Blessed are the ones that move (2022) mixed media

The exhibition explored the multifaceted meanings of movement and migration, using Marcinkonys train station in Lithuania as a starting point. From there, stories of travelling branched out in different directions—whether it was the white storks pausing on their long migratory journey, seasonal market stall holders moving from villages to the city, or people seeking safety beyond the border. In Blessed Are Those That Move, the highly politicized term migration was examined in its many forms, paradoxically anchored—if only temporarily—in the stop or the station itself.

At the heart of the exhibition, the experimental documentary LAK was screened within a custom monitor frame created in collaboration with local artist Kastytis Skromanas. New mixed-media print works were displayed alongside an archival image by Marijonas Baranauskas titled Foragers Coming Back from the Forest (1970), taken in the Varėna district. Text penciled on the gallery walls contextualized the works, linking their key ideas to the Lithuanian-Belarusian border—an area that has, in recent years, become tragically infamous for stranded refugees, the majority of whom come from Arabic-speaking countries.

While some forms of movement are seen as freedom and others as intrusion, the exhibition questioned what migration truly is if not a natural course of events. It invited visitors to recognize migration as an inherent part of both human and more-than-human worlds. Throughout the exhibition-making process, Marija Nemčenko consulted and collaborated with local inhabitants, who shared stories about the station’s role in the development of Marcinkonys. Inspired by the exhibition’s themes, local artist Kastytis Skromanas also created a new artwork, which was included in the show.

Exhibited at Verpėjos Gallery, Marcinkonys.