Community Fluxus Festival 2020 – Will we climb or not climb the Parodos hill?

Last year the beginning of autumn was marked by a strange, interesting, noisy and colourful phenomenon, namely, climbing the Parodos hill at midnight. It soaked up many townspeople, and surprised city guests with Kaunas citizens’ ability to act fluxish: regardless of age, status or profession as well as allow to be flown down the stream.

However, this year one of the most anticipated events organised by “Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022” is the “Fluxus Festival” of Communities, with the epidemiological situation remaking carefully arranged scenarios every morning, approaching with the Hamletic question: will it be or will not? In other words, will we climb to Parodos hill or not on 12 September? Will communities be able to meet in one place or not? What script will be written to us by Fluxus this year?
“The festival, which symbolises the movement from the temporary to the contemporary capital, has already attracted the attention of citizens of other European countries. Last year’s involvement of the townspeople in this event showed the great desire of the community to contribute to the creation of the city’s identity by “denying” the elite art in the Mačiūnas’ way. Therefore, this year we will continue the tradition and further spread the idea of cultural decentralisation, a vibrant city and community spirit. The theme of this year’s festival is solitude: no matter what way of climbing will be ramed by the pandemic, but we will be united by this event and sense of community” says Greta Klimavičiūtė-Minkštimienė, the curator of the community programme “All as One” as part of “Kaunas 2022”.
Although the creators of the festival programme – “Kaunas 2022” team – are still not revealing, they are carefully preparing for the event already now: the well-known organisation from the United Kingdom “Walk the Plank” and director Liz Pugh, together with “Kaunas 2022” programme “Fluxus Hello!” will bring together artists and citizens to develop a creative programme specifically for the Fluxus Festival. The participants of “Schools” will create the artistic part of the festival and the costumes inspired by the Fluxus movement and will test the acquired skills during the festival.
“Kaunas 2022” has already traveled more than half the way to the European Capital of Culture year with the Kaunas city community: almost 1,000 events have been organised, almost 120,000 citizens have participated in various ways, as well as almost 300 volunteers are already actively participating in various activities. Grand events planned for this year: the Fluxus Festival, the City Telling Festival, and Kaunas Design Festival, created by the city’s communities involved, will take place and in compliance with current safety guidelines.