Last chance to see MO main exhibition “Animal – Human – Robot“

For yet another week MO Museum is extending the main exhibition Animal – Human – Robot which has gained great popularity. Since April it has been visited by over 50,000 visitors. If you were not one of them – the exhibition is open until 1 September.

“At the exhibition Animal – Human – Robot, we were raising questions and analysing our relationship with other life forms. So, in the last weeks of the exhibition – until 1 September – we are inviting you to come to MO Museum, ask questions and maybe even get to know yourself. The last weekend of the exhibition we also offer an exhibition closing programme. Not only do we open our major exhibitions in spring and fall with weekend festivals, but we also bid farewell to them with a special programme, too,” says Milda Ivanauskienė, Director at MO Museum.

Both at Venice Biennale and in Lithuania

Animal – Human – Robot is an exhibition where MO Museum first introduced both foreign artists and world-class stars. Exhibition visitors have a unique opportunity to see the work Liquidity Inc by Hito Steyerl, a star of the world of fine arts. In 2017, Steyerl was recognised as one of the most influential artists in the world of contemporary art by ArtReview’s Power 100, one of the best-known art ratings in the art world. At least two installations by the artist are on display at the Venice Biennale this year.

MO Museum presents Steyerl’s video projection that can be watched on a spectacular wave-like ramp. In her piece, the artist follows actor and fighter Bruce Lee’s motto “be shapeless, formless, like water”, presenting the story of a real person and metaphorically combining different forms of fluidity – water movement, data dissemination in cyberspace, global migration.

Among art works currently exhibited at MO Museum visitors can also find the work of Daiga Grantina, an artist representing Latvia at the Venice Biennale this year. At first glance, her works resemble strange creatures descending from a dystopia in which technology pervades all fields of life.

“Art can expand ordinary reality. One foot may rest on the illusion and the other on the solid material fact of the here and now. Art itself can create a sense of its own time,” Grantina says.

Other stars from abroad

In addition to the already mentioned world-famous artists, MO Museum also features works by Katya Novitskova, an Estonian installation artist, one of the pioneers of post-internet art. Mikel Fisher, a Latvian artist with a rather bleak version of our vision for the future of the planet, is also on display.

Film lovers, and especially those who have seen the Square, can discover the work of the Ukrainian-born artist Oleg Kulik, who is famous for his radical performances in which he transformed himself into a fierce dog. In particular, Kulik was one of the sources of inspiration for director Ruben Ostlund in making the famous dinner scene in the Square. MO Museum also has Kulik’s photographs on display which suggest rethinking the issues regarding the equality of human and animal rights.

Most famous Lithuanians

The exhibition includes almost 170 works, including famous Lithuanian artists – Šarūnas Sauka, Vincas Kisarauskas, Valentinas Antanavičius, Mindaugas Navakas, Romualdas Rakauskas. Their works are also complemented by young talents’ works. Visitors can discover Emilia Škarnulytė, who won this year’s prestigious Young Artists’ Future Generation Art Prize competition, and her video work Sirenomelia balancing between fiction and documentary.

The exhibition will also reveal more about the works of artists Neringa Černiauskaitė and Ugnius Gelguda (Pakui Hardware) and see their work Extrakorporal which was chosen as the main visual identity of the exhibition.

Perhaps the most popular on social networks was the work Kings by Donatas Jankauskas-Duonis – the highest number of shares of this work was recorded on Instagram. However, this is not the only work by this artist in the exhibition. Another Jankauskas-Duonis’ piece, Victor or Victoria, can be seen in the MO Sculpture Garden. Only a temporary exhibit at the beginning, this work became a permanent feature of the MO Sculpture Garden. The museum invites you to a meeting with Jankauskas-Duonis at the closing weekend of Animal – Human – Robot which will take place on Saturday at 5 p.m.

Special events and surprises

Museum visitors will discover a special programme during the exhibition closing weekend. It will kick off with a picnic on the MO terrace on Friday at 6:30 p.m. Throughout the weekend, museum visitors are invited to indulge in art, the MO Sculpture Garden, quality food and the company of their pets. After visiting the exhibition, everybody is invited to visit the MO Sculpture Garden for coffee and ice cream as well as treats for their pets.

Sunday also includes family activities at 11 a.m. and 12 p.m. there will be family excursions where actors will teach how to tell and play fictional stories. Exhibits on display will be used to create and tell them.

The topic of the exhibition will be followed by a special film Honey Land on Sunday at 4 p.m. After the preview, visitors are invited to the MO Bistro for a film discussion.

Guided tours with MO volunteers, which have become a tradition as well as visitors’ preference, will also take place on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. On Saturday at 3 p.m. foreign guests and tourists will also be able to take part in a guided tour with a volunteer in English.

Visitors are invited to visit the exhibition until 1 September. Closing events are planned for 30 August –1 September. All events are available with a museum ticket for that day. Individual tickets are required if you wish to attend a picnic or a movie.