AIROOM screening: 'The Road Movie' by Gerda Paliusyte

17 Jun 2016

Overview

Kunstraum hosts Airoom Artist Residency's screening of 'The Road Movie' – a film by Lithuanian artist Gerda Paliu¨ytė followed by a discussion with the artist. “The Road Movie (2015) is a partially scripted documentary that follows the members of rap duo ONYX on a day trip through Vilnius. Their 1993 hit Slam was among the first American rap songs to reach the country after its independence, and it became deeply rooted in local culture. The two African-American rappers walk around a city for which they are symbols of both pop stardom and social transformation – swaggering, amused and dramatically at odds with their surroundings. The film could be seen as a slapstick take on cultural history – both its reliance on stereotypes and its arbitrary nature. It could also be a melancholy portrait of a city 20 years after a unique moment in its past, asking which promises have been fulfilled and which have not.” – Vincenzo Latronico, Frieze magazine, Issue 175, 2015 Film is commissioned by XII Baltic Triennial, Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius Airoom is an artist residency inspired by 'Tinder Swinton', a character tired of Tindering but who is all about sleeping around in places visible to others. Airoom accommodates artists and curators in the empty room belonging to the curator. Airoom is curated by Juste Kostikovaite and supported by Arts Council England and the Lithuanian Culture Institute.