KĖDAINIAI LAUNCHES ITS FIRST INTERNATIONAL CONTEMPORARY ART TRIENNIAL “DIALOGUES”

| by Violeta Jocienė |

Is this art… or merely a commodity? What – and why – is my home? Do politicians have the right to refuse dialogue? When is it difficult to be brave… and what is the genetic code of design?

These are questions suspended between tapestries, winding across floors, glowing majestically on walls or resting quietly on small shelves at the Janina Monkutė-Marks Museum-Gallery in Kėdainiai, Lithuania. Here, a multitude of questions, answers and dialogues unfolds through works spanning a wide variety of techniques and genres, as the international contemporary art triennial “Dialogues” makes its debut on 23 October 2026. Responding to artist and patron Janina Monkutė-Marks’s aspiration to make professional art accessible beyond the metropolitan elite, and joining the programme of “Kėdainiai – Lithuanian Capital of Culture 2026”, the triennial has attracted more than 150 applications from artists in Lithuania and around the world. It offers a polyphonic score of contemporary art, distinguished by its quality, as an invitation to cultural conversation.

The project’s initiator, textile artist and Museum-Gallery Manager Asta Fedaravičiūtė-Jasiūnė, together with an international jury, selected 76 Lithuanian and international artists, including six invited artists. Seeking to draw viewers into explorations of memory and states of being, nature and ecology, history, ethnic identity and social issues, the exhibition brings together 41 Lithuanian artists – including J. Monkutė-Marks and two artists from Kėdainiai – alongside 36 artists from 14 countries. Their contributions reach Kėdainiai from as far afield as Canada, Mexico, Japan and South Korea, as well as from closer European countries, including Denmark, Estonia, Italy, Latvia, Poland, France, Romania, Finland, Hungary and Germany.

The range of outstanding works is remarkably broad, encompassing painting, graphic art, textiles, sculpture, objects and installations. Their dimensions are equally varied, from pieces measuring just 10 cm to works extending across 5 m². This diversity has inspired the organisers to spread the triennial’s wings from the outset through a two-part presentation. The first exhibition opens on 23 October 2026 and runs until 5 December, while the second opens on 11 December 2026 and continues through 31 January 2027. The two exhibitions together create an evolving space for encounters between artistic practices, perspectives and cultures.

The powerful, organic structure of the exhibitions seeks to allow “difference to become connection, and new meaning to emerge from being together”. Artists’ texts will speak directly to viewers, helping them understand the meanings and intentions behind the works. These may invite audiences to enter a ritual, to give tangible form to emotions, to avoid becoming lost between grey and sky-blue hours or, perhaps, to learn to transform practical seriousness into ironic expectations. Throughout the exhibition period, these texts will also find their place in the triennial catalogue, extending the dialogue beyond the gallery walls.

“Alone, a feather yields to the wind, while many feathers seeking unity form wings that overcome it.” This thought captures the spirit of “Dialogues”: together, we can overcome not only the wind, but also the great distances and obstacles that stand in the way of a shared goal. Togetherness always gives rise to new experiences – and this is precisely what the triennial’s organisers wish for every visitor who comes to the Janina Monkutė-Marks Museum-Gallery in Kėdainiai between 23 October 2026 and 31 January 2027.

Visitors are invited to join a multilingual dialogue of the arts that is playful, poignant, critical, ironic and wise, discovering how contemporary art can open new perspectives, challenge assumptions and bring people together across borders. The opening events, taking place on 23 October and 11 December 2026, both at 5:00 p.m., will mark the beginning of these encounters and welcome audiences into the world of “Dialogues”.

The exhibitions will be open to the public at Janina Monkutė-Marks Museum-Gallery, J. Basanavičiaus St. 45, Kėdainiai, Lithuania, Part I from 23 October through 5 December 2026 and, Part II, from 11 December 2026 until 31 January 2027. Opening events: 23 October and 11 December 2026, at 5:00 p.m.

Participating artists: Aet Ollisaar, Agnese Kurzēmniece, Aleksandra Berlinsky, Alvidas Paškauskas, Ana-Maria Rugescu, Andra Dīriņa, Andra Kurzēmniece, Anet Brusgaard, Antra Augustinovica, Artūras Braziūnas, Artūras Rimkevičius, Aurimas Eidukaitis, Austė Guogaitė, Aušra Sedlečiūtė, Berthe Forchhammer, Birutė Sarapienė, Bronius Rutkauskas, Dace Vecozola, Elvita Šiberekovaitė, Erny Piret-Heuertz, Eszter Bornemisza, Gintarė Marčiulynaitė – Maskaliūnienė, Girmantas Rudokas, Greta Grendaitė, Hele, Yoo Jounghye, Irina Kolesnikova, Izabela Wyrwa, Jacobo Alonso, Janina Monkutė-Marks, Jonas Gelčys, Jūratė Kazakevičiūtė, Jūratė Petruškevičienė, Kakuko Ishii, Karen Perry, Kazys Bimba, Kenji Sato, Kristina Daniūnaitė, Kristina Valančiūtė – Vaičeka uskienė, Lina Ringelienė, Loreta Švaikauskienė, Loreta Zdanavičienė, Ludwika Zytkiewicz – Ostrowska, Luka Žiauberytė, Magdalena Sobon, Maija Purgaile, Mayumi Tsukuda, Marina Majcen, Marta Ģibiete, Matilda Kalvaitytė, Minnamarina Tammi, Naoe Okamoto, Nargiza Nurdinova, Neringa Marcinkevičiūtė-Strazdė, Nika Nuova, Noriko Amano, Paulius Šliaupa, Piotr Pandyra, Ričardas Zdanavičius, Rolands Krutovs, Romarika Pikelienė, Saori Sakai, Shinichi Ishihara, Sigutė Bronickienė, Silvia Beccaria, Šarūnė Kaupas, Tautė Baranauskaitė, Tina Marais, Tomas Vosylius, Ulrikka Mokdad, Urtė Jasenka, Violeta Kačinskienė, Violeta Laužonytė, Virginija Kirvelienė, Vitalijus Čepkauskas – Vitalis, Vytenis Tolutis, Živilė Vaičiukynienė

The participating artists and artworks were selected by an international jury: Violeta Jocienė, Eglė Mickutė, Anet Brusgaard, Kakuko Ishii, Andra Dīriņa, Asta Fedaravičiūtė-Jasiūnė