Kaunas Artists’ House (V. Putvinskio g. 56, Kaunas) is pleased to invite you to the celebration of its 46th birthday on the 29th of November. The following birthday program is an introduction to the forthcoming season, presenting a newly formed Kaunas Artists’ House curatorial team, the House’s new visual identity, the aim to prolong its institutional history and, at the same time, to remain relevant and needed today.
The birthday will start from with a press conference, including the media and representatives of “Kaunas 2022: Kaunas European Capital of Culture (Kaunas 2022)”. During the conference the curators will present the forthcoming strategic plans of the activities of Kaunas Artists’ House, the cooperation with “Kaunas 2022” and other possible collaborations with the city’s cultural institutions.
Family program with the community of Žemieji Šančiai:
After 3 pm, the birthday will continue with the educational program “Space in a test tube”, initiated by Milda Šarpnickytė, a coordinator of the newly established cultural information center of Kaunas Artists’ House. The event will be attended by members of families with young children from Kaunas, as well as the community of Žemieji Šančiai. The participants will be taught the principles of Shadow Theater, organized by Žemieji Šančiai, and create spatial collages in the space of Kaunas Artists’ House.
Public readings at “Six chairs books” – a contemporary art and theory bookshop
From 4 pm, the program will expand to “Six chairs books” – the contemporary art and theory bookshop currently residing at Kaunas Artists’ House. Founded by the researchers and curators Justina Zubaitė and Viltė Girdzijauskaitė, “Six chairs books” is the only contemporary art theory bookstore in Lithuania. On the occasion of Kaunas Artist’s House birthday, they offer the visitors to experience poetry readings and the sound of cocktail glasses, while also introducing them to the newest publications and books of contemporary art and more.
The screening of “Wildness” and a talk about Wu Tsang’s creative work:
On 5 pm, the evening program will start with the talk about the American artist Wu Tsang and the screening of her legendary documentary film “Wildness” (2012). The film shows the story of “Silver Platter” – a Los Angeles bar originally serving as a home to Latin American immigrants and the LGBT community in the years 1963-2010. “Wildness” also dissects such issues as gentrification, the complexity of the community, gender and time differences, stereotypes and friendship. Intimate and, at the same time, containing elements of magical realism, it is Wu Tsang’s first film, which took four years to create. “Wildness” premiered at the MoMA’s Documentary Fortnight in New York and at the Documentary Film Festival “Hot Docs “in Toronto. The film was awarded with 2012 Grand Jury Award for Outstanding Documentary at the LGBT Film Festival “OUTFEST” in Los Angeles. The screening of this film marks the first time when Wu Tsang’s work is presented to Lithuanian audiences. The video will be presented by the video artist and curator Gerda Paliušytė.
The birthday closure – the double concert by “shishi” and “Ir Visa Tai Kas Yra Gražu Yra Gražu”:
From 8.30 pm the birthday party will continue with the concert of two groups: the newly formed girl band “shishi” and the legendary 30-year-old alternative psychedelic rock band “Ir Visa Tai Kas Yra Gražu Yra Gražu”. Thus, the end of the evening will be marked with the sounds of rap, trash, surf, soul, lo-fi and heavyweight avant-garde, feminism, low bass sounds, nostalgia, futurism and glitter.
With the program for its 46th birthday, Kaunas Artists’ House presents itself as an open and contemporary organization, where critical and theoretical discussions can happen alongside contemporary art initiatives such as “Six chairs books”, educational projects for children and local communities and live performances.
The full birthday program of Kaunas Artists’ House:
12 – 2 pm Press conference.
3 – 6 pm Educational program “Space in a test tube”.
4 – 8.30 pm Readings at “Six chairs books”
5 – 6.30 pm The screening of “Wildness” (74 min, 2012).
8.30 – 10 pm The concert of “shishi” and “YVTKYGYG”.
Artists’ bio:
Wu Tsang (born 1982, lives and works in Berlin and New York) is an American video and performance artist. Her work contemplates the issues in trans and queer communities, the boundaries of gender and the fluidity of social identities. Tsang’s films and performances explore the contours of documentary, fiction and activism and the process of how history is created.
Her works featured in museums and film festivals such as: New Museum (New York), MoMA (New York), Tate Modern (London), Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), MCA (Chicago), MOCA (Los Angeles), Berlin Film Festival (Berlin) Torino Film Festival (Turin), SANFIC (Santiago), Hot Docs (Toronto). Wu Tsang received grants form Creative Capital, Warhol Fond, Rockefeller and Guggenheim Foundations.
“shishi” – a newly formed girl band, which, having only been born this year, already gathered a crowd of fans. “shishi” plays rap, trash, surf, soul music, which, according to group members, is exactly what they like to listen to. “shishi” is bass, drums, guitar, three choirs and voilà. The band consists of Dominyka Kriščiūnaitė (bass, vocals), Elena Neniškytė (drums, vocals) and Giedrė Nalivaikaitė (guitar, vocals).
“IVTKYGYG” is a legendary Lithuanian alternative rock group that has been performing since 1987. Over the years the composition of the band changed (sometimes even a dozen musicians appeared on the stage), but the main members of the group – Artūras Šlipavičius, Alvydas Makauskas and Gediminas Simniškis – remained the driving force of the group. Today “IVTKYGYG” is a team of eight people, distinguished by their energetic, psychedelic performances. The group received attention not only in Lithuania – its music has received comments in the “Rolling Stone” magazine, the album “Linkėjimai Fankelhanui” has been included by the US music critics in the top 100 of the 20th Century’s global experimental music treasures.
All birthday events are free.
You can register to the “Space in a Tube” educational program by sending an e-mail to: milda@kmn.lt.
Contact phone: +37060476298; contact mail: media@kmn.lt