Kaunas

AMBASSADORS OF “KAUNAS 2022”: Gintautas Mažeikis

The Ecstatic Kaunas Spreads its Contradictions

Temporary Capital, as a manner of thinking, is a source of historical pride as well as of vanity, and a possibility of cultural expansion and a place of anxious silence. The difference lies in the thoughtfulness of the look: the same way as in music – one can hear a play of sounds or boast of famous names. National boasting is often a vanity that is seducing, although, gives nothing. However, if not empty, pride can be a source of dignity, attentiveness, and creativity. Self-deception comes to life when vanity is considered to be the essence – for example, the title of Temporary Capital today – when the name is multiplied without the basis of long-standing international activity and a centrifugal network of movements. City galleries, theaters, universities, communities, movements of artists and political activists – all who are willing and able to participate in public life – create the networks. Therefore, the purpose of my essay is a reflection on the contradictions and peripheries that in the case of centrifugation and city ecstatic would gain a proper sounding and acknowledgment.Read more

by Kaunas

AMBASSADORS OF “KAUNAS 2022”: Egidijus Stancikas

"The first meeting with Kaunas in my teenage years left me with a feeling of an encounter with values that had been revealed by time. This feeling is the strongest in Santaka (Confluence) valley. Those two rivers embrace and offer each other the best they have, and give it all away to the world in a further joint flow - this is the symbol of Kaunas to me.Read more

by Kaunas