LTStraipsnyje aptariama, kokią laikyseną moralines dilemas neretai sprendžiantys menininkai visuomenininkai demonstravo pereinamojo laikotarpio – Atgimimo bei pirmųjų nepriklausomybės metų – kontekste. Remiantis pasisakymų žiniasklaidoje, retrospektyvinių prisiminimų ir dokumentine medžiaga, analizuojama, kaip kai kurie menininkai ne tik oponavo „aparatui“, bet ir dalyvavo politikoje arba tapo administratoriais. Parodoma, kad istorinio lūžio metu aktyviausi dailininkai troško tęsti valstybinio finansavimo tradiciją ją racionalizuodami. Tuo pat metu jie siekė plėsti meno, nepaklūstančio jokiems nurodymams „iš viršaus“, autonomijos ribas. O individualūs pasirinkimai ryškėjo naujai permąstant „amžiną“ dilemą tarp menininkų (neva „savaiminio“) socialinio išskirtinumo visuomenėje ir vien už save atsakingų, „valstybės malonių neprašančių“ kūrybingų individų būvio. [Iš leidinio]Reikšminiai žodžiai: Atgimimas; Lietuvos dailininkų sąjunga; Kritiniai menininkai; Administratoriai; Išsivadavimo judėjimai; National Revival; Lithuanian Artists’ Union; Critical artists; Administrators; Liberation movements.
ENWhen analysing the culture of the late Soviet period, it is often emphasised that artists contributed to political and cultural liberation both in the sense of artistic expression and by becoming socially active and criticising the stagnating system. It should be noted that the critical stance in regard to the existing situation grew even stronger as the country regained independence, particularly in the years of the economic blockade in 1991 (already in confrontation with the Lithuanian authorities). The thoughts of dissidents acquired great importance for public opinion, and radical denouncement of the totalitarian past prevailed in social and political journalism. Thus the article discusses the ways in which the character type of a socially active Lithuanian artist often caught in moral dilemmas manifested itself in the context of (post-) Soviet period – the National Revival and the first years of Independence. Referring to statements in the mass media, retrospective memories and documentary material, the author analyses how some artists not only opposed the system, but also took part in politics or became administrators. During the historical shift the most active artists sought to continue the tradition of state funding by rationalising it.At the same time, they sought to expand the limits of autonomy of art that did not obey any instructions from higher up. As the “eternal” dilemma between the (supposedly “natural”) social distinctiveness of artists in society and creative individuals responsible for themselves and “not asking for the state’s favours” was being reconsidered, individual choices were becoming apparent. The circumstances of that time show that artists manoeuvred between authentic artistic activities that were, on the one hand, economically “rewarding” and, on the other, not bound by the laws of demand and supply. While assessing the role of society’s critics and public intellectuals on a wider international scale than just (post-) Soviet Lithuania, one should not forget that not so much a public authority who criticizes the state of things but a critic who suspends his or her “independence” as an artist (i.e. the principle of art autonomy itself) to emphasize their public stance takes a bigger political risk (Mindaugas Navakas’s choice to defend the building of the Supreme Soviet during the bloody events of 13 January 1991 instead of acting as an artist). Unfortunately, there were hardly any other more distinct situations of artists risking their personal freedom in the visual culture of Lithuania in the period under discussion (a frequent case in, let’s say, Russian avant-garde or contemporary art). [From the publication]