Photos – Saskia Boddeke, Peter Greenaway archives ©
MO Museum opens a new exhibition ‘Why Is It Hard to Love?’ It is curated by innovative Dutch multimedia artist and director Saskia Boddeke and one of the most original and important filmmakers of our times Peter Greenaway. The exhibition becomes a work of art itself as Greenaway and Boddeke present site-specific immersive installations in relation to the highlights of Lithuanian contemporary art from the MO Museum and other collections.
‘Why Is It Hard to Love?’ is a story of how we, as humans, strive for equilibrium in life by arranging the good and the bad, eliminating differences between the poor and the rich as well as the unsatisfactory inequalities between men and women, the antagonism between the young and the old, the friction between the races. The works by some of the most prominent Lithuanian artists are also exhibited and thus a local narrative of violent historical circumstances, occupations and liberations and drastic social changes emerge.
Why Is It Hard to Love? is a very personal project for Boddeke and Greenaway as the narrative of the exhibition is based on the poem written by Saskia Boddeke for their youngest daughter Pip. Through this poem and its main character Susa Bubble she tries to inform her daughter what’s happening in the world. S. Boddeke together with her husband P. Greenaway, who is contributing with his own wall drawings in the exhibition, expresses what worries them as parents: their child having to deal with the terrifying changes that the migrant, ecological and political crises will bring. Equal rights and tolerance to one another become especially pressing issues in a world where huge groups of people—often prompted by worsening climatic conditions—leave their homes in search of a better life. Facing these changes is difficult in the current political climate where tensions between the countries are strengthening and radical right-wing movements are gaining a foothold. However, the exhibition carries a hopeful message: our struggle is exactly what gives our existence meaning.
Exhibitions curated by the artists were previously shown at the Louvre, Rijksmuseum, Jewish Museum Berlin, Italian Pavilion at the 56th Venice Biennial and many other institutions all over the world.
Photo – Rytis Šeškaitis ©
Graphic design – Tadas Karpavičius
Poem, film, installation design – Saskia Boddeke
Drawings, Susa Bubble statue – Peter Greenaway
Collages, drawings, animations – Pip Greenaway
