From 11 July the third exhibition of the program „Belly-up Dream (Dog or Fish?)”, featuring works by Polish artist Liliana Zeic will be on show at the Kaunas Artists’ House Gallery.

In describing a queer archive as „unhappy,” writer and activist Sara Ahmed does not seek to simply label it as sorrowful. Rather, narrating this unhappiness can be an affirmative gesture, pointing towards a different world beyond the walls of misery.

Liliana Zeic’s exhibition offers a non-idealized view of the queer world, drawing inspiration not just from historic Polish women’s literature dating back to the early 19th century and their love stories, but also from the intricate art of intarsia, stretching back to the Baroque era. Reflecting on her upbringing in the Polish countryside and her time in her parents’ carpentry workshop, the artist infuses her personal experiences into a meticulous, handmade process.

From 19th-century Polish women who openly lived with other women and supported themselves through writing to those who spearheaded the first feminist groups, these figures are transformed into totems, drawings, and symbols in Liliana Zeic’s artworks. Together with outcasts, anomalies, wild plants, and illnesses, they partake in rituals within her works, all in a bid to manifest a brighter world.

The exhibition will be open until 8 August:

I-V 10:00-18:00
VI 12:00-16:00

Curator of the exhibition: Agnė Bagdžiūnaitė
The architects of the exhibition: Matas Šatūnas and Laura Kaminskaitė
Exhibition technician: Laura Skučaitė
Visual graphics: Kornelija Zizaitė

The event is part of the project „Belly-up Dream (Dog or Fish?)„.
The project is financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.