From October 1–4, at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Center LITEXPO, the 17th international contemporary art fair “ArtVilnius’26” will feature the online clothing and footwear store SOULZ presenting the installation “A Dress is A House.”
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The idea of the work, conceived by Lithuanian designer Vaida Voraitė living and working in Berlin, will be realized with the help of a team of well-known artists coming together for the first time. The installation space will be created by interdisciplinary artist Vladas Suncovas, the sound by sound artist and composer Antanas Dombrovskij, and the lighting by light designer and artist Justas Bø. The project is curated by Giedrė Selenytė and Giedrė Stabingytė.
The body lives in the garment, and the body and garment live in the home. Both shells envelop, protect, shape, and change with the person. Time, bodily memory, choices, relationships, and social roles accumulate in both. We outgrow some clothes, wear out others, and keep some for decades. We behave similarly with homes – we leave them, rebuild, inherit, or create anew.
The installation “A Dress is A House” began with this thought. This is not the first appearance of Berlin-based artist V. Voraitė in Lithuania. Her 2022 collection “Turgus” presentation was a huge success.
At the “ArtVilnius” art fair, the installation created by V. Voraitė and the group of artists will not only be viewed from afar but also experienced up close. The creators hope that visitors will feel, sense, and step inside the huge dress.
“The house is a larger shell of our body, the garment a smaller one. We create both so that we can be in them, move, feel safe, change, and understand how we want to present ourselves to the world. The garment is much more than an outer layer. It carries our stories, memories, social codes. In a way, we live in our clothes just as we live in our home spaces,” says the installation’s creator V. Voraitė.
In a way, we live in our clothes just as we live in our home spaces.
The artist states that she is particularly interested in the moment when the silhouette of the garment stops adapting to the human body and begins to shape the environment itself.
“The garment is one of the most intimate living spaces we have. But I am also interested in the moment when its form expands, deforms, becomes too large to be perceived as clothing. Then a completely new possibility arises, allowing us not only to wear the garment but also to enter it,” explains the author of the idea.
The team of creators working together for the first time will tell the idea of the installation “A Dress is A House” using space, sound, and light. The installation space is created by interdisciplinary artist V. Suncovas, who enjoys reworking everyday objects and forms.
According to the artist, the installation’s title playfully reminds that the garment is an intermediate state between the human body and architecture. In creating the structure of the work, the artist aimed primarily to unite the different ideas of the creative team.
“For me, this installation is a new, well-ripened idea. It is like hanging on a multi-stemmed tree that ripens different but somehow related fruits. On its branches grow a roof, eyes, a dress, a tent, a hat, a chimney, a cozy home space, a lamp… Here a new fruit has grown, whose taste, I hope, will awaken memories,” describes V. Suncovas.
The sound in the installation is created by sound artist and composer A. Dombrovskij. Since the 2000s, he has participated in experimental music, sound art, theater, and film projects, creating music and sound design for performances, installations, short films, podcasts, and radio art projects. The artist sees in the joint work an almost architectural mechanism – the boundary between a person’s personal space and the outside world.
“I consider the duality of exterior and interior in the garment. The outer facade must withstand a storm of opinions, judgments, and glances, while the inside must maintain a tone of coziness and inner peace. This means the garment is surrounded by two completely different languages,” says A. Dombrovskij.
The installation is complemented by light designed by light designer and artist Justas Bø. “In this work, the light will emanate from within and pulse very slowly, almost imperceptibly. I would like it to seem as if there is life in the dress – as if something inside it breathes or lives. The light here should not become a separate effect; it is more important that it is felt rather than noticed,” explains J. Bø about the project concept.
“A Dress is A House” is already the second, but this year a much more ambitious SOULZ project at the contemporary art fair “ArtVilnius.” Last year’s debut – the experiential space SOULZ TRY ROOM – attracted great visitor attention. In the installation inspired by clothing fitting rooms, visitors could touch fabrics, play with shapes and colors, and as if try on the surrounding environment.
This year the idea goes even further – collaboration with artists has grown into a collective artwork speaking about the garment becoming a space of human memory, inner world, and security.
“Last year’s debut at the ‘ArtVilnius’ fair was an important first step for us, showing how many opportunities open up when art and fashion meet. This year, our teams’ collaboration has become even stronger and more ambitious. At the fair, we want not only to present SOULZ but also to create conditions for artists’ creativity. We hope this idea will live on, expand, and maintain continuity,” says Rimantas Perveneckas, CEO of the Apranga group.
SOULZ has for the first time brought together creators from various fields – presenting works by the best photographers and stylists from the Baltic countries in the SOULZ FANTASY project, and inviting creative and stylish Lithuanians to joint projects through the SOULZMATES initiative. Participation in “ArtVilnius” has raised such art and business synergy to an even higher level – SOULZ is becoming an active participant in art processes.
The installation “A Dress is A House” can be seen and experienced from October 1–4 at the Lithuanian Exhibition and Congress Center LITEXPO by participants, visitors, and guests of the 17th international contemporary art fair “ArtVilnius’26.”
