Currently lives and works in: Glasgow and Vilnius
Practice: Interdisciplinary artist and arts educator
Artist Marija Nemčenko lives and works between Glasgow and Vilnius. She is a member of Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association (LIAA) and Scottish Artists Union (SAU). Her research activates cultural interlinks between Eastern and Central Europe and the Middle East, which she explores through the questions of migration, cultural stereotypes and historic parallels. Attending critically to the construct of a ‘periphery’, the artist asks what knowledge arises from these ‘peripheral points’? Marija’s work is marked by high contrasts and humor driven by these clashes, as well as bright, eclectic aesthetics of everyday.
Marija holds a Bachelor of Arts in Sculpture from the University of the Arts in London (2013) and a Master of Fine Arts from the Glasgow School of Art (2016). She is a co-founder of BRUT Collective. Her and BRUT Collective’s works can be found at www.marijanemcenko.com and www.brutcollective.com
Areas of interest: Migration, CEES, and SWANA geographical areas, post-soviet discourses, animal, bird and plant migration, community action
Past projects
In the eyes of LISA
Exhibition and educational activities
The project online is an archive for ‘In the eyes of LISA’ a collaborative research project presented by Civic Room with visual artist Marija Nemčenko and the Central Eastern European Studies (CEES) subject group at the University of Glasgow. The project seeks to reveal hidden narratives of Lithuanian migration and assimilation in Scotland since the late 19th century to present day by gathering different forms of social heritage.
Here you will find selected documentation from a series of workshops and events that ran from September to December 2019 using memories, material culture and personal accounts of migration stories. Also included are interviews, objects and archival research that was presented as part of Marija Nemčenko’s exhibition at Civic Room from the 15th of November until the 22nd of December 2019.
‘In the eyes of LISA’ was the final exhibition featured in the year long programme ‘Of Lovely Tyrants and Invisible Women’ programme investigating themes of spatial politics, gender and racial hierarchies within imperial architecture. This year-long programme, curated by Civic Room, Glasgow featured four solo exhibitions from artists – Lauren Printy Currie, Ashanti Harris, Thulani Rachia and Marija Nemčenko and an events programme in collaboration with cultural organisations, community groups and public audiences. ‘Of Lovely Tyrants and Invisible Women’ is co-curated by Director, Sarah Strang and Curator, Alasdair Campbell.
What inspires you as an artist? Observing shifting political, social, economical, cultural and biological realities in the world perceived through the filter of gossips
Contact information
www.marijanemcenko.com | [email protected]