Kaunas European Capital of Culture 2022 Youth Programme: Get ready to be taken out of your comfort zone
The city is its people. What will Kaunas look like in twenty or fifty years? The answer to this question can be found by talking, listening and simply spending time with young people. After hearing, seeing and feeling what they care about, we can predict how future Kaunas residents will live and what they will care about. The events of the Emerging Kaunas in the year of the European Capital of Culture will allow to peek through a keyhole into the future of Kaunas.
“Emerging Kaunas is a programme for young people by young people. The central office of the European Capital of Culture even allocated a separate TEMPO space for us, where we can feel free and be ourselves, and talk about what concerns us in the language we understand best,” says Aurelija Prašmuntaitė, the Curator of the programme.
According to her, encouraging young people to participate in culture can only be done by providing them the opportunity to take the initiative themselves. Young people in Kaunas co-create quality cultural products in cooperation with Kaunas Chamber Theatre, Pažaislis Music Festival, Gamers Dance Studio and other partners. The Emerging Kaunas programme has several creative platforms, including the Kaunas Challenge and the More Tempo initiatives, which cultural community is constantly growing.
In 2022, the Emerging Kaunas programme in the European Capital of Culture year will explode with emotions, glow with impressions, it will tickle the senses and arouse curiosity.
Audra Contemporary City Festival – the central event of the youth programme
The central event of the youth programme is the Audra Contemporary City Festival, which will take place from June 29 to July 3, 2022. Contemporary art installations will emerge in various parts of the city, accompanied by concerts by different performers. Electronic, experimental, acoustic music will be performed at Kaunas Philharmonic, Mykolas Žilinskas Art Gallery, Kaunas Taxi Park, Pergalė Concert, Kaunas Confluence and other places.
The Festival team was joined by the Freimas International Association of Artists, which together with the team of the Lizdas night club creates the musical program for the Festival. The organisers assure all the lovers of quality electronic music: you can relax and wait for this unique event, which will shake Kaunas from the ground up and allow you to peek into its future.
Audra Contemporary City Festival is an event that reflects the lifestyle and values of the young people. This is a city festival that invites to discover the identity of Kaunas, of youth communities together with your personal identity. Audra summons curious people to enjoy the experience and bold discussions. There will be no participants in this festival – everyone will be its creator. The ideological leaders, guides and implementers of this festival are the participants of the Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 youth programme Emerging Kaunas.
There will be more action involving young people in the city on the same days. The Gamers City Battle 2022 street dance event will bring together participants of various street dance subcultures and nationalities from all over Europe. One of celebrities of the event is the French legend Salah, who will take his place in the judge’s chair. Hundreds of colourful and inventive dancers’ costumes, quality music, street dancers’ choreography – this is something definitely worth looking forward to.
Among the most prominent partners will be Inconvenient Films, which will invite the audience to explore the topics of psychological health and identity. Interestingly, these partners will bring the content of the audio documentaries, which will be designed with subtitle projections on Kaunas city buildings.
Also, we welcome the Diversion Cinema programme from our French partners. They will offer a unique virtual reality experience. During the festival, participants will be able to explore virtual reality not only through the possibilities of a stationary VR film, but while walking around space. We plan to bring a unique performance that combines VR and contemporary dance.
Audience is also invited to the premiere of the socio-political theatre – performances of the EYE NET 2.0 project about the experiences of young people will be shown, and creators from 7 European countries will come to Kaunas. The Lithuanian performance is directed by Rokas Lažaunykas, and the Mr. Stagey theatre troupe is participating. The Emerging Kaunas team is creating a performance with its partner Pažaislis Music Festival.
Tempo space for young people is teeming with life
The above-mentioned events are the result of the young people’s co-creation with the partners of the Emerging Kaunas programme. In 2022, we will see more of these.
The Kaunas Chamber Theatre Young Performing Arts Training Programme “Prodiusai Colab”, which aims to create conditions for young people to learn from performing arts professionals by implementing co-productions with foreign and Lithuanian artists, will stage two premieres for the 2022 programme. The sketch of “Jeanne”, the script of which is based on the archives from the court of Jeanne D'Arc and which is based on the principle of collaborative theatre, was shown already this year. At the beginning of the next year, we will see “Dance That Didn’t Exist” – a performance based on contact improvisation with the audience. Dancers’ duets, mass scenes, synchronization, change of rhythms will shatter the established opinion about dance.
“We’re creating something that’s never existed in Kaunas before, and we hope that the result of our work will help as many young people as possible to stay in both Kaunas and the Kaunas District, with which we’re also working quite a bit,” says Prašmuntaitė.
Indeed, the unique Tempo Space of Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 dedicated for young people is teeming with life. The initiative More Tempo invites using the spaces to present personal initiatives, be it performances, exhibitions, installations, or other projects. Moreover, every September, young people are invited to join the Kaunas Challenge where they get the opportunity to implement their ideas for the city and the Kaunas district together with the Kaunas 2022 team. The graduates of the Kaunas Challenge programme can continue their activities in the alumni club, where they can learn from their experience and experiment with the implementation of their cultural ideas.
Cultural co-creation is a continuous process
The initiative inviting young people to join the Kaunas Challenge has already grown its alumni community. The projects developed by these young active people not only enrich the cultural life of the city, but also gradually change the cultural spaces of Kaunas, bringing new ideas, telling the stories from the young people’s perspective.
Among the initiatives born in this community are: PUOTA (Eng. feast), an audio-visual project that integrates the poetry created by the citizens into public spaces, MASS magazine, created by cultural youth and dedicated to such a reader, RANDAI (Eng. scars), a project that allows people to share their emotional experiences through photographs and personal texts, KOMODA (Eng. chest of drawers), which provides a platform for young fashion designers in Kaunas to organise their exhibitions, fashion shows, and performances in urban spaces, PUSĖS DAINOS FESTIVALIS (PDF) (Eng. half-song festival), an event that allows trap/rap music writers to perform their song to the public.
Through their projects, young people not only promote creative self-expression and the cultural life of Kaunas, but they also undertake education and look for the ways to spend quality leisure time. For instance, the video content created by SERIJA-F team is dedicated to financial literacy issues, ŽAIDŽIAM KAUNĄ (Eng. let’s play Kaunas) encourages to skip virtual games and join the board game community. During the project, a game about Kaunas was created, where cultural symbols relevant to the city are woven into the narrative of the game. MINDFAQ evenings invite to the play detective games.
“The content that is attractive, which addresses the challenges of access to culture for young people is created. The members of the Kaunas Challenge Alumni Club work independently in consultation with Kaunas 2022 mentors,” explains the curator of the Emerging Kaunas programme.
Focus on the youngest citizens
Capital of Culture Classes are another essential part of the 2022 cultural programme curated by Emerging Kaunas. Among the classes already planned are an animation weekend at the Romuva Cinema Centre, an educational theatre club, two youth theatre festivals, a children’s book festival and other events. However, the programme can still be expanded – Kaunas and Kaunas district schools and kindergartens, other educational institutions are invited to join in creating educational projects.
From April 29 to May 1, Kaunas Maironis Literature Museum will invite to the Live Letters Children’s Book festival, where the little ones will be able to meet writers and book characters, find Kaunas hidden in fairy tales, and see the Mythical Beast of Kaunas. Live Letters is a Part of Kaunas Literature Week, organised by Vytautas Magnus University, intended for the youngest readers. By the way, since we are on the subject of literature – in 2022, the book “Tales of Kaunas Nations” will be published, in original and Lithuanian languages, by Terra Publica. The colourful illustrations and QR codes that will allow unique stories to be heard will complement the texts.
Probably not everyone knows that in the first half of the 20th century, world-famous animation and cinema artist Vladislovas Starevičius lived and worked in Kaunas. Remembering this creator, the animation laboratory will be open at the Romuva Cinema Centre on May 21–22, where students will be able to get acquainted with the history and practice of animation. At the same time, the Animation Weekend will offer a programme of the most relevant and latest animated films for children and adults.
On June 12, the Pažaislis Music Festival will invite you to a truly extraordinary event in Raudondvaris to see the children’s opera “Kirana”. For five days, three professional performers from Malta will lead a creative workshop for children, and what the children will create – will also be shown on stage. The scenography will use the works of Kaunas Antanas Martinaitis Art School students, the children will contribute to the soundtrack, they will improvise and learn performing arts. The history of the “Kirana” opera was inspired by the myths of China, India, Babylon and Mesopotamia. In each country where the opera is staged, it is enriched with the work of local talent.
From theatre festivals to ecological citizenship education
In the Capital of Culture Classes programme, a lot of attention was paid to the theatre art. Kaunas National Drama Theatre will offer many events and educational programs for children and youth. Among them is an interactive performance for young people “The Tower of Babel”, the premiere of which will take place in Kaunas and Kaunas district – Čekiškė – on August 19–23; the director of the performance, Norwegian Hilde Brinchmann, uses both her own experience and that of each partner. The International Educational Theatre Festival for Children and Youth “Dive into the Theatre” on June 1–4 will invite young people to look behind the scenes, to get to know the actors. In addition, the Educational Theatre Club will offer a series of events inviting to use the possibilities of theatre art while learning the current subjects of the school programme.
In September 2022, Kaunas Chamber Drama Theatre will organise the Youth Theatre Festival “The Starting Point”, where beginning performers will present their current issues, social ideas and attitudes, emphasising theatre art as an important form of youth communication. The festival is aimed at people who are not indifferent to the most pressing issues and dilemmas of the contemporary society related to climate change, human and animal rights, politics.
The educational programme “Point of Change” for the development of ecological citizenship of students, which will take place in educational institutions of Kaunas and Kaunas region, will encourage action and create a space for new experiences. The programme is organized by “Science and Innovation for Society”, and its goal is to show that environmental protection is a conscious choice of all of us and the inevitable future of Kaunas city and district.
Although the highlighted events are numerous and various, they are just a little fraction of what a vibrant Emerging Kaunas community is bringing to the city every day. Stay tuned, more will follow.
Inspired Communities: the Strength and Success of Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022
How does one measure the success of a project as ambitious as the European Capital of Culture? Is it the astonished foreign guests and the participating artists praising each other? In a way. However, the real achievement and strength are the local communities that got closer and became more inspired during the process. This is why creativity as part of everyday life is included in the core formula of Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022.
Five Years Together
‘We the People’, often called ‘Fluxus Labas!’, is one of the broadest of the Kaunas 2022 programmes, and over five incredibly intensive years of day-to-day activities, it has had an impact on the majority of communities in Kaunas, promoting the idea that residents themselves are capable of addressing challenges and making change.
‘The basis for our programme’s success rests on shared human and European values: the openness of people and communities toward one another, and to diversity, innovation, and creative solutions; inclusion of different people and organizations; building and maintaining interpersonal relationships; and promoting dialogue and co-creation,’ Greta Klimavičiūtė-Minkštimienė, the curator of the communities programme, believes.
The curator stresses the rest of the unique features of the communities programme, including its experimental spirit, sense of adventure, and playfulness: ‘By embracing these principles, we symbolically follow in the footsteps of George Maciunas – the founder of the Fluxus movement and a Kaunas native – and his ability to see the world and its challenges differently – more playfully and more simply, from a more human perspective.’
More and More Happy Courtyards
The courtyard project has become the pride of Kaunas 2022. Many have copied one of the most successful pandemic-era projects created in the European Union, presented at international awards ceremonies.
Since 2019, ‘Fluxus Labas!’ has been encouraging residents to engage with their neighbours to change their surroundings, take responsibility for them, and find creative solutions to the challenges they face. During Lithuania’s first quarantine in 2020, ‘Fluxus Labas! Kiemas’ adapted to the changing situation and launched the Culture to the Courtyards project. Different performers presented shows to residents in surrounding apartment buildings, allowing audiences to enjoy culture safely in their yards, from their windows and balconies.
In 2022, the program will invite one and all to as many as 80 courtyards in 11 elderships in Kaunas to enjoy the gift of shows by theatre, dance, contemporary circus, music, and other performers.
Laboratories Producing Happiness
The Fluxus Laboratories is a particular branch of the ‘Fluxus Labas!’ project that trains community facilitators. These people have now spread out through the city. Their goal is to bring together formal and informal communities, city residents, and organizations in different sectors and encourage them to become involved in community cultural and artistic activities and promote such activities themselves in specific neighbourhoods.
In 2022, the Fluxus Laboratories will ‘explode”’ and present unique community cultural and artistic projects in many different neighbourhoods throughout Kaunas. As early as April 23, the Šilainiai Urban Eco Festival, the only one in Lithuania, will unite residents and various organizations. The festival promises to impress with Šilainai natural and landscape design installations, lectures, and educational programmes.
On June 10–12, the community of Draugystės (Friendship) Street in the industrial part of Kaunas will present an interactive cultural and local creative game called The Art of Friendship. Visitors will be invited to enter sites that have been previously off-limits, learn more about welcoming residents and workers and their co-creations, and participate in playful and artistic activities.
On June 11, one will have the chance to walk through Eiguliai in a way they have never had before. Collaborating with different street artists, the community has created drawings that reflect its identity and now invites you to explore them on this colourful and musical walking tour.
On June 18, the Dainava neighbourhood community, collaborating with professional performers, artistic groups, and volunteers, will invite everyone to a midsummer mystery in Draugystės (Friendship) Park.
The real Midsummer will be celebrated in the impressive Šančiai Festival. Initiatives promoted in Šančiai over the past four years will all come together at this three-day event.
One will be able to visit a former gunpowder warehouse, ‘Parakas’, and celebrate what Lithuanians call Joninės by immersing into a surprising opera of imagery and watching a performance of ice and fire. Moreover, artists and residents will revive the old Šančiai barracks from their deep sleep and invite everyone to creative workshops, musical performances, and tours.
‘Just Come’, a poetry festival by the Gričiupis community, will take place in Kovo 11-osios (March 11) Park on July 23 and will also feature a ceramics collection of more than 700 works of art crafted by members of the community as they listened to poetry.
On July 9, the festival ‘Forest of the Senses’ will take place in the Panemunė pine grove and will join professional artists, naturalists, and herbalists to create land art and sound installations.
Courtyard Gallery (Kiemo galerija), a new legend of old Kaunas, will invite people to experience colourful creations as well as the retelling of local stories in central Kaunas and its Old Town courtyards on July 16.
On August 6, the community of Žaliakalnis will host a dancing tour, ‘Step by Step’, that will directly involve professional artists, residents, and visitors to Kaunas, calling them to learn more about the living memory and history of Žaliakalnis and its local mythical creature – Kaukas.
August will also be a perfect time to meet by the Kaunas Reservoir, colloquially called the Kaunas Lagoon. The community of Petrašiūnai will host the celebration on August 14 to emphasize the vital role the lagoon plays as part of the face of Kaunas and reveal the whole range of activities that take place around this body of water.
On August 20, it will be time to discover the Vilijampolė eldership. The artists’ collective God’s Entertainment (Austria) performance will open the ‘Under the Carpet’ installation. One of the show’s elements will be weaving a carpet by the people of Kaunas themselves. On the same day, Culturethon, a festival of sport and art, will travel from lake Lampėdis to the banks of river Neris.
A private music school located in Šilainiai, Jazz Academy, and composer Hara Alonso are of an experimental composition project titled ‘The City Composing in Kaunas’, a work of music created with the people of Kaunas. Its results will be presented on September 10 at the Ninth Fort.
In Aleksotas, audiences will be invited to view an installation assembled from residents’ stories on September 10. The arts group Effetto Larsen (Italy) will create an emotional map of the area based on the memories of those who live here and the experiences of specific places in the neighbourhood. The final result will be an installation modelled as an emotional, interactive journey through the Aleksotas neighbourhood. On September 18, the community of Aleksotas will host the ‘Flying Through Time’ interdisciplinary festival. Different spaces throughout Aleksotas will become stages for theatrical, musical, and other types of performances.
The Šančiai Cultural Courtyard Festival will be yet another occasion to come back to this colourful neighbourhood. On September 14–15, the celebrations will take place near a traditional wooden house. They will combine two initiatives: Elder Stories, a premiere showing of a documentary art film, and a music festival.
Time for Festivals and Celebrations
‘Fluxus Labas!’ is responsible for the birth of the artsiest sports in the world. It’s climbing up Parodos Hill in every possible way except traditionally. The challenge is also the culmination of the Fluxus Festival that will take place on September 10. Each year, Parodos Hill is closed for transport for precisely 22 minutes, and the starting point of the climb is at the Geoge Maciunas Square. After finishing, the participants will take part in a Fluxus carnival. People in Kaunas begin preparing for this celebration well in advance, creating costumes and building props.
A two-day Communities Forum at the Zapyškis Church of St. John the Baptist, Kaunas District, will take place before the Fluxus Festival to discuss results achieved in Kaunas and the Kaunas District over the past five years, talk about newly created and tested models and methods for engaging with communities, and about the changing view of community-based art, its benefits, and financing. The second day of the forum will be devoted to discussing the vitally important subject of including Kaunas’ rivers and communities in river revitalization.
Of course, many more festivities are planned for the whole of 2022. On May 20, for example, the place to be will be Laisvės Alėja and Vilniaus Street, the central axis of Kaunas connecting Soboras and Kaunas Town Hall. The Courtyard Festival will foster community-building and friendship among people living in the city of Kaunas and the surrounding region. It will present an opportunity to celebrate International Neighbours’ Day. The event will be marked by music played in the most unexpected places and different creative installations and performances.
May 21 is the official date of Putvinskio Street Day. Since 2017, once a year, on one Saturday in May, rain or shine or pandemic, all of V. Putvinskio Street comes together to celebrate the neighbourhood and its rich history.
The third event of the main weekend in May is called ‘Celebrate the River’. People will be invited to take part in cultural walks along the Nemunas and Neris and then share in the celebration when these two routes meet at Kaunas Santaka Park, the confluence of the two rivers. This event will allow residents and guests to reengage with the city’s rivers and their banks, learn more about different Kaunas communities and discover the city anew, but this time from the water. Later in Summer 2022, initiative TẽKA will launch a social game aimed at connecting river banks.
Contemporary Vibes in Kaunas District
‘Relationships between cities and their surrounding areas are interesting and complicated throughout Europe, and everywhere they’re influenced by culture. This is why listening to the needs of our region was the first task of Kaunas 2022. Another objective was adapting the programme tools of cultural capital to those needs’, Lukas Alsys, curator of the Kaunas District programme, stresses.
He believes human relationships and coming together play an essential role in the Kaunas District, like nowhere else. This is why these district projects have created unique, one would even say passionate, partnerships. The best example is Italian contemporary circus director Roberto Magro, who is now beloved by communities in the district. He will come back to direct a travelling contemporary circus performance in Batniava eldership at the beginning of the summer, and then will work in Linksmakalnis for an ‘angelic’ show. That’s just one of many reasons to follow the artistic travels beyond city limits.
Jeans and Steampunk, Time Travel and Rock Music
The work of the Capital of Culture in the Kaunas District is taking place along several approaches. One of these is a community project called Contemporary Neighbourhoods, involving fifteen local municipal jurisdictions within the Kaunas District. The essence of the project is simple: local jurisdictions called ‘seniūnijos’ (elderships) strengthen communities and address rising challenges through culture.
From June to September 2022, the elderships invite everyone to feel the strong pulse of community and creativity in the Kaunas District and attend the main Contemporary Neighbourhoods events.
Ežerėlis will present a series of photography exhibitions at a newly established community gallery and an alternative reality audio guide created by artist Žygimantas Kudirka. The project launch is scheduled for June.
On June 11, The community of Kulautuva will participate in a theatrical musical performance about the history of the resort town. It will be accompanied by various works of art in different public spaces by the Nemunas River.
The Raudondvaris community and choreographer Marius Pinigis and event director Eglė Valadkevičiūtė invite everyone on a beautiful tour – a journey through time. This event’s primary form of expression will be presented in a theatrical night-time walk on June 17.
Between June 30 and July 3, historic locations in Karmėlava will be presented through the increasingly strong Street Rock Festival, crowned by a combined environmental artwork called Flying Cepelinai, created by artists from Lithuania and Luxembourg: Algimantas Šlapikas and Serge Ecker.
A great time to discover Babtai eldership will be July. The community decided to revive an old trolleybus from the streets of Kaunas. The trolleybus became a creative laboratory for everyone to attend.
Also in July, Vilkija will celebrate Midsummer, and their centrepiece will be a ferry connecting both sides of the Nemunas River. The celebration will include concerts, theatrical performances, and art installations.
In August, the communities from around Garliava will organize a Steampunk Festival, inviting local communities and guests to a magical fiesta. The festival aims to introduce visitors to the Steampunk movement, and its programme will give everyone a chance to plunge into this fantastical world and liberate their imaginations and creativity.
The same month, the neighbourhood of Ringaudai will present their eldership through the Ringaudai Almanac, created by the community and artist Paulina Ružauskaitė. The almanac will be presented along with an interactive sculpture dedicated to this community.
On September 3, the Lapės (literally foxes) town will host the now annual Lapės Sustainability Festival! Did you know that, in 2021, the community created a recreational space from old jeans?!
Linksmakalnis and the charismatic abovementioned Roberto Magro (Italy) have created a show about angels. Nobody knows yet what kind of show this will be. And they can’t possibly know since co-creation means working without a planned script! All we know is that show will be presented in September.
At the heart of the identity of Rokai is the uninterrupted 400-year-old history of its brickyard and the clay found all around the town. In recent years, community members have been introduced to various ceramic techniques and have worked together to create the Clay Road. On September 3, the community will unveil a mythical sculpture and invite guests to a unique show.
With the help of artists Enrika Striogaitė and Remis Ščerbauskas, the harmonious Kačerginė resort town by Nemunas River plans to create a collection of stories inspired by the experiences of its residents. Attend the presentation and a classical music concert on September 4.
Located near the 11th Fort of Kaunas Fortress, Akademija will present a musical production at the military heritage site. Make sure you stop at the sustainable shop Lokali: Made in Akademija, established by the community, for souvenirs. See you on September 10?
The Domeikava eldership has chosen to develop lively activities, roles, and orienteering games. The project Let's Play Domeikava aims to experience and learn more about this Contemporary Neighbourhood. The launch is scheduled for September 17.
A Culture Boat and A Path of Emerald
Ever searched for emeralds? In the context of Kaunas 2022, emeralds are new art objects that will appear in the most unexpected places. Some of them have been under creation from the start of the programme; others rely on objects in the Kaunas District for their existence, transforming them in a contemporary way. The emeralds will appear in 9 elderships of Kaunas District.
A unique river engineering and landscape design project in Europe, Nemuno7, will serve as a public cultural space and will be officially opened in May. Located in Zapyškis, the dredger dates back to 1965! Instead of dismantling the unused object, a more sustainable solution was devised: to create a new, more relevant role and transform it into a cultural space, inviting the public to explore the subject of water from the perspective of art, history, and science. The Nemuno7 dredger will also have space for artistic residencies.
A tool to discover Vandžiogala, scheduled to launch in Autumn 2022, is a unique diary by Mindaugas Lukošaitis. Using material gathered around the small town of Vandžiogala, the artist added his own drawn stories to the area’s authentic landscape, presenting audiences a very personal code by which they can “read” what he has seen. This project was initiated by Kaunas 2022 programme Memory Office for its CityTelling Festival.
Also organised by the Memory Office, the Lithuanian Klezmer Orchestra’s tour of towns in the Kaunas District will rekindle local communities' memory and culture. Did you know that, before the Second World War, the towns of the Kaunas District were home to significant Jewish communities? The orchestra’s bus will stop in Čekiškė, Vandžiogala, Vilkija, Babtai, Kačerginė, Kulautuva, and Zapyškis. Performances will be accompanied by tours exploring the not so distant past of these towns.
For the European Capital of Culture programme, the 17th Kite Festival in Zapyškis will feature creative workshops, kite and paper aeroplane competitions, a postal postcard service, and soap bubbles. Artists and kite masters will create large and impressive banner kites, and everyone will have a chance to help make the community kite.
Yet another legendary festival, this time launched by the Kulautuva community, will present a rich musical programme in 2022. Akacijų alėja, an event for sung poetry, will present a series of concerts in four towns along the Nemunas River. Then, the main festival event will take place in Kulautuva. Instead of the usual one-day event, the festival will span through June and July.
Time to revisit the Kaunas Reservoir… and discover its Atlantida-like history. Everyone who comes to the Footsteps at the Bottom of the Lagoon festival on August 27 will get the chance to feel as if they’ve become part of the now flooded villages that once existed here. This event will have a bit of everything: songs, stories, and folklore from flooded villages, contemporary music, and innovative technological solutions.
On the same day and nearby, yet another exciting event to attend will be the Girionys Land Art Festival. The identity of the town lies in its beautiful nature and the expanse of the Kaunas Lagoon. Objects found in nature and ideas shared by residents will all be part of the co-creation process of land art objects.
Skanaus: European cuisines 2022, a food and culture festival, is scheduled for September 7–11 in Garliava. It will include presentations of cultures and the latest gastronomic trends from abroad, cooking lessons by restaurant chefs, culinary film production, family entertainment, concerts by Lithuanian and foreign musical performers, and talks shows, lectures, and all sorts of competitions.
Tadas Ivanauskas, the Lithuanian Zoo and Zoological Museum founder, lived in a villa called Obelynė in Akademija town. In July and August, a series of open-air events will be held to represent the cultural heritage of the Obelynė estate and its recently opened museum, park, and gardens. The main event is planned for September 17.
In August, the residents of Kaunas District and their guests will be invited to attend Mikado, a philosophical exploration of the connection between humans, their tools, and the virtual world. Produced by Šeiko Dance Company, it is choreographed by Vittoria de Ferrari Sapetto (Brazil – Italy – Belgium) and Andrea Valfre (Italy) and will be performed by an international team.
The Beast of Kaunas: A Myth for Every Day in 2022 and Beyond
Kaunas Castle, 1st Fort of Kaunas Fortress, railway station and the bookshelves of little Kaunasians are just a few of many unexpected locations in which the Mythical Beast of Kaunas has already appeared since its official debut in 2019.
The main hero of the Contemporary Myth of Kaunas is also the mascot of ‘Kaunas – European Capital of Culture’ and the carrier of the project’s core ideas and values. It also happens to be quite a cute character drawn by illustrator Darius Petreikis. Rytis Zemkauskas, the curator of the Kaunas 2022 programme dedicated to the Mythical Beast of Kaunas, collected and put together all of the stories about the character travelling in the Sunny and Underworld Kaunas. Dozens of people chipped in with myths and legends about Kaunas they had heard – some of the contributors participated in creative writing workshops. At the same time, the rest of them just kept on walking, discovering and getting surprised, just like the co-created mythical character, a true European.
‘First and foremost, this programme is aimed at revealing the magical power of storytelling. Storytelling is an ancient tool that can shape a community, a city, a state. Myths and legends have always helped me to come together and be patriotic. Those coming from Ancient Greece inspired the contemporary European Union. The programme of the Mythical Beast of Kaunas has to offer a novel way of creating myths and legends right here and right now, using them as cultural tools. These are tools carrying values and encouraging empathy, community spirit, respect for each other, and tolerance. Every citizen is welcome to co-create them,’ Rytis Zemkauskas says.
The Mythical Beast of Kaunas was first seen in the Vilnius Book Fair in 2019 – this is where its fairytale book, created by Zemkauskas and Petreikis, was presented. The book is available in Lithuanian and English.
To Chill and Travel
An exciting encounter with the Beast awaits at the Kaunas Castle. With the help of talented composer Paulius Kilbauskas, the mythical creature found its bedroom below one of the oldest towers in Kaunas. His melodic snoring keeps surprising the visitors of the department of Kaunas City Museum and passers-by. Look for loopholes in the walls to ensure the best sound quality!
Yet another talented personality to collaborate with the Beast is Linas Kutavičius. Located in the Kaunas district, the 19th-century 1st fort of Kaunas fortress was brightened with light textures reminding the skin of a mysterious reptile. The new art installation by the light artist is a friendly gesture towards bats, animals that make up a significant population at the fort, and an invitation for people to (re)discover this historical object.
Did we mention that the Beast of Kaunas loves to travel? He made his appearance on a trolleybus as part of a mobile street art gallery some time ago; currently, portraits of his and his friends could be seen on a train wagon in the Kaunas Railway Station. Those approaching the wagon could also hear the tales of the Beast read by Rytis Zemkauskas.
The Main act of Kaunas 2022
Since 1985, when the European Capital of Culture programme was launched, nobody has yet proposed a vision like this – to create a new myth for the city to help it change its path. The Mythical Beast of Kaunas – a project designed to create a unifying narrative for the city – will unfold in next year’s great mythical trilogy comprised of The Confusion (January 19–23), Confluence (May 20–22), and The Contract (November 25–27). The three main events are co-created by artists from Lithuania and abroad; they incorporate the ideas of historical personalities from Kaunas into the new work – as well as hints about the Beast. Will it finally have a physical body? One has to wait until 2022 and see…
Films and Games
The most kaunastic hero of all has already added a cinematic experience to its CV. Aideen Barry, an Irish artist, is working on a stop-motion animation film called ‘Pleats’ with a large team of artists, architecture professionals and modernism enthusiasts in Kaunas. The film, part of the Kaunas 2022 ‘Modernism for the Future’ program, will travel to international film festivals in 2022 – we can’t wait to see the Beast of Kaunas among the actors!
While ‘Pleats’ is still in post-production, one can already touch the Mythical Beast and go down its paths while learning the exciting secrets of Underground Kaunas in the limited-edition strategic board game. Created by a renowned Kaunas-based talent Urtis Šulinskas, the game has already found its place in the homes of many families, even those who have never been in Kaunas. Yet.
Another sweet addition to the Mythical Beast of Kaunas collection is a set of colourful pins created together with Kaunas city tourism, business, and investment development and international marketing agency Kaunas IN. Additionally, petrolheads are welcome to stick beastly magnets on their cars – the souvenirs fit fridges, too.
One can hear through the grapevine that the above mentioned are not the last souvenirs to please the fans of the Beast of Kaunas. Like most of the fantastic things in life, they will come unexpectedly. But here’s some gossip – have you ever wondered, for example, that Kaunas lacks its own perfume? The scent of a city is composed of various aromas, such as freshly baked goods, mamma’s lunch, wet asphalt, tree alleys, even petrol. The perfume of the Beast of Kaunas will be available before 2022.
The Future of the Beast
A city game offering a virtual reality experience is currently being developed – everyone will be able to play it online or by downloading a mobile app. The gigantic project will connect the myths and stories of the city and its characters with the essential cultural hotspots in Kaunas and Kaunas district and museum collections. The player will be able to visit historical locations in the area with the Beast as a guide.
Photographer Chiraqas Jindalas (IN / NZ) is working on a photo installation, ‘Underground Kaunas’, set to be opened in Autumn 2022. A unique technology involving negatives, scanning and lightboxes will provide the opportunity to see what’s below everyday Kaunas.
A total of three premieres by Kaunas State Puppet Theatre and Apeironas theatre from Klaipėda will reach the stage in 2022. The experiential and even therapeutical theatrical games will be used as tools to get to know the Beast of Kaunas and analyze its features.
The list of possible appearances of the Mythical Beast of Kaunas has no specific end. The character will add its charm to numerous events planned for 2022.
Next year, Kaunas and Kaunas district will become one big European stage and turn the city to a place where you will not escape culture. More than 40 festivals, 60 exhibitions, 250 performing arts events (of which more than 50 are premieres), and over 250 concerts are planned to take place in 2022. It is going to be the year-long non-stop biggest co-creative festival of all. Come co-create and celebrate with us!
Full programme: https://kaunas2022.eu/en/programme/
Kaunas 2022 memory program will build bridges between different cultures, religions and languages
In 2022, the Kaunas 2022 program “Memory Office” will invite the audience to a year-long cultural research of Kaunas DNA. An extremely rich and multi-layered artistic program will lead to a brave confrontation with the city’s complex past like a mirror that helps you get to know yourself and your humanity better.
The program of events, which brings together creators from Lithuania and all over the world, plus a group of partners, will allow locals to get to know their city better, and for the visitors, it will become an atlas of new stories of Kaunas. World-renowned artists William Kentridge, Philip Miller, Jenny Kagan, the Sala-Manca Collective group of artists, and others will help to explore the city. The most important events in the city’s history, which shaped, changed and raised the city from the Second World War, the 1972 “Kaunas Spring” to the myths, stories and legends of the present-day city will be presented through exhibitions, concerts and performances.
Extensive four months programme of the CityTelling Festival
The bigest event of the “Memory Office” program, the CityTelling Festival, which is already popular with visitors, will take place in 2022 for four months and will talk about the return and the community spirit. In this more than ever conflicted world, we will try to forge a new relationship not only with our painful history, but also with those who live next to us today. Extensive program of the festival includes stories of various forms that build bridges between different cultures, religions and languages. Stories that teach to empathize and listen to the Other.
The international program will invite to exhibitions, performances, concerts of internationally acclaimed artists, new routes created by city history enthusiasts and excursions to explore the different side of the city. The storytellers’ project “Where can I find you?” will spread around the city’s cafés, streets and courtyards, looking for everyone who wants to hear and share the stories of the modern world. Finally, the conference on the idea of Europe will raise one of the most pressing questions of today: what is Europe and what is our place in it?
Special attention to the Jewish memory of Kaunas
The Memory Office program and the CityTelling Festival will pay special attention to the Jewish memory of the city. In 2022, the European Capital of Culture will invite Litvaks scattered all over the world to meet at the World Litvak Forum. On 29-30 September, in the program of discussions and culture, famous artists, scientists and representatives of the world of culture will talk about the Litvak identity, memory, and the role of culture in giving meaning to multicultural memory and creating new opportunities for dialogue.
One of the most anticipated events of Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 is the work “Kaunas Cantata: Reconciliation” by composer Philip Miller and artist Jenny Kagan. The largest and most massive musical experience of Kaunas to date, dedicated to the symbolic reconciliation of nations, will be played during the Litvak Forum. More than 400 performers joined this piece of vocal instrumental music: local musicians and singers, choirs, representatives of different genres and generations.
The major events of the four-month CityTelling Festival program are also dedicated to the Jewish theme – exhibitions, performances, musical stories, installations dedicated to the heritage of Jewish memory and cultural signs in the city spaces, and many other activities. Litvak artists who returned to Lithuania from the Republic of South Africa, Great Britain, France and Israel took a particularly active part in the development of the program. Main events: William Kentridge’s exhibition “What We Don’t Remember”, musical performance “Dybbuk”, Jenny Kagan’s exhibition “Out of the Darkness”, photography exhibition “The Last Litvaks”, art installation in public spaces “Threshold” and others.
The book “Kaunas Jews”, which will be released in Lithuanian and English languages this year, is no less important. This is the first such presentation of the Jewish history of Kaunas from the most important facts, concepts and names. This most comprehensive book on the subject to date does not seek to answer all the questions, but starting from the 15th century will consistently remind the contribution of Kaunas Jews to education, medicine, industry, business, culture and other areas of life, and will touch on the painful pages of history.
Events dedicated to the times of the disobedient and a different look at the city and its people
The special program of events will remind of the time that led to the biggest historical turning point in the life of the city. The nineteen-year-old Romas Kalanta who set himself on fire on 14 May 1972 and the events that followed led to the birth of the so-called “Kaunas Spring” – anti-Soviet protests that involved thousands of people and took place mainly in Laisvės alėja (Liberty Avenue). These events left traumatic traces not only in the further development of the city, in its cultural life, but also in the fates of a large number of young Kaunas residents. These historical events and the period of the disobedient will be revived within the Kaunas 2022 program through performances, exhibitions, concerts, discussions, meetings, etc. dedicated to this topic.
The crucial point of this program will be the exhibition “1972: Regime, Youth and Art”, in which paintings, photographs and films, documentary testimonies of musical life, youth fashion and other artefacts will tell about alternative culture and non-Soviet way of life in Soviet Lithuania. The exhibition will reveal the diversity of mindsets and creativity in the Soviet background that levelled everyone. It will explore how aesthetic tastes and ethical attitudes in Soviet times shaped different patterns of life and the atmosphere of disobedience to the government.
A series of events dedicated to the identity of the city will invite to look at the city and its residents from a different angle. We will examine the city, re-explore the city’s industrial heritage and histories of some factories. Perhaps the most interesting highlight of the program is the conversation between Kaunas and Vilnius about the confrontation between the two cities, the silent struggle and the mute dependence. In the exhibition, which will take place simultaneously in the two cities, MO museum together with Kaunas City Museum will remind how the big cities shaped each other and how modern Lithuania arose from the tensions between them.
Important events: Exhibition “1972: Regime, Youth and Art”, concert ” Made in Kaunas”, Historical-documentary performance “Kalanta”, rock opera “Kalanta”, exhibition “Kaunas – Vilnius: move the mountains”, route “Memory Circle”, exhibition “The Big Industry” and others.
Kaunas walls also tell stories
Kaunas and Kaunas district have been adorned with works of street art that bring back the faces of those who lived before us, tell their fates and present culture. This way, the poet Lea Goldberg , the charismatic Rosian with her mother Gerta, and the signs of the Tartar legacy returned to Kaunas again. The number of these meaningful wall drawings is increasing, so when wandering around Kaunas, Kulautuva or Kačerginė, don’t forget to look around and stop to read the inscriptions. Look for the special memory street art route at atmintiesvietos.lt.
And this is only a short look at the Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022 program “Memory Office”, which brings back the memory of the city’s ethnic communities.
Next year, Kaunas and Kaunas district will become one big European stage and turn the city to a place where you will not escape culture. More than 40 festivals, 60 exhibitions, 250 performing arts events (of which more than 50 are premieres), and over 250 concerts are planned to take place in 2022. It is going to be the year-long non-stop biggest co-creative festival of all. Come co-create and celebrate with us!
Full programme: https://kaunas2022.eu/en/programme/
All Eyes on Kaunas: Lithuanian City Revealed the European Capital of Culture 2022 Programme
After twelve years of anticipation, the official title of European Capital of Culture is back in Lithuania. The country’s second-largest city Kaunas and the surrounding Kaunas district are ready to become one big European stage next year – the grand opening is scheduled for January 22, 2022.
The immersive formula for the big year includes at least 40 festivals, over 60 exhibitions, more than 250 stage events (50+ world premieres!), and a number of concerts exceeding 250. A press conference revealed key events, the most important names and many more exciting details for the whole continent to follow. Held in Kaunas, the event was accompanied by teams of Esch in Luxembourg and Novi Sad (Serbia), the other two European Capitals of Culture ready to shine in 2022.
Culture Beyond City Limits
It has been five years since the city of Kaunas and the surrounding Kaunas district have started preparing for 2022. The truth is, the ambitious international project has already proven its success. The change has taken place, and the communities that make up the face, body and soul of Kaunas have activated. Much of the European Capital of Culture program aims to celebrate the awakening and write a new chapter of the history of the area.
Dozens of unique small towns surrounding Kaunas, as well as lush nature and rich traditions that go back hundreds of years, are what complement the urban network within the city limits. At the same time, the international title has helped the rural communities meet international artists and discover new ways to express their identity.
A Community Project Above Everything Else
The theme of Kaunas 2022 is a grand yet unified dama that gives meaning to the road to the awakening of the city and its people. It’s the biggest co-creation festival of all since day one – the majority of the time, ideas and finances is dedicated to bringing as many people closer to culture as possible. It’s also an educational project, as hundreds of culture professionals and enthusiasts and representatives of the young generation have already gained new skills, guaranteeing the project’s continuity and quality future for Kaunas and Kaunas District.
What also makes Kaunas 2022 unique is creating a new myth for the city to help it change its path. The Mythical Beast of Kaunas – a project designed to create a unifying narrative for the city – will unfold in next year’s great mythical trilogy comprised of the Uprising (January 22), Confluence (May 20), and Treaty (November 25–27).
The three main events are co-created by artists from Lithuania and abroad; they incorporate the ideas of historical personalities from Kaunas into the new work – names like George Maciunas and Emmanuel Levinas. Among the programme participants are Philip Miller, William Kentridge, Marina Abramović, Yoko Ono, Jenny Kagan, Robert Wilson, Mirga Gražinytė-Tyla, Antony Polonsky, Modestas Pitrėnas, Edgaras Montvidas and many others. It’s important to stress each branch of Kaunas 2022 has its own superstars, some of whom are still on their way to international fame – Kaunas and Kaunas District, as one big European stage, will become their trampoline.
Highlights of the Programme
Annual festivals already launched by Kaunas 2022 will reach their culmination, such as the International Day of Happiness (March), the European Capital of Culture Forum (May), Contemporary Neighbourhoods (all summer long in the towns of Kaunas district), the European Youth Festival (July), the international performing arts festival ConTempo (August), Fluxus Festival (September), landscape design festival Magenta (autumn), the CityTelling Festival, which reconsiders the multiethnic memory of Kaunas and the people who built it every October, and the Kaunas Design Event in celebration of its title as a UNESCO Creative City of Design (October). Talking about UNESCO, the Kaunas 2022 program called Modernism for the Future invites the residents and guests of the city to embrace the rich modernist architecture network and support its path to the World Heritage List.
Among the highlights of the event schedule in 2022 are the international exhibition of up-and-coming contemporary artists “MagiC Carpets Landed”, the 13th Kaunas Biennial “Once Upon Another Time”, an exhibition by William Kentridge, one of the most influential and most wanted international artists of today, a retrospective by the cult figure of New York art scene Yoko Ono, a show by the global superstar Marina Abramović, as well as works and performances by other fantastic names, often cooperating with each other and local artists or communities. New and very much anticipated events such as World Litvak Forum are also confirmed for 2022.
Cultural Bridges to the World
Artistic interventions, including two premieres, spiced up the mood of the press conference. Kaunas dance theatre ‘Aura’ presented an excerpt of ‘Pluto’, a new show depicting a journey through one’s identity by Matthew Dane Livingston.
Another premiere that received much attention was a new song ‘City Sisters’ by Lithuanian singer and Kaunas 2022 ambassador Jurga Šeduikytė and South African songwriter Kgomotso Le Roux. ‘City Sisters’ tells a story about two women in two countries – and Le Roux is singing her part in the Zulu language.
The cultural bridges built by the project of Kaunas 2022 helped even more creative ideas connecting Lithuania and SA to be born. The list includes an exhibition by William Kentridge, one of the most prominent contemporary artists whose roots are in Lithuania, coming to Kaunas next year. The South African artist explores the topics of violence, empathy and racism in his works – similar themes are reflected in the song ’City Sisters’, which will become a soundtrack to the exhibition. The premiere of the song’s music video will be held in both Kaunas and Johannesburg.
European Capital of Culture Forum for Extended Talks
The press conference in Kaunas is followed by the European Capital of Culture forum on September 23–24. Both live and online, the fourth international forum is dedicated to in-depth discussions and evaluation of the programme for next year. Curators and partners of the six main branches of Kaunas 2022 will present the vision for the city and the results of their five-year work, including the most significant achievements and the most important lessons that all influenced the final programme. Of course, it will be time to talk more about the key events in next year’s calendar.
The timetable of the forum: https://forumas.kaunas2022.eu/
Watch it live: https://www.youtube.com/c/Kaunas2022, https://forumas.kaunas2022.eu/ ir https://www.facebook.com/kaunas2022.
https://kaunas2022.eu/