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With thousands of spectators in the centre of Kaunas \u2013 residents of the city, Kaunas district communities, guests from other Lithuanian cities and abroad \u2013 watching, \u017dalgirio Arena, the largest in the Baltic States, was transformed into a screen of unprecedented size. Before the big kick-off, the most important persons of our country and the continent addressed greetings to Kaunas and Kaunas District.<\/p>\n
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In her video message, President of European Commission Ursula von der Leyen looked back to interwar modernism, which stood more for more than an artistic style \u2013 it represented a new vision for Lithuania and its people, built on pragmatism, progress and independence. The politician stressed that, 100 years later, we are again at a crossroad \u2013 and we can only succeed if we use all our talents from all and culture to technology and innovation: \u201cOur European capitals of culture can lead this change, especially with the support of young people. And this is why I decided to make 2022 the European Year of Youth \u2013 to promote youth engagement at all levels, like with the \u201cEmerging Kaunas\u201d, your city\u2019s youth program.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u201cIt was here in Kaunas 100 years ago that a young nation reimagined its identity through modernism. Again, today, Europe is reimagining its future through sustainability. And once again, art mirrors this transformation in a free and united Europe,\u201d concluded President of the European Commission and expressed a wish to visit Kaunas soon.<\/p>\n President of the European Council, Charles Michel, also conveyed his warm greetings by video message. \u201cJust as no man or woman is an island, alone, in a vacuum, we are all much bigger than ourselves. Because we are part of our community. We are part of our country, our continent. A part of humanity,\u201d said the politician. He added that, in the European Union, there is no centre and periphery, and today, Kaunas is more than ever the beating heart of Europe.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cCommunities thrive, come together and share experiences through collective artistic endeavours. Their people share stories, histories, and share a common living memory that will outlive them and pass them on to future generations. This is how traditions are forged and propagated. This is how culture is created. And each of these cultural exchanges \u2013 no matter how big or small \u2013 helps us better understand each other and brings us closer together as Lithuanians, as Europeans,\u201d Charles Michel thanked Kaunas and Lithuania for their passion.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Thanking the people of Kaunas and the team that spent five years working towards the goal, the Mayor of Kaunas, Visvaldas Matijo\u0161aitis, assured that the growing city of Kaunas is thrilled to take over this honourable title.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cOur trilogy and any other -logy only gives when you want to take something \u2013 in other words, the European Capital of Culture project is based on the concept that everybody walks their own part of the way, and we meet in the centre. We, thousands of us, are invited to reflect on what myth, Europe, and European values mean to us and to ask ourselves what message this endless team of creators wants to convey to us,\u201d said Rytis Zemkauskas, one of the core members of Kaunas 2022.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The action of \u201cThe Confusion\u201d, intertwining music, image, animation, movement and other forms of artistic expression, told the story of the transformation while migrating in the space surrounding the arena. Here, dancers moved, interpreting modernist architecture, and Mer\u016bnas Vitulskis and Joana Gedmintait\u0117 performed solo parts of the symphony \u201c\u0160aip\u0117rantas\u201d by Antanas Jasenka, performed by Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra and the Vilnius Choir conducted by Modestas Pitr\u0117nas.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Chris Baldwin, the author of the unique directorial solution, expressed that it was essential for him to turn the city itself into a stage when creating \u201cThe Confusion\u201d \u2013 not to hide what Kaunas really is and to use every single detail of it for creative solutions. Thus, the symbolic act of collapse became a crucial part of the show. For two days, a 22-metre-high cardboard version of an unfinished hotel created by French artist Olivier Grosset\u00eate was built by him and hundreds of volunteers, only to be destroyed to mark the beginning of a new phase of Kaunas.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n At 08:22 pm, with the bells of all Kaunas churches ringing, the participants of \u201cThe Confusion\u201d continued their explorations of Kaunas myth other cultural endeavours. Thousands searched for symbols with maps in their hands and deciphered the mystery of the Beast of Kaunas, while others huddled in the ice sculpture-laden Independence Square, with electronic music pounding from the speakers.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The lucky ones could hear excerpts of the \u201cKaunas Cantata\u201d, which will premier in September, in the windows of the caf\u00e9s on Laisv\u0117s Al\u0117ja. In other shop windows, spread all along the pedestrian boulevard, artefacts of Lithuanian design history shone, making more than one curious visitor stop.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The William Kentridge exhibition at the National M.K. \u010ciurlionis Museum of Art and the Kaunas Central Post Office, which has become a mecca of modernist architecture, were particularly popular among exhibition-goers, as well as \u201cEx It\u201d, an installation by Yoko Ono, that drew crowds to the Palace of the Bank of Lithuania.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n With the rhythms of drums playing in the Vienyb\u0117s Square, the Beast\u2019s voice invited everyone to climb the stairs leading to \u017daliakalnis, to meet again at the top, where the Christ\u2019s Resurrection Basilica was transformed into a spectacular installation of light and sound. The audiovisual performance \u201cTabalai\u201d reminded us to awaken the cultural Beast within us with the musical instruments created especially for this event.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The opening events of the European Capital of Culture year in Kaunas and Kaunas district took place on 19-23 January. Many of the exhibitions and other initiatives presented this weekend will continue to run, so it\u2019s always a good time to visit Kaunas and the Kaunas district, which has become one big stage for Europe.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Act II of The Contemporary Myth of Kaunas Trilogy, \u201cThe Confluence\u201d, will take place on 20-22 May, coinciding with Kaunas\u2019 birthday, while the 25-27 November event \u201cThe Contract\u201d will finalize the transformation \u201cFrom temporary to the contemporary\u201d.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cMaybe not the impressive figures and other facts, but the fire in the eyes of each and everyone is proof […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":102668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102677","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-issues"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102677","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102677"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102677\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104715,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102677\/revisions\/104715"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102677"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102677"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102677"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"http:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/AA_2022-01-22_077.jpg\")