Newsletter No 5. Innovative Creative Projects. 2019

Newsletter of Innovative Creative Projects No. 5. 2019

Street Art of Kaunas.

2019

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Street-art is going into the streets and people whoever they are: indifferent to art or an art enthusiast, young or old, local or a tourist, pedestrian or a driver, everyone is included in the processes of contemporary art.

While making creative changes in the public spaces, there is a hope to inspire people to feel “more at home”, so they love their environment and take care of it by contributing to positive changes in Kaunas City.

www.inoprojektai.lt info@inoprojektai.lt

This Newsletter of organization “Innovative Creative Projects” tells about the Street Art events in Kaunas, Lithuania, during 2019. You will see the new murals, created by the artists from Kaunas, Waterford (Ireland) and Heerlen (Netherlands).

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Robot Muralist Albert Creates the ‘Sunset‘

In the photo from the right: Mikk-Mait Kivi, Timotiejus Norvila, Ove Hillap ir Richard Murutar

If one will go to the very end of the small A. Kriščiukaičio street in Vilijampolė, Kaunas, he or she will reach the block wall of the five flour apartments house. This peaceful street during the Second World War was a main street of the Jewish Ghetto.

The landscape picture of calm Lithuanian countryside one can see on the wall now meets the traveller and makes him or her stop at this place for a moment.

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The mural ‚Sunset‘ (1973) is one of the best watercolour miniatures of the artist Lidija Meškaitytė (1926-1993).

In 1944, parents of Lidija tried to escape to Germany. After the year, in 1945, they decided to come back to Lithuania. The big storm started by the way home. They found the shelter for the night in the bombed house at the railway station.

The house braked and the little girl was lost in the ruins. She survived but stayed disabled for the rest of her life. Lidija lived in the countryside with her parents. She was painting what she could see from the yard of the house: fields, paths, woods and sky.

Artist Lidija Meškaitytė

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The life story of Lidija reminds us a tragedy of Frida Kahlo. She expressed the nature with a subtle sense like the old Japan masters did. The big copy of her watercolour ‚Sunset‘– with the permission of Lithuanian Art Museum in Vilnius – has been done in the Vilijampolė district of Kaunas.

In September 2019, the SprayPrinter group of Mikk-Mait Kivi, Ove Hillap ir Richard Murutar came from Tartu, Estonia to implement the street artwork of the ‘Sunset’ in Kaunas. The Estonian programmer Mihkel Joala created the Robot.

The Robot received the name Albert after the first huge mural has been done – the portrait of scientist Albert Einstein. There are 40 murals in the world done by the Robot-Muralist Albert: most of them in USA. Than in Philippines, Malaysia, Croatia and, this one – in Lithuania. The Robot is working g in a pointillism manner – the way the miniatures of Lidija are done.

We thank: Kaunas City Municipality, the program „Kauno akcentai“, Lithuanian Art Museum in Vilnius; SprayPrinter command, Tartu, Estonia

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“The Last Passenger” at the Kaunas Railway Station

This year, for the second time, the exposition of Kaunas Biennale took place here, and just before the New Year, the street art piece Morfai’s ‘Last Passenger’ was painted.

As Kaunas becomes more and more “Street Art City”, people arriving and departing by train from the railway station of Kaunas now meet the mural “Last Passenger”. This is the latest creation of the famous artist Morfai (Timothy Norvila), created in the end of 2019 and inspired by the life of train station.

It took three years to nurture an idea of the work at this place: after all, hundreds of Kaunas and city guests pass through the platform every day so many people can see the mural.

The retro mood drawing depicts a man in a hat hurrying to the train with two suitcases in his hands. It is reminiscent of the film of the 1960s. The romantic mood of farewell is emphasized by the autumn leaves, drawn by the author on the wall at M. K. Čiurlionio str. 16. The Company Lithuanian Railways has welcomed the appearance of the mural ‘Last Passenger’ by Morfai. It is committed of bringing as much culture as possible to the station area.

We thank: Kaunas City Municipality, program Kauno akcentai, the Company Lithuanian Railways

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Murals for Communities

How Street Art communicates with Communities Kaunas University of Technology (KTU), Faculty of Social Sciences, Humanities and Arts and associated partner Innovative Creative Projects (ICP) is implementing the two-year project “Murals for Communities” under the European program Creative Europe.

Can the Street Art bring artists and citizens of European cities together?

Move and mobilize communities so people can solve problems by themselves?

What kind of role has the mural art, and how to strengthen this form of art?

That are the questions, we seek to find answers working together.

Magda Karol (Ireland) working at her mural “Sharing is Caring”, Kaunas. Lithuania

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Our international partners are: The coordinating organization Waterford City & County Council (WCCC) and associated partner Waterford Walls (WW), Ireland.

It is the renowned organization for the Waterford Walls Festival since 2015, which seeks to use Mural Art to connect communities and stimulate the development of run-down areas.

The second project partner is Street Art Foundation (SAF) in Heerlen, Netherlands.

Heerlen is a former mining town that largely suffered from the collapse of its mining industry. The Street Art Foundation (SAF), established in 2013, has been able to use the potentials of Mural Arts and turn it into a tool for social interaction.

Timotiejus Norvila Morfai is taking rest after finished mural in Waterford (Ireland)

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In 2019, residences of Street Art artists and meetings with different community groups like refugees from Syria took place in Waterford and Heerlen.

At 20-th of September Kaunas greeted the mural artists.

Wesley Dazetwo Van Heugten (Netherlands) at his mural ‘Communication is Sacred’. Kaunas. Lithuania

Three contemporary muralists Magda Karol (Ireland), Timotiejus Norvila Morfai (Lithuania) and Wesley Dazetwo Van Heugten (Netherlands) created three art works at Lukšio str. 45a, inspired by the stories of communities of Kaunas Šančiai, Žaliakalnis and Kalniečiai.

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We thank our partners Kaunas University of Technology; European program „Creative Europe“, Lithuanian Council for Culture; Company „Kauno vandenys“; Kaunas 2022 Fluxus Community groups and Žemieji Šančiai Community

Timotiejus Norvila created the mural Village inspired by the story of people living in the district from 1974.

The village was right in this place years ago. People living in the apartment houses could buy the fresh milk from the famers. The man, working on a tractor brought the beautiful stones from the fields one can see today in a little park nearby

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Goodbye the Old Trolleybuses of Kaunas

In 2019, the Company Kaunas buses decided to say ‘Goodbye’ to the old Škoda trolleybuses that served the city from the Soviet times.

The company invited Street art artists to decorate old Kaunas trolleys. Soon, the first trolleybuses went to the streets coloured by Kaunas and foreign artists.

Trolleys cared people usual routes. Large group of artists now could manifest themselves, painting every trolley in a different manner – many of them so artistic and lovely that people enjoyed this old public transport very much.

The exhibition of the 50 old trolleybuses took place in October at Savanorių prospect – the one of longest Kaunas streets. The citizens came to say ‘Goodbye’ for the old trolleybuses and thank the drivers. The office of Kaunas European Cultural Capital – Kaunas 2022 – took place in one of the trolleys.

The new Solaris trolleys went to the streets at the end of the year – clean, fast and comfortable. ‘Goodbye old trolleys’.

We thank: Company „Kauno autobusai“, Kaunas City Municipality 11

Creative Wednesdays

Creative Wednesdays is a special program of Innovative Creative Projects for the senior people. Modern fine arts – painting, sculpture, architecture, textile art, photography, ceramics and Street Art – are the purpose of educational excursions to Kaunas and Vilnius art museums and galleries to study and understand. The group of participants In the photo at the mural of Tadas Vincaitis Plugas „I’ve Returned Home“, Pilies str. 4, Kaunas.

Tadas Vincaitis Plūgas „I’ve Returned Home“

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Exhibition

Houses for Birds in the Style of Kaunas Pre-war Modernism

Exhibition of the little houses for the birds inspired by the style of Kaunas pre-war Modernism will start at 30-th of January in the gallery Ars et Mudus, address Mapu str., 20 in Kaunas. Idea by Morfai and implementation by Lukas Pelegrimas.

Exhibition is open till 12-th of February.

We thank: Kaunas City Municipality, program Kauno akcentai

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Editor and author of texts: Vitalija NorvilienÄ— norviliene.ikp@gmail.com

Art director: Timotiejus Norvila

Innovative Creative Projects www.inoprojektai.lt KAUNAS Lithuania

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