Forever Temporary

The exhibition Forever Temporary is a dialogue between art history and the present, between then and now, between this and that. What does art history reveal about artworks and their viewers when we see it not merely as a succession of styles or eras, but as humanity’s ongoing effort to understand itself in the world? Each period brings its own context and visual language, yet all share a common thread: timeless existential questions around which creativity unfolds.

Spanning from the late Middle Ages to contemporary art, the exhibition does not aim to trace the linear development of art history. Instead, it unfolds through thematic sections dedicated to questions that remain essential to human existence, all woven together by the theme of time.

Past, present, and future form the backbone of the exhibition, shaping a narrative about how we interpret our place and actions in the world. How do we define identity? How do we grapple with the inexplicable? How do we love, what do we fear, why do we work, and what do we hope for? Sometimes the answers are shaped by cultural experience – distinct in each era and not always immediately recognizable today. At other times, they are instinctive responses, universal across time.

The exhibition’s narrative finds common ground in the differences between eras, experiences, and perspectives. What time divides, eternal questions unite.

Curators
Giedrė Mickūnaitė, Dovilė Barcytė

Coordinator
Kamilė Jagėlienė

Architect
Povilas Marozas

Graphic designer
Liudas Parulskis

Technician
Dominykas Šavelis

Narrator
Mindaugas Nastaravičius

Translators
Aušra Simanavičiūtė, Darius Sužiedėlis

Editor
Audra Kairienė

Church Heritage Museum, Diocesan Museum Freising, Lithuanian Art Collection of Jaunius Gumbis, Lithuanian Art Centre Tartle, Lithuanian National Museum, Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Lithuanian Theater, Music and Cinema Museum, Collections of the M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art, Rokiškis Regional Museum, Šiauliai Aušra Museum, Monika Baublytė, Nijolė Jablonskienė, Tomas Malinauskas, Justė & Antanas Marcelioniai, Mindaugas Vanagas & Simona Savickaitė.

Aleksas Andriuškevičius (b.1959), Andrius Arutiunian (b.1991), Žygimantas Augustinas (b.1973), Dovilė Bagdonaitė (b.1991), Jurga Barilaitė (b.1972), Fr. Jos. Bifte (XVIII a.), Ina Budrytė (b.1957), Sebastian Dadler (1586–1657), Dovilė Dagienė (b.1981), Adomas Danusevičius (b.1984), Tomas Daukša (b.1988), Kostas Dereškevičius (1937– 2023), Rokas Dovydėnas (b.1975), Nicolas-Gabriel Dupuis (1777–1810), Andrius Erminas (b.1971), Janas Gotlibas Kislingas (Jan Gottlieb Kisling, 1790–1846), Algis Griškevičius (b.1954), Leonardas Gutauskas (1938–2021), Anton Hickel (1745–1798), Kristina Inčiūraitė (b.1974), Bronisław Jamontt (1886–1957), Rimvidas Jankauskas-Kampas (1957–1993), Rokas Janušonis (b.1997), Morta Jonynaitė  (b.1995), Agnė Jonkutė (b.1974), Jurgita Juodytė (b.1978), Jensas Juelis (1745–1802), Jonas Jurcikas (1986–2020), Patricija Jurkšaitytė (b.1968), Elvyra Kairiūkštytė (1950–2006), Marija Gabrielė Karputė (b.2000), Rūta Katiliūtė (b.1944), Elvyra Katalina Kriaučiūnaitė (b.1942), Eglė Kuckaitė (b.1969), Francesco Lavagna (1684–1724), Linas Liandzbergis (b.1965), Marija Marcelionytė-Paliukė (b.1977), Filippo Marsigli (1790–1863), Sigita Maslauskaitė-Mažylienė (b.1970), Carlos Muntadas-Harburger (1875–1956), Oscar Muñoz (b.1951), Henrikas Natalevičius (b.1953), Unknown artists, Agata Orlovska (b.1998), Laima Oržekauskienė (b.1959), Lili Janina Paškauskaitė (1925–2012), Viktoras Paukštelis (b.1983), Paulina Pukytė (b.1966), Eglė Ridikaitė (b.1966), Stanisław Rolicz (Stanislovas Roličius, 1913–1997), Philipp Otto Runge (1777–1810), Jonas Rustemas (1762–1835), Mykolas Sauka (b.1989), Selma Selman (b.1991), Rūta Spelskytė (b.1985), Juozas Statkevičius (b.1968), Laisvydė Šalčiūtė (b.1964), Vytautas Šerys (1931–2006), Gintautas Trimakas  (b.1958), Dalia Truskaitė (b. ****), Eglė Ulčickaitė  (b.1989), Vladas Urbanavičius (b.1951), Jonas Vaitys (1903–1963), Nijolė Valadkevičiūtė (1944–2020), Vytautas Viržbickas (b.1987), Marta Vosyliūtė (b.1976), Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684–1721), Jonas Zagorskas (b.1977), Birutė Zokaitytė (b.1968), Darius Žiūra (b.1968), White Moths: Austė Jurgelionytė-Varnė (b.1976), Karolina Kunčinaitė (b.1975), Miglė Lebednykaitė (b.1976), Rasa Leonavičiūtė (b.1972), Laura Pavilonytė-Ežerskienė (b.1976), Julija Vosyliūtė (b.1976)

Artwork featured on the exhibition’s poster
Adomas Danusevičius, Untitled, 2018
MO collection