fascination with birds, migration, and the paradoxical desire to nationalize their symbolic image in Lithuania. Through a blend of dialogues, reflections, facts, and fiction, the film weaves together narratives on storks, migration, homeland, movement, biodiversity, and interdependence – transforming artistic work into a space for exchanging ideas and cultural knowledge. Self-produced in a DIY spirit, the film captures encounters with ornithologists, villagers, field workers, and elderly residents of agricultural lands, as well as a closed religious community near the Belarusian border. The soundtrack was composed by Andrius Arutiunian.
The project emerged from a need to counter the rise of negative nationalism in Eastern Europe and foster broader non-Western solidarities through more-than-human actors. When shared histories across different non-Western regions are in perpetual conflict, the artist is looking at birds to offer alternative ways of finding a common thread.
Marija Nemčenko is a Lithuanian researcher and multidisciplinary artist with a practice in archival material, film, installation, creative and critical writing. Her multilayered practice explores the relationship between nature, nationalism and nation-states on one side, and ecological and international solidarities in Eastern European and Levantine geographies on the other.
She has exhibited internationally, including Takeover Gallery in Beirut, Lebanon; Centrala Gallery in Birmingham, UK; David Dale in Glasgow, UK; Orlando Museum of Art in Florida, USA; Art Gallery of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada; Gallerie delle Prigioni in Treviso, Italy; Glasgow International in Glasgow, UK; Swallow Gallery in Vilnius, Lithuania; A.M. Qattan Foundation in Ramallah, Palestine and more.
Until 5 December, the exhibition “Fragile Home” by members of the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association (LIAA) is on view at the gallery “Atletika” (Vitebsko St. 21, Vilnius). It presents works by Lina Albrikienė, Žygimantas Augustinas, Jurga Barilaitė, Marius Burokas, Rokas Dovydėnas, Laura Garbštienė, Arūnas Gudaitis, Petras Išora and Ona Lozuraitytė, Jurgita Juodytė, Juozas Laivys, Birutė Lemkė, Saulius Leonavičius, Dainius Liškevičius, Tomas Martišauskis, Vytautas Michelkevičius and “Vaibai Ore”, Audrius Novickas, Martyna Ratnik, Marija Šnipaitė and Dainius Trumpis.
The exhibition was inspired by the history of LTMKS itself, roughly marked out by moves from one temporary gallery to another. The association, founded after independence was regained, inherited neither administrative buildings nor galleries, yet its nomadism and homelessness did not prevent it from bringing contemporary artists together and building a community. “Fragile Home” looks at this history also through the LTMKS archive, as a material layer of the organisation’s memory in which traces of its spaces, activities and community remain.
Marija Nemčenko’s film “LAK i” will be screened on 19/11/2026 at 19:50 in the Events hall of the cultural centre SODAS 2123, Vitebsko St. 23, Vilnius, as part of the OPEN SODAS: VIDEO programme.
Duration: 1 h 13 min
Year: 2021
Language: Lithuanian, Russian; English subtitles
Soundtrack: Andrius Arutiunian
The exhibition “Fragile Home” at the gallery “Atletika” runs until 5 December.
Opening hours – Thursdays and Fridays 16:00 – 19:00 pm, Saturdays 13:00 – 17:00
Tours with curator – 14 November, 5 December from 3 pm.
Address – “Atletika”, Vitebsko St. 21, Vilnius. Admission is free.
The exhibition is organised by the Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association. LIAA activities are funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and the Vilnius City Municipality.