“Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022” Programme Concludes: Key Figures and Future Plans Revealed
Having attracted 2.4 million visitors in 5 years, “Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022” can be hailed as a success story. A programme which has delivered over 3000 events to guests from all over the world, increased tourism, international media attention, and a huge number of participants – these were some of the major achievements and legacies of the Capital of Culture that were discussed by the Lithuanian Minister of Culture Simonas Kairys, “Kaunas 2022” CEO Virginija Vitkienė, and the Head of Communications and Marketing Mindaugas Reinikis at the last “Kaunas 2022” press conference held on Monday.
The journey of “Kaunas 2022” from a temporary capital to a contemporary one began back in 2015 with the preparation of the application for the European Capital of Culture competition. In March 2017, it was revealed that Kaunas’s proposed programme had convinced the selection panel of independent experts, and the city was awarded the title of European Capital of Culture, the EU’s most important cultural project, for the year 2022.
“I expected it to be sad when the title-holding year came to an end, but today I feel that many great things are only just beginning, and how they move forward will depend entirely upon us,” said the Republic of Lithuania’s Minister of Culture, Simonas Kairys, in his opening remarks. According to Kairys, 2022 has been an extraordinary year that has changed the rules of the game considerably – the pandemic, the war in Ukraine and other challenges have forced the organisers to look at the project differently and to adapt to the current situation.
“I believe the project’s greatest objective was to make everyone realise that we are part of the European cultural scene: that it is important to create opportunities for dialogue and international cooperation, and to be open-minded. [...] This title reminds the rest of the world that we have been a part of Europe for centuries, that even after 50 years of being stuck in a dark and difficult tunnel, today we are back in the European family,” the Minister of Culture said.
Record Numbers of Visitors and Artists Involved
Over the five years of the project’s implementation, according to Virginija Vitkienė, CEO of Kaunas 2022, 2.4 million culture lovers have attended a variety of events – festivals, concerts, exhibitions, performances, contemporary dance performances and other artistic initiatives. Over half of them visited events in 2022.
19,000 artists and creators from all over the world – Europe, Japan, the USA, South Africa, Israel, and elsewhere – contributed to creating the Capital of Culture in Kaunas and Kaunas District. Yet most of the events, 70 percent, were created and implemented by Lithuanian artists. In 2022 alone, Lithuanian and international artists organised 1,600 cultural initiatives open to the public in Kaunas and Kaunas District.
A total of 26 million euros has been earmarked for European Capital of Culture projects, or 13 euros per person over five years. More than 50 donors and partners contributed to the cultural initiatives, with a total value of 2.8 million euros in financial support and services.
From the BBC and The Guardian to National Geographic
The head of the initiative, Virginija Vitkienė, emphasised that the Kaunas 2022 project gained visibility not only in Lithuania, but also worldwide – in 66 countries in total in Europe and beyond, including the US, India, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, South Africa, South Korea, and Singapore. Over 170 foreign journalists visited the city.
National Geographic, a popular science magazine boasting 6 million readers, noted that Kaunas is “finally getting the plaudits it deserves.” The Telegraph reported that “in Kaunas, the Twenties are roaring once more,” while The Guardian listed the Capital of Culture among the 10 best European city breaks with a difference.
Kaunas has also been covered by the BBC, CNN, The Times, Rai, Deitsche Welle, Financial times, Euronews, and other news sites. It is estimated that news about Kaunas 2022 has reached more than 3 billion people worldwide. Foreign media representatives were attracted not only by the ongoing events, but also by street art, the themes related to memory, Kaunas modernist architecture, and the appearances made by world-renowned artists.
According to Mindaugas Reinikis, Head of Communications and Marketing, “Kaunas has now appeared on maps where it has never featured before, but this will probably take a few decades, or even centuries, to be fully grasped and appreciated.”
Tourism Boost
International press attention and high-profile artistic events and exhibitions have led to an increase in tourist visits. In 2022, Kaunas accommodated stays from over 309,000 tourists, the majority of whom were from Germany, Italy and neighbouring countries – Poland, Latvia and Estonia. It was pleasing to see that increasingly more people were choosing Kaunas for more than a single-day trip, spending a whole weekend or a few days in the city.
From New Cultural Spaces to Festivals Turned into Traditions
A number of popular festivals and events have become an integral part of the city and its surrounding district. The International Day of Happiness, Kaunas Literature Week, and the Fluxus Festival, which has now become a tradition, will continue to attract visitors and residents of the city. Culture to the Courtyards, Citytelling Festival and the international performing arts festival ConTempo will keep on bringing music and performances to Kaunas’s neighbourhoods. Design enthusiasts will remain warmly-welcomed participants at the MAGENTA Landscape Design Festival. The European Capital of Culture Forum and the much-loved Contemporary City Festival AUDRA will also carry on. And in Kaunas District, the community project “Contemporary Neighbourhoods” will continue to take place.
The CulturEukraine co-working space, launched in 2022, will continue to run its activities in the city, as well as the Kaunas Central Post Office, which has now been transformed into an exhibition venue and event space. The Kaunas Airport, which was renamed as the Kaunas Fluxus Airport, and the sculpture of the Mythical Beast of Kaunas, beloved by children, will serve as reminders of this historic year. Over 1,000 artworks, sculptures and publications created in recent years are going to be exhibited in various art institutions across Kaunas and Kaunas District.
A Path of Emerald, the route touring public art objects, featuring 50 works by Lithuanian and international artists, will remain in operation in Kaunas District, as well as the dredger-boat “Nemuno 7,” located in Zapyškis, now turned into a space of art and culture.
The Capital of Culture Bids Farewell with 2022 Kisses
The most important component of “Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022,” as Virginija Vitkienė, the Head of “Kaunas 2022,” points out, is the people who have contributed to this project: artists, representatives of the cultural scene, communities, volunteers, and partners, transforming Kaunas into one big European stage.
As Kaunas passes on the title of Capital of Culture to three other European cities, it bids a symbolic farewell by sending 2022 kisses to Lithuania, Europe and the rest of the world. From the very beginning in 2017, photographer Remis Ščerbauskas has been seeking to capture snapshots of the participants of the Capital of Culture events, community members, artists, Kaunesians and the city’s visitors, volunteers, the project’s implementation team, and all those who have often stayed away from the limelight. All these people had been pouring their energy into taking the city’s culture to a new level in the run-up to the title-holding year.
“Each European Capital of Culture is unique and exceptional. Still, it is gratifying to receive positive comments, for example, suggesting that Kaunas has made the European Capital of Culture project fashionable once again. You will certainly be hearing more from us in the future.” The press conference ended on a high note.
“Kaunas 2022” Closing Weekend: Kaunas is Forever
The results of the last official weekend of Kaunas as the European Capital of Culture can be counted in dozens, hundreds and thousands. The intersecting routes of events and happenings, the collecting of the stamps of the Kaunas Beast game and the sharing of promises to take care of yourself and the city, the handshakes and hugs, the shining eyes and the lights of the phones, the final chords of the “Contract” at Žalgirio Arena - Kaunas and Kaunas district were flooded with the hope that after a spectacular year-long programme, the positive, motivating and nurturing relationship with oneself and one’s environment, in which culture is the key element, will not vanish.
Europe’s focus on Kaunas
“Many think that culture is just for fun. However, it is the foundation of our society and soul, an integral part of life. I personally believe that the European Capitals of Culture tradition is one of Europe’s most successful programmes, creating a sustainable positive effect. Culture teaches, transforms, gives hope and perspective, inspires unity and solidarity,” Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said on Friday morning. Together with the leaders of Lithuania, Latvia and Poland, and Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky, who joined online, he opened the international symposium “The Idea of Europe”. The gathering of intellectuals - academics and practitioners - at Vytautas Magnus University was the most solid event of the “Contract” weekend. Its weight and depth of debate proved the importance of one of the continent’s smallest countries and the city that has this year been awarded the most important title in its life and has withstood global challenges with the title’s help.
Nurturing Sounds of Music
From the Lithuanian Youth Jazz Orchestra’s resounding debut concert and a bouquet of Yiddish songs at the Kaunas Artists’ House, the choral and experimental music event Deserts in the mysterious Kaunas Waters Reservoir, the tabalai experiment in the garden of the War Museum, the avant-garde electronic performances at the Daina cinema, and the nightclub Lizdas - music lovers were spoilt for choice throughout the European Capital of Culture’s extended finishing weekend. An impressive concert was also held in the Kaunas district - on Friday, Raudondvaris was turned into an open-air dance floor by the performer “Ten Walls”.
Of course, the most impressive sound fabric was created on Saturday evening at Žalgirio Arena - “Contract”, written by composer Zita Bružaitė for the occasion, was performed by singers Jeronimas Milius and Monika Pleškytė, Kaunas Big Band, Kaunas Wind Orchestra “Ąžuolynas”, Giunter Percussion and others, conducted by the talented Ričardas Šumila. The combined forces of dancers led by Petras Lisauskas, including Nuepiko, ULNA, and Šeiko Dance Company, as well as emerging talents, created magic for nearly 9,000 spectators.
The “Contract” was created by: author of the artistic concept and composer Zita Bružaitė, librettist Daiva Čepauskaitė, director Gediminas Šeduikis, set designer Sigita Šimkūnaitė, costume designer Sandra Straukaitė, choreographer Agnija Šeiko, head of the choir Danguolė Beinarytė, lighting designer Andrius Stasiulis, conductor Ričardas Šumila.
Opening and Closing of Exhibitions
The “Contract” weekend saw the opening of a bunch of exhibitions that will continue to welcome visitors. Ultrasocial Pos by the colourful Polish- Luxembourger Filip Markiewicz is open until New Year’s Day at the Meno Parkas gallery and, in the neighbourhood of the latter, the Kaunas Photography Gallery it’s a must to see an excerpt from The Family of Man, an exhibition presenting the origins of humanist photography that has travelled the world. The Lithuanian Artists’ Union gallery Drobė invited the spectators to look at the fake news from the artists’ point of view in the former textile factory in Šančiai. The photography exhibition “Hiding Places of the Mythical Beast”, which revealed the basements and dungeons of modernist buildings on Vienybės Square, promises to attract the attention of the curious throughout the festive period, most effectively after dark.
The attendance records were also broken by Yoko Ono’s exhibition “The Learning Garden of Freedom” at the Kaunas Picture Gallery, the contemporary art triennial UKRAINE! UNMUTED at Kaunas Central Post Office and William Kentridge’s “That Which We Do Not Remember” at the National M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum. The international shows, all counting their last days, were explored by both individual guests and guided tours. Meanwhile, Kaunas Modern Art Foundation offered an exclusive itinerary to places important to artists who worked in the city.
Installations Dispelling the Darkness
The impressions of the “Contract” weekend, which were all over the social networks, were very often filled with art installations in both Kaunas and the Kaunas district. From the city centre, where many cultural institutions and other buildings came together for one spectacular light spectacle, to a narrow street in the Old Town, transformed into an artistic “Artery”; From the installation "Process" in Independence Square, which made everyone pause, to the stairs to the Mythical Beast’s lair, which appeared in the 1st Fort of Kaunas Fortress just for this weekend - all the artistic accents underlined that Kaunas is not only a beautiful city but also a city that wants to be happy in the future.
A contract with Oneself
The most important souvenir of “Kaunas 2022” a contract signed with oneself and the city - was taken home by almost 4000 participants of the closing weekend. Just as during the first two acts of the Kaunas trilogy, “Confusion” and “Confluence”, people followed rules and collected stamps provided by colourful characters waiting at the game stops.
Every city is beautiful. Every city is a city of love. Every city is like Kaunas and Kaunas is like every city. Every city has suffered in the past. Every city wants to be happy in the future. People we know are good people. People we don't know are good people. People we don't understand are good people. My freedom depends on the freedom of others. Kaunas is forever. These points in the „Contract“ reminded everyone to take care of themselves, others and the city.
The signing ceremony of the “Contract”, which was not only visually spectacular but also personally dedicated to each individual, took place hundreds of times in a wishing-washed underpass by the river Nemunas. And, of course, in the hearts and minds of everyone who has lived through Kaunas’ transformation “from temporary to contemporary”. After all, as the last clause of the “Contract” proclaims, Kaunas is forever.
