Underground Anthropology Live
In 2013, the Cooltūristės artist group carried out artistic research documenting the invisible life of Nida, Preila, Pervalka and Juodkrantė. The “underground” of the resort was recorded: where the locals move out when they rent out their houses to holidaymakers; where low-income families who come to the seaside and students who take seasonal jobs for the summer stay. In 2022, almost 10 years later, Cooltūristės revisited Neringa’s warehouses, garages, woodsheds, barns and attics, this time not only taking photos but also interviewing residents. This was a way of trying to find out how unusual living conditions stimulate people’s creativity and what daily rituals develop. Ethnography turned into anthropology – it is a study not only of everyday life but also of people’s lifestyles.
The Cooltūristės artist group formed in Vilnius in 2005 as a team of women activists who critically analyse public discourse. Different artists participate in different projects. Cooltūristės participated in the Rauma Baltic Biennial; Re.Act Feminism: a Performing Archive (Berlin); European Biennial of Young Artists (Brussels), Prague Bienniale 3; and the exhibition Another City, Another Life at Zachęta Gallery in Warsaw. Recent exhibitions include: Not in My Name at the Tel Aviv Contemporary Art Centre; Complicated Pasts. Connected Worlds at the National Gallery of Art in Lithuania; and Kaunas - Vilnius: Moving Mountains at the MO Museum in Vilnius.
More information:
https://coolturistes.weebly.com/
coolturistes@yahoo.com
Laima Kreivytė is an artist, curator, writer, and lecturer at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. She participates in solo exhibitions and in group exhibitions together with Cooltūristės.
https://laimakreivyte.weebly.com/
Ineta Armanavičiūtė participates in projects with Cooltūristės and works in the fields of photography, video art and graphic design.
