Lithuania 2022

Title: Gut Feeling
Commissioner: Kęstutis Kuizinas
Curator: Neringa Bumblienė
Exhibitor: Robertas Narkus

Robertas Narkus, selected by the CAC – Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius, represents Lithuania at the 59th Venice Biennale with the solo project “Gut Feeling“.

In collaboration with a renowned fermentation specialist, scientists, fellow artists, local residents and small businesses, Narkus has created a social sculpture in one of the last remaining non-gentrified Venetian squares in the Castello district – a surrealist cooperative producing a mysterious product made from a seaweed harvested from local waters. This species of algae, Undaria pinnatifida, also known as “wakame”, is an invasive plant that has spread from the Far East to the rest of the world – including Venice – as a result of globalisation.

As an initiator of numerous experimental art, management and food production organisations, Narkus often draws inspiration from the world of business and start-ups. By juxtaposing the spirit of optimism and drive with the often invisible by-product – the bitterness of disappointment, he creates tragicomic works. At the same time, in what may be viewed as an almost careless mix up of fashionable objects and trends, fragments of the latest theories and the strategies of various artistic practices, Narkus builds a multi-layered and often deliberately hyperbolised reflection of the present time, open to our perception and engagement.