Deimantas Narkevicius: Ambivalent Images of Soviet Legacy

Deimantas Narkevicius, a Lithuanian artist born in 1964, is the subject of two concurrent retrospectives across Europe. The Unanimous Life, previously at Museo Nacional Reina Sofía in Madrid, travels to Van Abbemuseum in Eindhoven (Feb 28–May 24, 2009) and Kunsthalle Bern (Oct 24–Dec 6, 2009). Meanwhile, Mamco in Geneva offers year-long access to his complete filmed works starting Feb 24, 2009. Narkevicius won the 2008 Vincent Award from Stedelijk Museum and the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts. His films, often categorized as subjective documentary, explore Lithuania's history from Soviet independence in 1991 to EU accession in 2004. He uses super-8 and 16 mm film, sometimes Soviet-era stock, to create an authentic yet ambiguous portrayal of reality. Works like Once in the XX Century (2005) use reverse-motion editing to show a Lenin statue being reassembled rather than dismantled, questioning historical truth. Matrioskos (2005) reveals that stories of sex trafficking victims are performed by actresses from a Belgian TV series, blurring fact and fiction. The Dud Effect (2008) revisits Cold War nuclear anxieties, filmed at a ruined Soviet missile base in Lithuania, employing role-play reminiscent of Peter Watkins. The Head (2007) documents the creation of a 7-meter bronze head of Karl Marx for Chemnitz, exposing the absurd seriousness of Soviet monument-making. Narkevicius's work consistently interrogates how images construct and manipulate historical experience.