{"id":96097,"date":"2021-09-22T15:31:28","date_gmt":"2021-09-22T12:31:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/?p=96097"},"modified":"2022-02-23T19:20:10","modified_gmt":"2022-02-23T19:20:10","slug":"all-eyes-on-kaunas-lithuanian-city-revealed-the-european-capital-of-culture-2022-programme","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/2021\/09\/22\/all-eyes-on-kaunas-lithuanian-city-revealed-the-european-capital-of-culture-2022-programme\/","title":{"rendered":"All Eyes on Kaunas: Lithuanian City Revealed the European Capital of Culture 2022 Programme"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/b>
\nAfter twelve years of anticipation, the official title of European Capital of Culture is back in Lithuania. The country\u2019s second-largest city Kaunas and the surrounding Kaunas district are ready to become one big European stage next year \u2013 the grand opening is scheduled for January 22, 2022.\u00a0\u00a0<\/b>
\nThe 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.<\/span>
\nCulture Beyond City Limits<\/b>
\nIt 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.<\/span>
\nDozens 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.<\/span>
\n\"\"<\/b>
\nA Community Project Above Everything Else<\/b>
\nThe 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\u2019s the biggest co-creation festival of all since day one \u2013 the majority of the time, ideas and finances is dedicated to bringing as many people closer to culture as possible. It\u2019s 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\u2019s continuity and quality future for Kaunas and Kaunas District.<\/span>
\nWhat also makes Kaunas 2022 unique is creating a new myth for the city to help it change its path. The Mythical Beast of Kaunas \u2013 a project designed to create a unifying narrative for the city \u2013 will unfold in next year\u2019s great mythical trilogy comprised of the Uprising (January 22), Confluence (May 20), and Treaty (November 25\u201327).\u00a0<\/span>
\nThe 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 \u2013 names like George Maciunas and Emmanuel Levinas. Among the programme participants are Philip Miller, William Kentridge, Marina Abramovi\u0107, Yoko Ono, Jenny Kagan, Robert Wilson, Mirga Gra\u017einyt\u0117-Tyla, Antony Polonsky, Modestas Pitr\u0117nas, Edgaras Montvidas and many others. It\u2019s important to stress each branch of Kaunas 2022 has its own superstars, some of whom are still on their way to international fame \u2013 Kaunas and Kaunas District, as one big European stage, will become their trampoline.<\/span>
\nHighlights of the Programme<\/b>
\nAnnual 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.<\/span>
\nAmong the highlights of the event schedule in 2022 are the international exhibition of up-and-coming contemporary artists \u201cMagiC Carpets Landed\u201d, the 13th Kaunas Biennial \u201cOnce Upon Another Time\u201d, 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 Abramovi\u0107, 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.<\/span>
\n\"\"<\/b>
\nCultural Bridges to the World<\/b>
\nArtistic interventions, including two premieres, spiced up the mood of the press conference. Kaunas dance theatre \u2018Aura\u2019 presented an excerpt of \u2018Pluto\u2019, a new show depicting a journey through one\u2019s identity by Matthew Dane Livingston.\u00a0<\/span>
\nAnother premiere that received much attention was a new song \u2018City Sisters\u2019 by Lithuanian singer and Kaunas 2022 ambassador Jurga \u0160eduikyt\u0117 and South African songwriter Kgomotso Le Roux. \u2018City Sisters\u2019 tells a story about two women in two countries \u2013 and Le Roux is singing her part in the Zulu language.<\/span>
\nThe 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 \u2013 similar themes are reflected in the song \u2019City Sisters\u2019, which will become a soundtrack to the exhibition. The premiere of the song\u2019s music video will be held in both Kaunas and Johannesburg.<\/span>
\nEuropean Capital of Culture Forum for Extended Talks<\/b>
\nThe press conference in Kaunas is followed by the European Capital of Culture forum on September 23\u201324. 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\u2019s calendar.<\/span>
\nThe timetable of the forum: <\/span>https:\/\/forumas.kaunas2022.eu\/<\/a><\/strong>
\nWatch it live: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/c\/Kaunas2022<\/strong>,\u00a0 <\/span>https:\/\/forumas.kaunas2022.eu\/<\/a><\/strong> ir https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/kaunas2022<\/strong>.<\/span>
\nhttps:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After twelve years of anticipation, the official title of European Capital of Culture is back in Lithuania. The country\u2019s second-largest […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":105440,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,15,37],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96097","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-current-issues","category-news","category-media-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96097","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=96097"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96097\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":104550,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96097\/revisions\/104550"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/105440"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96097"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96097"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kaunas2022.eu\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96097"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}