This collection testifies to the unofficial artistic activity that unfolded during several decades in Soviet Lithuania and Moscow. It speaks of the unofficial art scene that existed side by side with the official art controlled by Soviet ideology. Both the Moscow Conceptualists, a group that emerged in the 1960s, and Lithuanian Silent Modernists were part of this scene. All the artworks in the collection are gifts from friends to Tarasov, which shows the exceptionally close relationship between the artists. As compiler of the catalogue, LNMA Director Dr Arūnas Gelūnas says, ”what connects these works are not the passion of a collector or the meticulous work of a curator, but the many friendships of comrades in life and creative work, their solidarity and ideological kinship – a true museum of friends.” The collection comprises of an impressive 487 artworks by 115 authors from 17 countries; among them are albums by the world-famous artist Ilya Kabakov, photomontages by a well-known Russian writer Andrei Bitov, prints by Grisha Bruskin and many other works showing the wide panorama of the Moscow Conceptualists. The catalogue presents graphic art, photography, assemblages, sculptures and objects of samizdat (clandestine works that were self-published) as well as works created using oil and other media on canvas. It offers the opportunity to see for the first time some of the Lithuanian Silent Modernists and oil paintings by contemporary art classics.

The collection is accompanied by texts written by the compiler Dr Arūnas Gelūnas, French art critic Jean-Hubert Martin and Vladimir Tarasov. The exhibition of the collection Protest Art: The Rebels of the Soviet Era, held in the restored Radvilas Palace, became a true journey through time. The solid catalogue, arranged in alphabetical order, stands as a testimony both to this unique collection and to times gone by.

Compiled by: Arūnas Gelūnas, Vladimir Tarasov

Texts by: Arūnas Gelūnas, Jean-Hubert Martin, Vladimir Tarasov

Translators: Paulius Balčytis, Irena Miškinienė, Jūratė Navakauskienė

Special editor Justina Augustytė

Editors: Lxo Cohen, Monika Grigūnienė

Designer Lina Bastienė

Photographers: Christiane Bauermeister, Eduard Gorokhovsky, Gintarė Grigėnaitė, Jurgen Harten, Emilia Kabakova, Tomas Kapočius, Hans Kumpf, Eric Landsberg, Antanas Lukšėnas, Josef Nadj, Natalia Nikityina, Algirdas Šeškus, Gregory Talas, Alexander Zabrin

Image digitisation by: Irena Aleksienė, Mindaugas Česlikauskas

Published by Lithuanian National Museum of Art

Project is financed by

Printed by UAB “Petro ofsetas”

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