This month, going wherever your feet take you in Kaunas, you can unwittingly travel around the world. April travel directions: Šilainiai – Japan (and back). Culture will be visiting courtyards, neighbourhoods, shop windows and cinema halls. And one space deserves particular support – the CulturEUkraine Centre, a place for Ukranians, who have fled war, to create and spend time together. But there is always something for everyone to make the most of their time in Kaunas: for theatre lovers and jazz enthusiasts, culture’s senior participants and the Mythical Beast’s youngest fans.
The schedule of cultural trips in April is ready :
Marina Abramović’s exhibition “Memory of Being”
One of the most anticipated art events in Kaunas and all of Lithuania is the exhibition “Memory of Being” by Marina Abramović, one of the most famous performance artists in the world, which is to be presented for the first time. The exhibition offers a detailed presentation of the works by Abramović from the 1960s to recent years; the exhibition also draws attention in a unique form – for the first time it is prepared as an impressive video installation from selected documentaries and films of the artist’s performances.
When: From 30 March 2022 to 31 July 2022
Where: Kaunas Picture Gallery
Admission at the exhibition is paid.
Organizer: Meno Parkas Art Park and “Kaunas 2022”
Programme of European Film Journeys
The renewed “Romuva” Cinema will finally open its doors in April. It will host a European cinema tour. 12 advance screenings of films of contemporary filmmakers, which will take place in the cinema and outdoor cinema sessions, invite you to discover the colourful diversity of European cinema culture. The program presents films on contemporary topics and the most important filmmakers in Europe today. “European Film Journeys” is for picky spectators and reviewers of good films!
When: from 22nd of April
Where: Romuva Cinema
Attendance at the exhibition is paid.
Organizer: Kaunas “Romuva” Cinema
Culture in the courtyards: Šilainiai
Culture to the Courtyards, the internationally acclaimed project, launched during Lithuania’s first quarantine and organised by the Fluxus Labas!, will fill those living next door to one another with the excitement of anticipation, will make balconies resound with applause and joy as culture will once again fill Kaunas’s courtyards! Theatrical, dance, contemporary circus and music professionals will perform in the courtyards of 11 neighbourhoods. This time we invite you to take a seat in the balcony boxes of Šilainiai or choose a standing place in the courtyard area.
When: 19–21 April 2022
Where: Šilainiai Neighbourhood
Admission to the exhibition is free.
Organizer: “Kaunas 2022”
Art space “Artery”. Opening of a new cycle
The open-air exhibition “Blink” features sound and light installations, which are accessible around the clock but can be best appreciated after dark. There will be four Arterija exhibitions presented in the old town , each designed for a different season. The exposition’s author is Saulius Paliukas (Kaunas Faculty of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, VAA), and its co-authors are Romualdas Požerskis and Rimantas Giedraitis (Kaunas Faculty, VAA). ARTERIJA, the open-air public art space of the Kaunas Faculty of the Vilnius Academy of Arts, is participating in the “Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022” programme.
When: 21 April 2022
Where: Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius Academy of Arts
Admission to the exhibition is free.
Organizer: Kaunas Faculty of Vilnius Academy of Arts
Japan Days in Kaunas “WA!”
“WA!”, the Days of Japan in Kaunas, is your ticket to the land of the rising sun. The festival’s programme includes: a joint project by Aura and Ryu Suzuki, a renowned Japanese modern dance choreographer; a performance by the world-renowned calligraphy artist Aoi Yamaguchi, who invites visitors to explore this artform through a spectacular show; live drawings created by a robot; Hanami Matsuri, a traditional Sakura-watching festival spanning more than 1000 years; a concert by Tanaka Kyokusen, one of Japan’s most famous traditional lute players; as well as numerous exhibitions, lectures, concerts, food tastings and other events.
When: From 25 April 2022
Where: Kaunas
Admission to the exhibition is free.
Organizer: “Kaunas 2022”, “Azija LT” MB, Kaunas Dance Theatre “Aura”, public bodies “Kultūrinės ir organizacinės idėjos”, “KyūmeikanKendo”
Exhibition “Kaunas – Vilnius: Moving Mountains”
The secret of the friendship between the rival cities – Kaunas and Vilnius – will be revealed by the co-exhibition of the MO Museum and the Kaunas City Museum. The expositions will uncover the fundamental interdependence of the two cities, how they have shaped one another, and how present-day Lithuania has emerged from the tensions between the two. The mountains and motifs of the exhibition are repeated in the exhibition halls of both museums, but they tell different stories. In this way, the concept and architecture of “Kaunas-Vilnius: Moving Mountains” embodies the very necessity for Kaunas and Vilnius to stay together: to see the whole exhibition, one must visit both cities.
When: From 23 April 2022 to 28 August 2022
Where: Temporary Gallery of MK Čiurlionis, MO Museum in Vilnius
Attendance at the exhibition is paid.
Organizer: Kaunas City Museum, MO Museum
Earlier opened exhibitions are ready to welcome visitors
Visit the installation of the non-conformist of the art world Yoko Ono in the historical Bank of Lithuania or the monthly cycle of exhibitions “100 years to Kaunas Art School. 12 Exhibitions. 12 Months”, which is intended to commemorate the centenary of the Kaunas School of Arts. The exhibition “Lithuanian Design: from Temporary to Contemporary” on display in the shop windows of Laisvės Alėja boulevard is still inviting visitors to admire the history of design. To deepen the dialogue with oneself, we invite you to the exhibition “That Which We Don’t Remember” by William Kentridge, a South African artist of Lithuanian Jewish descent.
Full programme: www.kaunas2022.eu