The international group exhibition ‘Bells and Cannons’ presents different strategies used by contemporary artists in the face of militarisation. Its title refers to the close relationship between art and war. Historically, bells were often recast into cannons and other weaponry during wartime. In other words, from its very inception, the idea of a bell has included the possibility of military use, and both bells and cannons were frequently cast by the same craftspeople. Fittingly, the exhibition employs this metaphor of unexpected congruence to explore the complex relationship between war and culture.

We could include art and culture as part of the contemporary conflict analysis vocabulary, alongside concepts such as soft power, psyop, and hybrid warfare. What connects them is the notion that it can be extremely difficult to distinguish between what belongs to war and what does not. It is equally challenging to determine when and which communication tools, data processing technologies, or energy structures are used for civilian versus military purposes, and for whose benefit. Similarly, decisions relating to climate change, altered landscapes, and historical memory can often appear ambiguous or opaque, like the motives and people behind them. 

In such circumstances, strategies of militarisation, securitisation and peacekeeping inevitably invade the spheres of artistic responsibility and imagination. In the works of the artists presented in this exhibition, different relationships and compositions unfold between bells and cannons. Some ask what forces, beliefs, and strategies shape today’s military conflicts, or what role art may have in this context. Works from earlier decades address the ideological side of information technology, the fragility of international relations, and other long-term historical phenomena.

This exhibition is developed as the world reels from constant crises, military and otherwise, which often feed into each other. At the time of writing this text, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry reports that Israel is committing genocide against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, while Poland calls for a NATO-backed no-fly zone over Ukraine after Russian drones have repeatedly violated NATO airspace. The disputes that surround these conflicts are dividing EU and global societies and, of course, artistic communities. The feeling of distress also comes with the irreconcilable simultaneity of the apparent need for armament like the deployment of the German Brigade in Lithuania on one hand and the wishing for more peaceful futures on the other.

As with works of art, where reality is revealed not through direct documentation but through the varied contexts of artistic practices developed over many years through abstraction, play, or other artistic means, this exhibition does not aim to provide a comprehensive, unequivocal, or objective reflection of militarisation and global conflicts. It can, however, be interpreted as an opportunity to explore diverse artistic practices in an increasingly discordant world.

– Valentinas Klimašauskas, Virginija Januškevičiūtė