Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas

Nomeda & Gediminas Urbonas have established an international reputation for socially interactive and interdisciplinary practice exploring the conflicts and contradictions posed by the economic, social, and political conditions in the former Soviet countries. They develop models for social and artistic practice with the interest to design organizational structures that questions the relativity of freedom. They use art platform to render public spaces for interaction and engagement of the social groups, evoking local communities and encouraging their cultural and political imagination.
Combining the tools of new and traditional media, Urbonas’s work frequently involves collective activities such as workshops, lectures, debates, TV programs, Internet chat-rooms and public protests that stand at the intersection of art, technology and social criticism. Urbonas are the cofounders of JUTEMPUS interdisciplinary art program, VILMA (Vilnius Interdisciplinary Lab for Media Art), and VOICE, a net based publication on media culture. Their works were exhibited at the San Paulo, Berlin, Moscow, Lyon and Gwangju and Venice Biennales, Manifesta and Documenta exhibitions – among numerous other international shows, including a solo show at MACBA in Barcelona. They have been awarded a number of high level grants and residency awards, including the Lithuanian National Prize (2007); a fellowship at the Montalvo Arts Center in California (2007/08); a Prize for the Best International Artist at the Gwangju Biennale (2006) and the Honourable Mention for the national pavilion at the Venice Biennale (2007).
Gediminas Urbonas is an Associate Professor in the Art, Culture and Technology Program at MIT. Nomeda Urbonas is PhD researcher at Norwegian University for Science and Technology.