ABOUT THE PROGRAMME
The Mythical Beast of Kaunas is a part of the artistic programme “Kaunas – European Capital of Culture 2022”. It is an interdisciplinary project aimed at creating a unifying narrative for Kaunas.
The creation of the Beast and its story involves citizens of all ages and of all walks of life and creates participatory experience for people from near and far away. The Mythical Beast of Kaunas will become an avatar or allegory for the City, where the Beast = Kaunas.
We see the concept of the Mythical Beast as the guardian of the City. It appears from ruins of the castle, from dungeons of the wartime fortifications, from fairy tales and anecdotes, from underneath the two rivers and enters our reality with street theatre performances, comic books for children, a steampunk novel, a movie, a TV show, mass celebrations and rumours of all things supernatural. It embodies and thus explains cultural, identity conflicts and contradictions we used to have and still have.
MEET THE BEAST
The Mythical Beast of Kaunas and its story is precisely a story about those Kaunasians. The Beast has been and will be the last Kaunasian. What is it like? What’s its story? How and what can be told about Kaunas?
All these things are created by the Mythical Beast platform of the European Capital of Culture.
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The Beast is the ruler of the Underworld City. More precisely, he is the ruler of all Kaunas, but he lives in Underworld Kaunas and works in Sunny Kaunas. You’llonly rarely meet the Beast in Sunny Kaunas in daytime, since he likes darkness and despises sunlight.
Illustrations by Darius Petreikis.
A RENDEZVOUS | THE FORTRESS OF THE BEAST OF KAUNAS
Signs of the Mythical Beast of Kaunas’s presence are growing in number in the city of Kaunas and its region; in early October, at the First Fort of the Kaunas Fortress in Ringaudai neighbourhood, a new Beast’s installation “Rendezvous” was unveiled.
This is a joint project by Kaunas 2022 and Kaunas Fortress Park, which was carried out by architect Mantas Maziliauskas. The artist describes his archi-sculptural spatial composition “as a sense of wonder, from the first impulse of which new creative fabrics are already springing up. A metaphysical Bertha’s eye – an eyeball in a socket, as if in the Beast’s lair – in the historical soil of the ring of the Kaunas Fortress at the First Fort.”
IT’S HERE AT LAST – THE BOARD GAME OF THE BEAST OF KAUNAS
Kaunas, full of stories and secrets, has its own board game at last. The city’s board game was created by Urtis Šulinskas who triumphed at the boardgame Oscars in Berlin. This family boardgame “The Beast of Kaunas” invites players to take a journey through the labyrinths of Sunny and Underworld Kaunas and discover as many of this city’s secrets as possible.
The limited-edition strategic board game of the Beast of Kaunas is intended not only for Kaunas residents, but also for those who have never visited the city. Not only children, but adults too, will enjoy playing this game, which takes players on a journey from Sunny to Underworld Kaunas in the hope of meeting the Beast himself.
THE TRAIN OF TALES OF THE BEAST OF KAUNAS
In July-October 2021, a train of the Mythical Beast of Kaunas was visiting the platform of the Kaunas Railway Station. It kept everyone entertained – those waiting for their train and those who simply wished to come to a rendezvous with the Beast of Kaunas. Train carriages, decorated in graffiti, told stories about the adventures of the Beast in Kaunas.
The highlight of the journey from a temporary capital to a contemporary one was presented by “Kaunas European Capital of Culture 2022”, alongside “LTG Link” (in charge of train journeys in Lithuania and abroad).
The graffiti by Pijus Šematulskis, created from the illustrations by Darius Petreikis.
THE BEAST OF KAUNAS WELCOMES CHILDREN TO THE THEATRE
In September 2021, Kaunas State Puppet Theatre will begin hosting a playful performance-game “The Beast of Kaunas”. The staging, built following the principles of object theatre, invites the little viewers to embark on a playful sensory quest to find the Mythical Beast of Kaunas, using all the principal senses – vision, hearing, smell, and touch.
This children’s performance is part of the repertoire being shown in 2021 as well as in 2022. The repertoire has been carefully organized with the pandemic situation in mind – audiences are encouraged to follow the Theatre’s programme.
FIRST FORT OF KAUNAS FORTRESS LIT UP IN REPTILIAN PATTERNS
The First Fort of Kaunas Fortress, located in Ringaudai neighbourhood, lit up in patterns resembling reptilian skin. A light installation by artist Linas Kutavičius – a bat-friendly art installation in a location densely populated by bats – invites visitors to discover and explore this fortress anew.
A sign, emerging from a 19th century concrete rearward caponier of the First Fort, is like a symbol inviting people to pop over and observe. This light installation by L. Kutavičius aims to tame the fort, and also hints at further searches and discoveries to come. In 2022, the fort will invite visitors to discover new displays, educational trails, and other installations of the Mythical Kaunas Beast’s lair.
THE BOOK OF TALES OF THE BEAST OF KAUNAS PRESENTED AT VILNIUS BOOK FAIR
“We are like Confluence ourselves. So is the city, too. It contains both beauty and ugliness, and hardworking people and lazy people, too. There are those who think one way, but there will always be those who believe the opposite. […] Contented, the Beast splashes the water with his tail. In Santaka, indeed, one realises how exciting the world really is. That’s why the Beast of Kaunas loves Santaka so much.”
This excerpt is from a new recently published book, Tales of the Beast of Kaunas, which will be presented at the International Vilnius Book Fair in February 2020.