++++ The people of Lithuania are in a remarkable situation. The social and political rupture happened quickly, but the ability to deal with the consequences develops only slowly. The work, Transmute, by Nomeda and Gediminas Urbonas is concerned with these consequences and traces the Lithuanian soul in a sociological and artistic way.
The two Lithuanian artists have set up a terminal with a monitor in the entrance to the Kunstverein on which they show one of their artistic projects, which always deal with the social topics in their home country. Since 1993, Nomeda and Gediminas Urbonas have been directing interdisciplinary art programs which discover models for social and artistic interaction. They concentrate their investigations also on the influence of the media in this still very young democracy.
In their project, Transmute, with which they are also represented at documenta 11, they have professionally successful Lithuanian women relate how the Soviet propaganda of the past had effects on their view of the world. A woman physicist tells of her first visit to Canada where she was astonished about the large number of disabled people, a curious finding which can only be traced back to the fact that in Lithuania, disabled people do not appear in public life.
All those interviewed are particularly concerned with the role of women in their changing country. The image of women disseminated by the media and largely supported by society moves between the clichés of the cooking housewife and the representative vamp. "An image which does not have anything to do with working, artistic women," says Erika Grigoaviciene, an art critic from Vilnius.
Transmute is a report describing an excerpt of the situation in a little known country, a reflection on national and individual mood in a stage "between what is no longer and what not yet is".
Frankfurter Kunstverein, Am Römerberg, Markt 44, until 25 August. hoh