Modernizacija, (post)modernizmai, naujasis modernizmas: Lietuvos dailės nuo XX a. 6 dešimtmečio pabaigos istorijos sąvokos.

This paper expands on the art historical context of Elona Lubytė’s project Quiet Modernism (1997)—which is now widely acknowledged as a certain point of reference in soviet art studies and art distribution—with the aim to introduce other concepts relevant to Lithuanian art history. Here the modernisation of art that began during the decade of the Khrushchev Thaw is discursively separated from other modernisms or, rather, (post)modernisms that are currently being invented as a result of using the (Jacques Ranciére’s) aesthetic regime to interpret the late soviet art. When researching the art of the past, particularly that of the periods of political oppression, it is crucial to distinguish between the productive and reproductive approaches, as well as to differentiate between the perspectives of creator and perceiver. Art production and historical distribution are deeply rooted in the milieus of each period, therefore we should also consider not only the art shows in remote areas and other nuances of ‘quiet modernism’, but also the clamorous modernisation of the official art. In other words, it is not only about the resistance against the sovietisation of art, but also about the very project of sovietisation as such. Viewed from our current perspective and linked with the discursive contexts that are relevant to the interpreters themselves, the soviet artworks become freed from the historical clutches of a particular epoch and enter a more universal discourse. The year 1997 was a particularly favourable time to invent some of those possible ‘local’ modernisms. The end of the 20th century saw a renewal of the debates on the heritage of the Western modern art. This project is still pertinent in the context of the multiple, extended, repeating, and recurring global modernities. The fact that, in the field of Lithuanian art, artists are showing their interest in modernist heritage, proves that the currently ongoing process of ‘reloading’ the modernism is very much alive. The paper also gives an overview of this new stage of modernist development in Lithuania. Some of the works by middle-aged artists are just as attributable to the new modernism as those by the young generation. With their serene and constructive attitudes, the former are displaying purity of forms (but not that of media) that they clarify, reactivate, reference, and reflect on. The paper concludes with the question: why the 20th century Lithuanian modernism is still excluded from the global history of the ‘reloaded’ modernism, and why is it not featured at the representative art ‘centres’? This might be due to the fact that Lithuania still lacks a clearly articulated visual narrative of its own modernism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]