The city is often seen as the antithesis of nature: we go "searching" for nature in the countryside, woods or mountains. Citynature: Vilnius and Beyond offers a radically different approach. It perceives the city as an ecosystem, in which Homo sapiens, despite being the dominant element, is not the author. According to the creators of the exhibition, while dwelling in the city, we still live in nature, and we have to deal with its laws in the most unexpected ways.

This exhibition combines art and science: it presents five new contemporary works of art, created by artists in collaboration with scientists; and six scientific studies, accompanied by creative visual presentations, which were developed by scientists in collaboration with the exhibition curators.

The studies reveal the evolution of man's role in the ecosystem of Vilnius from the 13th to the 21st centuries, from the foundation of the city in a hilly area, to the prospect of the effects of climate change. You can learn how the increased population in the 16th and 17th centuries affected people; how residents of Vilnius in the 19th century and in the interwar period struggled with invisible natural threats; and how the Soviet legacy turned into vegetation on rubbish dumps.

The participating artists offer an alternative view of contemporary Vilnius. What would the city look like through a bat's "ears"? How similar is Vilnius' anthill policy to its urban policy? Will robots concur with us in the ecosystem of the city? Can you compare the loss of community with the loss of a limb? What happens when 99.9 per cent of the laws of physics cease to affect us? These are the questions the artists ask, providing visitors with an intriguing opportunity to find, and even feel, the answers themselves.

Participants: Kader Attia; Julius von Bismarck; Pakui Hardware (Neringa Černiauskaitė & Ugnius Gelguda); Kuai Shen; Julijonas Urbonas; Rimantas Jankauskas, Šarūnas Jatautis and Ieva Mitokaitė; Iwona Janicka; Vida Motiekaitytė; Egidijus Rimkus, Dovilė Keršytė and Justas Kažys; Oksana Valionienė, Aistis Žalnora

Curators: Vytenis Burokas, Vitalij Červiakov, Eglė Mikalajūnė, Eglė Nedzinskaitė

Exhibition designer: Aleksandras Kavaliauskas

Graphic designer: Laura Grigaliūnaitė

Organiser: National Gallery of Art, Lithuanian Art Museum

Partners: Rupert Residency Centre, Department of Laser Technology at the Centre for Physical Sciences and Technology, Vilnius University Faculty of Mathematics and Information Technology, Vilnius University Faculty of Medicine Department of Anatomy, Histology and Anthropology, Herbarium of Vilnius University, Vilnius University Department of Hydrology and Climatology, Vrublevskis Library of the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences, Library of Vilnius University, Botanical Garden of Vilnius University, Lithuanian Library for the Blind, Lithuanian Research Centre for Agriculture and Forestry, Vilna Gaon Jewish State Museum, ABB UAB, Vilniaus vandenys UAB, Vilnius City Municipality, Palace of the Grand Dukes of Lithuania: National Museum, Teleport, City of Nürnberg, "Technariumas"

Sponsors: Lithuanian Council for Culture, Lithuanian Ministry of Culture, Goethe-Institut Lithuania, Institut Français de Lituanie, North-Rhein Westfalian Ministry of Family, Children, Youth, Culture and Sport, Precizika Metrology UAB, Exterus UAB, Lrytas.lt UAB, Terra Modus UAB.