KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE 2019 OCTOBER

KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE

City tales

2019 OCTOBER Illustration by Gediminas Skyrius

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We are afraid of something we don’t know, and we oppose those we haven’t yet spoken with. We are unable to have a conversation, not to mention starting one. We appropriate a yard, a street, a quarter, a city; we put fences and segregate ourselves from the Other. The autonomy of thought, freedom of speech and expression are, of course, paramount, but why must it call us to battle?

Angersuppressing discoveries

The faces of this year’s CityTelling Festival include Helene Holzman, Henry Parland and Rosian Bagriansky. These are residents of three different ethnicities that have left their mark in the history of Kaunas. Together they remind us what rich and diverse our city and district are.

The Vyborg-born writer Henry Parland (1908–1930), already famous after publishing his collection of modernist poems in his homeland, immersed himself in the bohemian life. Concerned parents sent their son to Kaunas, where he didn’t exactly change his habits. While in Kaunas, the writer started writing his first novel To Pieces (Sönder), but did not manage to finish it: he died from scarlet fever at the young age of 22. The writer was buried in the Old Cemetery of Kaunas, the Lutheran part (now Ramybės Park).

Here’s Parland captured in Kaunas. Author unknown. Source: Wikimedia Commons

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This month again, we have an opportunity to discuss whether Kaunas is indeed the most Lithuanian, the most homogeneous city, and what “Lithuanian” means in general. If someone was born, settled, adapted and acclimated here in the territory of the republic, why wouldn’t the person be Lithuanian? Kibinas is ours. Šimtalapis is ours. The word bachūras is ours as well (the references are of Karaite and Tartar pastries, as well as a Yiddish word for a guy – we use all of the above in our daily lives). And the authors of all these things – hundreds, thousands of them who lived and continue to live here, are a part of today’s Lithuania and Kaunas. After discovering the unfamiliar layers of the city’s history (and stories!) life gets more interesting. Knowledge liberates, allows you to have a broader view of the environment, use it as an inspiration, and relax knowing that everything around you is truly yours. Everyone else’s but also yours.

In October, the first CityTelling festival invites to listen, talk, discover and accept. The team of Kaunas 2022 program Memory Office that initiated the festival laboured hard - the program was co-organized by a couple of dozen different establishments and institutions. Everybody has something to say.

After talking to each other, they realize that it is all connected.

So, in this issue, we explore the map of Europe with British photographer Marc Wilson, we hear the music that was played in Kaunas ghetto with director Agnė Dilytė, and interview the city as a character with writer Henrikas Kunčius. We have found inspiration for many creators and storytellers – it is in the very heart of Kaunas, on Parodos Hill. We also remembered one of the busiest burgomasters of Kaunas and had a very intimate conversation with his colleague from Bogota, Colombia, who has inspired several generations and continues to inspire one’s to come.

Good discoveries!

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First of all, I’d like to hear how your project started.

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I met the British photographer Marc Wilson earlier this year in July when he was doing a ten-day residency in Kaunas.

It was a short stop in his four-year-long road called The Wounded Landscape.

The artist agrees his ten days in Kaunas were very comfortably busy, as the team of the Memory Office at Kaunas 2022 helped him put together an intense itinerary, and a meeting followed a meeting. Of course, all of this wasn’t pre-planned. Marc first visited Lithuania on his own a couple of years ago. The Wounded Landscape project is exploring twenty-four stories of people that survived the Holocaust; also those who did not. It spans through more than 20 countries in Europe, which is more than 160 locations.

All of the stories are interconnected. If you do know some of the region’s history, you would be surprised if Lithuania weren’t part of the grand plot.

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All the most important stories Kotryna Lingienė Photos by Marc Wilson

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The first story was my own family story. My mother told me the story of my great grand-father. His story starts in Romania, and then Southern France and then Poland after that. And then the second story was a Parisian friend of my mother’s. The third story was a friend of hers, and so on, and so on until I’ve got until 24 stories today.

I spent four years working on all the stories at the same time. None of the stories is in isolation; they each have their map, history and journey. Some of the stories are connected because the people knew each other during the war. Some are connected because they’ve met since. Most are purely related in terms of location. People

happen to be born in two small villages an hour away from each other in Transilvania. Or ten other stories happen to end up in the same camp.

Some of the stories happen to end up in the Death March, the evacuation of prisoners from the Stutthof. Those connections between the individual stories are what I am really interested in.

What methods do you use in your work?

I have been taking pictures for 20-25 years since I finished a sociology degree. I have always done work about landscape and memories within it, but I have always worked in a strict and structured way. While some of the previous work I did is quite successful, when I look back on it, I find it quite cold. It wasn’t until I started

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I took three or four cameras and tripods with me, climbed to the top of the hill and made some work, both film and digital. I looked at the images I had shot in my digital cameras, and they were terrible. I probably should not admit that, but that is how I felt. They were quite beautiful pictures in a way, but they had no connection and no soul and no story and no sensitivity. I remember getting back to my apartment that night and being really upset, because I had built myself up to, finally, after 20 years make this piece of work, and I had this grand idea which didn’t work. What was I going to do?

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The next morning, I walked into this camp, and I ended up in a barrack where children were being kept, and they painted sceneries on the walls, just to make their lives a bit better before they were deported elsewhere.

I was told by someone you could still see these paintings. I was walking through this path on the barrack floor, and I found these beautiful faded pictures. I could see small pine trees, trains and blue colour. So, I walked through the space, and my head was full of it, the idea of children in this camp. My left shoe stepped on a tile, and it made this huge crack, like a child’s scream. I pretty much ran out of the building.

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The Wounded Landscape also includes portraits. Is doing them also a lengthy process?

Every story I do is as important as every other story. The way I work is I meet with people for like five, six hours, or so. They tell me about their lives. Everything that they want to say to me. I don’t ask people questions. At all. Some people find it a strange way to get information. But I prefer to sit and have a cup of coffee with some cake and let people start where they want to start. Sometimes they’ll ask me ‘where should I start’, and I’d make a suggestion, but that’s it.

I don’t have an agenda as such. I have never looked for stories with specific locations, or camps or villages. It’s always what I come across. And that’s how I like making this work.

What emotions prevail in the stories?

It might sound odd, or strange, but

in the 24 people I have met, none of them spoke about guilt. Very few talked about anger. But they never spoke to me about guilt of individuals, even, they never spoke to me about the guilt of a nation. The fantastic thing is that they spoke to me about responsibility. In more than one occasion, they told me stories of how, for instance, they met schoolchildren and shared their stories, and the children would be deeply touched.

They console the children; they put their arms around the children, they tell them “This isn’t you that has done one these things.” But they also, at the same breath, tell them about the responsibility that they have to go home and talk to their parents and their friends. And then further down the line, their responsibility is to stand up for someone when this is happening for them in the street.

They have to do their individual best to make sure these things do not occur again.

How many different types of cake did you try during your stay in Kaunas? Maybe it can become a side project, like a cake recipe blog?

About six, I think, so far. Funnily, I do have a little side project. On my first trip to the south of France, I took a photograph of the room I was staying in, and for some reason, I put it on Twitter, and someone thought it was quite funny. Over the last four years, I made photos of every hotel room. I show them once in a while. I just do them as a way to take a silly, meaningless, unimportant, safe picture, which is a reaction to what I am doing and what I am looking at. It’s also a nice way to show people where I am without showing them the work I am making at the time. People seem to like it, and I get lots of requests about when the hotel room book is coming out. I don’t know. Maybe I will do it.

Has this project changed you as a human being?

Yeah, I think so. When I started the work, I told my mother about it, and she told her cousin about it. He lives in Switzerland and does lots of work with the Holocaust survivors, bringing them to schools to talk. They both sat me down and tried to stop me from doing the work. Not because they didn’t want me to make it. They wanted me to confront the reality of making it and what I would see and hear and feel. But that just made me want to do it even more. It made me realize the importance of it and the emotion involved. The whole time I have been doing the work, I have been very aware of the effect that it has on me. I have been aware of all these people I meet who become real friends, and they sit with you, and there are always tears, because of what they are telling me, Sometimes they remember things for the first time. Or they remember it differently. Or just the fact that they are talking about it. I met a woman, she was blind, she was 98, and she went through a moment when she thought I was her dead husband, who had come back to visit her, because of the way my voice was. Some of the people I have met have died since. So I feel like I have lost friends.

But I know that the positive side is that I am telling their stories, and the support I get from the families of these people is a beautiful thing for me. It all resonates in a way, for example, if I hear a sad song about love on the radio when driving a car in a different country. Sometimes I have to stop the car and cry for a few minutes. It’s not easy to have it all in your head. Every time it happens, though, I know that it’s ok because I am fine and I am alive, and I am free to make this work. The stories I am telling are much more important than any tears that come out of my eyes.

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marcwilson.co.uk

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It was the first location on The Wounded Landscape, a camp in the South of France. I had a specific idea on what photos I wanted to make of this work, which was based on my previous project, but I was not sure I could make the right photos that would treat the subject of Holocaust with the sensitivity and dignity and that it would make some kind of difference and say something new.

I went past small flowers on the ground, and I thought the flowers are like the children. I decided I should photograph one of them.

Quite slowly, I photographed the flower. I walked away again. I stopped.

This feeling just struck me ultimately. I thought, how can I do this? How can I only photograph one of these children? How can I forget about the rest? So, I ran back to these flowers, and I manically shot every single one. Before this time, I always worked in a really slow methodical way, with my camera and the tripod, Hood over my head. Spending hours making one photograph. And here I was manically photographing fifty small flowers on the ground. It was at that moment when everything changed for me. To answer your question, I now use what seems suitable for each situation.

Istorijufestivalis.eu

this work that it kind of changed, completely, photography for me.

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What have you learned about Kaunas during your residency?

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Everyone speaks amazing English; they are happy to talk English, which makes life so easy for me. The city seems calm and peaceful. Lithuania, I reckon, is making a significant move forward and wants to be part of the European context. I am not sure I can say that about the current situation in Great Britain.

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Maybe by the time we publish the magazine, we’ll know more about the future of your country. It leads to another question, though. Do you believe art and culture can actually influence political decisions?

I think art can make a difference to an individual looking at it. It can give people hope; sometimes, it can educate people and plant a seed into peoples minds. I do not think it can cause revolution directly and immediately, but it can be a part of the process in opening people’s eyes to things, especially in terms of history and memory, which might have been neglected or forgotten. Opening eyes to events that happened in your own country makes you think about your own story.

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Coming out of Marc’s last four years, working on ‘A wounded landscape’, this new work, ‘Palimpsest’, looks at the stories of three lives, intertwined through history, memory and the city of Kaunas. It looks at the lives of Fruma, Julijana and Yaroslavas, their childhood before and during the war years in the town and how their futures were moulded by these traumatic events and intertwined, both knowingly and unknowingly with each other and the city of Kaunas. The work combines portraiture, landscape and documentary photography, along with transcriptions from interviews and discussions with these three Kaunas residents. Mikas Zabulionis has created a unique soundtrack for this site-specific exhibition. Visit ‘Palimpsest’ at Vytauto pr.

58 during the CityTelling festival.

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How did the idea for the Last Concert come about and how was it developed?

On the 20th of October, one of the most significant events of the first CityTelling Festival – The Last Concert – will take place at the Kaunas Cultural Center.

It will commemorate the orchestra that operated in Kaunas Ghetto from around 1942 till 1943. During the event, you will hear not only the repertoire of the Kaunas Ghetto Police House but also authentic testimonies of that time, revealing the extremely complex historical context in which art and music managed to survive. Agnė Dilytė, librettist, director, and playwright of the Last Concert tells about this project and her creative journey towards it.

Echo of the last concert Julija Račiūnaitė Photos by Teodoras Biliūnas

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The CityTelling festival team (I worked with Daiva Citvarienė, Agnė Burovienė and Justina Petrulionytė-Sabonienė) invited me to join the project very unexpectedly. At that time, I knew very little about the history of the Jewish ghetto, so it really captured my interest. Of course, this topic is very complex, with layers of meaning.

The memory is still very much alive; therefore, one has to work with such material very subtly, with compassion, carrying a certain light, hope.

We feel a great responsibility, especially when the concert will be attended by people closely related to the events of the time, for example, the granddaughter of orchestra conductor Michel Hofmekler. I wanted to maintain a certain level of gravitas; therefore, only documentary and real facts are used. As an author, I did not add any of my texts, personal interpretations or fantasies on the subject, and so on. After all, it is a concert, and the main focus is on music.

Acquaintance with historical material, in this case, had become a real challenge for me. One thing is to know certain facts about war and genocide that we may have seen in the movies, read in books and eventually learned about in school formally, and another thing is to immerse yourself – using the main tool of an artist, imagination – into the atmosphere of the time, its chill, fear, smells and to go through the events via the experience of specific people. One of the main sources I used was Arūnas Bubnys’ book, Kaunas Ghetto. It took me about a week to read this rather thin book written in factual language. Later, after meeting with the

creative team to discuss ideas, I felt as if I had cried the whole week because I had to go through so much concentrated, depressing information. After reading the book, the first task was to come up with an idea for the event. The idea’s starting point was a Kaunas ghetto orchestra that operated for nearly one year. It was led by Michel Hoflekler, who was a truly exceptional character, strong-minded, lively, optimistic. By the way, he survived. I was greatly affected by the circumstances in which people were able to find strength and create an orchestra, play or listen to a concert. After all, everyone involved knew that for them or their families it might have been the last day, the final show – a concert before death. By the way, it turns out that the ghetto residents themselves called the orchestra a “concert before death”. Also, some ghetto prisoners objected to the idea of concerts and orchestra.

Why? First of all, for many who had lost their family members and relatives, such an idea seemed frivolous, incompatible with the extremely difficult emotional state of the people living in the ghetto. How can one party in the face of a tragedy?

Secondly, we could say that it went against religious beliefs according to which, one has to mourn for at least a year after the death of a loved one, and partying is forbidden. However, an agreement was reached, and the orchestra was formed. It was not complete; the conditions were not ideal, and, for security reasons, it was formalized as a police orchestra. The orchestra, which had been very active for about a year, had held about 80 concerts. By the way, the first concert organized by the orchestra will be an important part of our event.

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I think the purpose of these concerts was to distract the community and the musicians themselves from the tragedy, to spend at least an hour in another world, and briefly restore the illusion of normalcy.

In any case, it was an attempt to lift people’s spirits. Even though I was very passionate about the task, a certain awareness made me ask myself: why am I doing this? Why did fate send me such a task? Why must I dive so deeply, touch upon such difficult questions? I found an answer after realizing that essentially, I was writing a libretto about artists. About artists whose tragedy seemed to have broken their vocation, they didn’t know if they will be ever able to create again, to do what they love doing the most. And yet they found the strength to get together in this terrible situation

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Members of Kaunas ghetto orchestra. Photo by George Kadish / Zvi Kadushin. Yad Vashem archive

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In any case, one of the most important sources for this story, which is also used in the libretto of the Last Concert, is the diary of a young teenager – Tamara Lazerson-Rostovsky, who described the life of Kaunas ghetto. As far as I know, she was the only one from her family to survive. The diary has not been published in Lithuanian; I read its photographed copy. The girl grew up in a cultured environment and started to write her diary urged by her father, who realized the historical circumstances in which they had found themselves. Interestingly, it was forbidden to record the events of the time, so this girl’s diary can be equated with underground activities. The first book I read helped me to structure the concert, put it in a general context, and this diary was a very strong testimony. With its help, I was able to see how a person felt inside, what they went through.

It is worth reading because this text reflects the full range of human qualities. In it, we can find beautiful childishness, humour, fury, wit.

You can also see her struggling with various emotions; she is trying not to give in to a sense of injustice, vengeance. For example, I found an entry where she writes about people rejoicing at some German officer having been killed, but that entry is crossed out as if trying not to succumb to vengeful, poisonous thoughts. The diary describes how she is fighting hunger and cold by reading, playing, and so on. When you think about it, a concert for adults was just as much a means

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and continue fulfilling their vocation. Thinking about it, you sort of check your conscience – would you be able to do that? Would you have the inner strength to create?

Last but not least in this story is the musicality of the Jewish people – many families sought music education for their children.

Among them were many musicians, representatives of light music, who performed in the thriving restaurants of the pre-war Kaunas. I have come across an interesting story the facts of which I, unfortunately, cannot confirm, that one of the violins in the orchestra was played by a very talented 13-year-old boy, a prodigy. The crux of the story was that he got into the ghetto by accident when he came to visit his relatives.

of forgetting as games were for children. We will also use one of the girl’s poems at the event. Although naive and childish, it is also full of light, clarity, and generalization, search for hope. The inner journey – at times, surrendering and then clinging to life again – is clearly visible in the diary.

Comment on the music that will play at the Last Concert.

The concert will feature works performed by the ghetto orchestra.

World classical works were performed, except, of course, forbidden works by certain Austrian and German composers. You will also hear a symphonic piece Yellow Fantasy, which was composed in the ghetto.

While preparing to perform it, we noticed that our score is a few pages short, but recently a full score has reached us from Israel, and we will hear the premiere of the Yellow Fantasy at the event. The festival team is grateful to Israeli historian Rami Neudorfer for this opportunity. By the way, Kaunas Vytautas Magnus university theatre students will help us broadcast the textual information; they will also play the role of a Greek tragedy choir. Since we are talking about a tragedy, I chose to use a very old, archaic structure for this event. Perhaps the hardest part of the job was selecting and structuring the text, keeping it laconic and putting the music first.

Among the professional musicians who wrote songs in the ghetto was Percy Hyde (19131977), who studied composition and piano in Dortmund. After moving to Kaunas in 1930, he started playing the piano and accordion in the cafe Monika. P. Hyde participated in the ghetto orchestra and chamber ensembles, composed music, and wrote poems in his spare time. His song “Mamele” (Mommy) was written in 1944 after the massacre of the Jewish people during which 1300 children under the age of 12 were killed. During the same year, he was deported to Dachau, where he composed a symphonic piece Yellow Fantasy based on the melody of “Mamele.” P. Hyde survived all the misfortunes and died in Chicago. (D. Petrauskaitė, “Muzika Kauno žydų gete. Lietuvos muzikologija “, Vilnius, 2006, p. 112.)

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For some time now, I have been moving away from the light genres. For example, I have deliberately stopped creating for children. Not because I don’t like it or because I am bad at it. I simply take a certain position which shows that I take on different topics, spread a different message, and I do not want to confuse things. To be frank, sometimes, I even felt some pressure from my environment to remain in the previous phase. But, personally, I had long wanted to tackle serious topics, so this project came right on time. In my Instagram, I have just recently described the moment when touching upon very difficult topics – let’s call them tragedies – a question comes up, “What will I do next?” Many things already look superficial, petty, banal.

Members of Kaunas ghetto orchestra. Michel Hofmekeler, Boris Stupel and his brother. Photo

by George Kadish / Zvi Kadushin. Yad Vashem archive

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Which projects of yours would you consider the most essential, signalling of a turning point?

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It is hard to say. I neither degrade nor elevate my work. I look at it self-critically, but on the other hand, I love each of my works. Every one of them is, in a sense, an achievement that took a lot of strength – that is how the turning point occurs. Perhaps in 2014, I staged a play Beauties in Šiauliai. It was a very difficult process, but that play is very dear to me because it helped me get closer to the unity between all the elements and the kind of theatre language I wanted to develop. The best performance is always the one that unites all the elements: dramaturgy, acting, scenography, music, directing.

Could you comment on the current Lithuanian dramaturgy?

Well, nowadays there is a tendency of so-called documentary dramaturgy. Real stories are being told; their heroes are involved in the creative process, and so on.

Essentially, there is a sense that the niche of Lithuanian dramaturgy is gradually being filled.

There is an increasing number of initiatives aimed at it, for example, Dramokratija festival organized by Gabrielė Labanauskaitė. There was a time when everyone really cried about the lack of Lithuanian dramaturgy, but now there is a sense of revival. Of course, only time will tell how much quality will be found in that quantity. We often hear about success stories at international festivals, when the work is recognized by someone from abroad. Maybe it’s a small country phenomenon – we don’t tend to notice that someone has created something valuable until it gets recognized from the outside. Of course, dramaturgy itself is a very diverse and complex type of art. I had a conversation with my colleagues that it is very difficult for most to write live-sounding, real dialogues. There seems to be a great deal of dramaturgy full of text or more precisely a stream of consciousness. Sometimes I am slightly puzzled why we see so many great movies and good movie scripts but so few good plays?

What kind of project do you dream of implementing?

Mozart’s Magic Flute is one of my dreams. I love working with music.

Music is the unifying thread in my plays. By the way, I have a strong enough idea for the near future, but I am not giving it away! [laughs]

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You work in a variety of genres. Is it easy to move from one genre – for example, comedy – to the exact opposite?

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If I was writing a book, directing a play or wanted to learn some interesting historical things about Kaunas or my native street, where should I head first? Probably to Parodos Hill, to the red-brick building, where on the second floor you can find a Kaunistika (Kaunistics) Reading-Room.

The city’s archive, which has been growing for several decades now, was commended for its contributions more than once.

For example, we can find traces of it by following the story of Tilmansas’ family (currently, an exhibition about them is taking place in Žilinskas Art Gallery) or leafing through many books dedicated to Kaunas. Seemingly, without the reading-room dedicated to Kaunas and its written and visual treasures, you will not be able to tell much about the city.

The most Kaunastic place in Kaunas Vaida Stepanovaitė Photos by Lukas Mykolaitis.

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While Kaunas County Public Library founded in 1993 and located on Parodos Hill is awaiting renovation – when the massive archive of the library will soon have to find a temporary refuge elsewhere – let us visit the reading-room dedicated to Kaunas. Migrating between the buildings on K. Donelaitis and Radastų Streets, the reading room kept changing its name. In 1971 the readers were visiting the section of Lithuanian Literature, and from 1979 it was renamed to the section of Local History. And in 1993, after the library moved to the little oak grove, Kaunistika Reading-Room known to the city’s residents and guests settled there.

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The beginning and legacy of Kaunistika Reading-Room

Quite often the question arises about such an unusual name which is not used in Lithuania a lot. The specialists working in the reading-room even had to consult the State Commission of the Lithuanian Language. However, nowadays, kaunistics has already found its place in its readers’ talks and written works (surely with the help of Vytautas Magnus university historians) and has become a real carte de visite of Kaunas. The specialists working in the reading-room pointed to Raseiniai Marcelijus Martinaitis Public Library as a close example.

They had called their regional studies website Raseinistika (Raseiniai-focused), but you will not find, for example, vilnistics. Not to mention that only a few city or county libraries have such reading-rooms dedicated to the city and its surroundings.

So why does Kaunas have it? Each story about Kaunistics Reading-Room

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starts with its two distinguished employees – Elena Stankaitienė and Juan Viktor Spitrys, who had set high library standards for collecting and promoting the history of their city. For their infinite attention to detail and seemingly unimportant – but relevant for Kaunas’ research – sources, such as event flyers, they were nicknamed by the Local History section as Scrutinazation Studies. Because of librarians’ dedication, the reading-room was also referred to as Spitrys’ Institute of Kaunistics, thus acknowledging the role of Lithuanian Uruguayan who served as the head of the reading-room from 1961 to 1993. Along with his long-term colleague E. Stankaitienė, they had left a Kaunistics filing system for the library. It was the beginning of everything. The filing system is being carefully filled in electronic catalogues by the specialists to this day.

From wooden to digital shelves The names of the reading room were changing, but over the years it continued to serve the same purpose of collecting and disseminating information about Kaunas. Although, according to the reading-room specialists, the tools used are changing with the passing times. The paper filing cabinet was “conserved” back in 2003, and from then on, the rows of little drawers full of paper cards with written references to the sources have become electronic book entries. When the library, like other memory institutions, is experiencing digitalization, a question arises whether such reading-rooms as Kaunistics will be needed in the future.

The answer comes easy when one

needs to find out more about, for example, strange finds at the Laisvės alėja excavation site, untitled sculptures in Žaliakalnis or interesting historic buildings on J. Gruodžio Street. Or maybe you want to learn about interesting things related to the city’s stairs, resorts, beaches, a narrow-gauge train nicknamed kukuška that ran between the Old Town and Panemunė in the previous century or the carousels in the little oak grove? Not everything can be found via simple internet search and after visiting the reading-room, many, with the help of staff, need to re-learn how to look for information in a variety of catalogues.

And ultimately, who else to rely on if not the experts of Kaunistics Reading-Room, who select the most reliable information about the city you care about on, a daily basis? The work of a librarian requires not only specialized knowledge but also flair and speed to discover where among hundreds of thousands of records the fact necessary for a particular reader is hiding. When a visitor brings a newspaper clip, the welltrained eye of an employee who had been working in the reading-room for a long time will recognize a specific source, even from the color, texture, thickness, and age of the paper. It might be harder only if you submit a request – which was once received by the librarians – to find “everything about Kaunas.”

The memory is filled daily “We cannot be sloppy,” Dalia Giniuvienė, the head of Kaunistics Reading-Room, and the chief bibliographer of Kaunistics group in Kaunas Country Public Library says.

Indeed, the reading-room employees bear a great deal of responsibility for how much and what kind of Kaunas

will be seen in visitors’ works and stories. Therefore, the sources are constantly updated: every week and season, the most important events of the city are reviewed, which could be highlighted in the sources of Kaunistics Reading-Room. Specialists will also know what is becoming the most important topic in the city at the time and what will interest readers in the future, and they will always have something to offer for those who are interested. Finally, they record everything both while at work and during their free time.

Even the storm passing through the city and creating some damage in Ąžuolynas will be caught by the librarian’s lens.

In addition to collecting and disseminating records, Kaunistics Reading-Room also contributes to their creation and not only in the written form. Everyone interested will be invited to the reading room’s virtual and live exhibitions about Kaunas – the city of rivers, Kaunas’ Ažuolynas, caricatures from the interwar period, and many other topics; tours, presentations and educational games will be offered as well. At the initiative of the reading-room and in cooperation with Kaunas City Municipality, two new commemorative plaques appeared on the walls of several buildings.

Pranas Juozapavičius, an ethnographer, museologist and educator was immortalized in V. Putvinskio Street in 2011. Manuscripts donated by his wife to the reading-room are some of the most comprehensive textual and visual sources for those interested in Kaunas neighbourhoods. In 2008, Zenonas Ivinskis, a historian, philosopher, and professor at Vytautas Magnus University, Vilnius and Bonn Universities, was honoured on this joint initiative in Žaliakalnis, Višinskio Street.

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What kind of visitor can we meet in Kaunistics Reading-Room, for example, on a regular Wednesday? There isn’t one type, really. Over the years, the paper filing system, as well as an electronic directory, was used by amateurs and professionals alike.

During the academic year, of course, the number of Lithuanian and foreign students writing academic papers about Kaunas or its surroundings increases. And before them, professors visit the reading-room to prepare the assignments for students, thus contributing to the actualization of certain historical periods or topics.

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The local historians are supplementing their knowledge in the library archives, including regular senior visitors and leaders of local history clubs. The specialists working in the reading-room notice that the readers are becoming more interested in the history of their living environment; they are looking for stories related to their street and objects situated in it. Recently, for example, a group of seniors from Žaliakalnis was collecting information about their neighbourhood, which they used to organize tours for themselves and those interested.

Collaboration with initiatives such as Ekskursas or Kaunas European Capital of Culture has brought many specialists and volunteers to Kaunistics Reading-Room, who had spent their summers there.

Local history interests not only people who were born and raised in Kaunas. The reading-room which has about half a million records in eight languages receives inquiries from people living abroad speaking English, German, and other lan-

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guages. A message may also come from Brazil, as happened recently. Many people are interested in the genealogy of their family, but if the person they are looking for was not famous for his public activities recorded in bibliographic sources or in one of the first of such electronic catalogues in Lithuania titled Famous People of Kaunas: Commemoration of Remembrance, he or she would have to visit the archive and look for unpublished sources.

Mindaugas Balkus, senior bibliographer of the Kaunistics Group of the Information Services Division of Kaunas Country Public Library, whose dissertation Lithuanization of the society and public sphere in Kaunas city in 1918-1940 can be found on the shelves in the reading-room, mention the change of Kaunistics in the process of societal change. As Kaunas becomes more diverse in its population, it may be that after twenty or thirty years, the reading room will be filled with records relevant to those interested in relationships between Kaunas and, for example, African countries.

When asked if the employees get tired of the same city they live and think about at work every day, a paraphrased quote from the legendary Lithuanian band Foje’s song is given as an answer, Niekada man Kauno nebus per daug (There will never be too much of Kaunas).

And Kaunas does look bigger than ever when each building, sculpture, and street are read with the far-seeing, knowledgeable eyes – be it of Kaunistics Reading-Room specialist or a visitor.

We sincerely thank the employees of Kaunistics Reading-Room D. Giniuvienė, M. Balkus, A. Skrockaitė, and R. Vaitilavičienė for their stories.

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Kaunistics Reading Room – for yourself and the community

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Dialogues with stereotypes

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We met up with writer Herkus Kunčius in Vilnius, where he has been living for almost 40 years and today calls it home. However, the school years of the writer and playwright were spent in Kaunas. Both Vilnius, Kaunas and quite a few other towns occupy an essential place in the work of Herkus Kunčius. As for urban spaces, the writer reminds us, “The city, first and foremost, is the people living in it.” Whatever the place, its character is undoubtedly shaped by human narratives, and one often feels like referring to H. Kunčius works (“The Dervish from Kaunas”, for example) as stories of the city. We talked to the writer about cities, history and everyday life.

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Justė Vyšniauskaitė Photos by Kipras Štreimikis .

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What is your daily routine as a writer?

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My routine starts early in the morning – I get up around 6 am.

Then I have a cup of coffee, smoke a cigarette and sit in front of the computer. I never drink wine or other stimulating drinks while working.

Typically, writing lasts until 2-4 pm and around two to three pages appear during this time. The trouble happens when you start editing the text the very same day, and you no longer understand it. Therefore, sometimes you need to run away from your computer a bit faster and start doing something else. In the second half of the day, I start thinking about what I will write the next day and make a plan. The next step is editing the book, where you have to discard a lot. Some authors are in love with themselves, and this interferes with the editing process because they find every word brilliant and the most important. However, it is up to each writer to defeat themselves and after looking critically fix their text.

You mentioned that you don’t write in the evenings. However, there is still a romantic image of an inspired writer who creates overnight. Have you experienced this scenario before?

This probably comes from Romanticism when writers were portrayed as very thoughtful with a glass of wine in hand. All my texts were written during the day when your mind is clear. If I try to write something in the evening, I have to throw it all away. Poets may do their work differently, but prose writers live a certain routine as they must write every day. If you take a couple of days or a week off, it becomes challenging to re-enter the text you’re writing; to get into it, maintain intonation, and so on.

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How does inspiration come into this routine? Do you consider it at all important to your work, or is it just an exalted fiction?

To be frank, I don’t really believe in this thing. Some parts of the job are always easier to do than others, but that depends on the emotional and mental state or worries that can annoy or irritate. I think that inspiration is a very conditional thing. Of course, it is possible to romanticize that artists are waiting for it, but for me, it works on a more practical level when I set up a work plan for the following day. It also occurs when I try to convey in a narrative what I have written in my notebook.

And what mental state do you consider most appropriate for the job?

According to my friend Polish writer and poet Jacek Podsiadło, the most important thing is to have a good night’s sleep. Sometimes it happens that some internal motor starts and even after finishing the day’s work the thoughts about the written text don’t give me any rest or allow me to move away from the context. However, without sleep and rest, the quality of work is definitely decreasing, not improving.

Real historical facts and fictional elements intertwine in your texts, but most often, you develop your stories in real spaces. Why? Real spaces are related to the fact that history is important to me, and I want to tie it to a specific location. I try to create places in my texts as realistically as possible, based on specific sources and historical facts that are important to me and recognizable to the reader. Later, as the storyline develops in these spaces, I can steer the action in an unexpected direction. This is one of the great joys

of writing because you are free when you create. Literature is probably one of the least financially demanding areas of creativity because without having to move physically, you can describe worlds, leap from different historical moments to some kind of utopia and so on. These things are much harder to create in film or theatre, so in this case, the written text is a very practical medium.

Why do you usually develop your stories in an urban setting?

I myself was raised in this environment, and several generations of my family lived in the city. I simply don’t know other environments. The city is very homey and close to me, and I would like to believe I know the specifics of living in it. Therefore, be it Vilnius, Kaunas or Paris, the city will find its way to my stories.

Does the use of historical elements give you more creative freedom or the opposite, can somewhat constrict?

There is a lot of freedom because you can interpret history as you wish. The restriction might only come from the fact that stories must maintain a certain logic – it can be the logic of absurd, but it must exist.

The writer must justify why and how all the events in the story happen.

However, I do not see any significant constraint here and do not really imagine what it could be.

You mentioned that history is important to you, and you often weave it into your writing. Have you ever thought about imagining and describing what might happen in the future?

I imagine historical moments as the future because the way we interpret them today will determine how we

see them over the years. We have black holes in our society and history that are open and just screaming to be talked about. Personally, I need to look at events ironically or from another angle, and futurology in literature does not attract me.

What historical narratives, in your opinion, lack our attention?

How do you choose which moments to write about?

Any which one you look at will be lacking attention. It has so happened that Lithuanian literature is still very young; therefore, it is possible to choose virtually any era – pagan times, the self-immolation of Pilėnai or a very recent period of Revival – study it and describe it.

Your area of interest and intentions simply determines the choice of a particular era – it is important what you wish to convey with your story.

For me personally, the issue of identity, the relationship between power and man, the problem of violence, and the expectations of the individual in the face of a totalitarian state are important. These themes can be imagined and analyzed in different contexts. However, this method of writing requires you to actively accumulate historical material and read sources. Merely sitting down at the desk and writing is not enough here.

In your stories, historical personalities may find themselves in an entirely different era and situation.

Why is it not enough for you to quote history, and instead, you choose to interpret it? Can this be considered as your way of making a dialogue with a reader?

We are living in a postmodern era where a lot of facts are intertwined in perceiver’s consciousness.

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but now I consider them more and more. I try to take into account that a considerable part of the readers is of the younger generation, and that is why the narrative elements have to be explained, although it adds nothing to the text. There is also a need to simplify sentences to make the text easier to read and more dynamic, as reading is challenging these days [laughs]. A person spends less and less time reading and if they read the first page and do not become interested, they might throw it away and never come back to it and what is worse – they might never touch any other book again. Let’s look at the bookstores that are being turned into cafes today and books become only a decoration. Very telling are the reduced runs of books. The number of readers is shrinking, and their habits are changing. I don’t see any tragedy in it; I think it is a natural shift in the context of a changing environment. Therefore, of course, I always think about the reader for whom the book is intended. However, my books require familiarity with a specific context, because, without it, no dialogue can be established.

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On this basis, I transport historical figures to an environment that is unfamiliar to them. That is how a person who lived in the 18th century can find him/herself in the present. I think in this way, historical personalities can become more real to us than they would be in the context of their era. It can also look comical because each character brings specific values and behavioural patterns from their era that seem very strange in a different context, or it can fit so well that you will experience goosebumps.

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It can be a dialogue with a reader and with stereotypes. On the other hand, all historical facts can be questioned from different angles. History, for the most part, is not true, and we will not discover the actual truth. In my texts, I try to look at history again, perhaps from a different perspective, and to show another truth that turns into a story when published.

Do you think about your reader while writing?

You don’t avoid, dramatizing the text, exaggerating. Is it a necessary tool in today’s literature, allowing to reach the reader’s consciousness overloaded with impressions?

I think the text should provide emotions or raise contradictions and opportunity for reflection. I personally like literature which is ironic and controversial. However, whether or not an author will exaggerate depends on his personality and individual approach. There are plenty of good writers who don’t do it because their individual voice evolved in a completely different direction.

In your opinion, what is the writer’s function in today’s society?

Is self-expression enough, or is the writer required to take on the role of educator or provocateur?

Self-expression is not interesting to me at all. What matters to me is what important narratives can be told. I think it is the writer’s responsibility to say to them, especially now that we live in a world full of tensions and threats as well as wars of historical memory. I think this is the niche the writer can work in.

You were born in Vilnius, but spent your school years in Kaunas and later returned to live in the capital. Do you currently have any connection with Kaunas?

The connection as a mosaic is made up of certain memories, and they have remained from my teenage years spent in Kaunas. My father and grandfather came from Kaunas.

I also have a favourite place in Kaunas – Santaka (the confluence of Nemunas and Neris rivers), where I always try to go. However, I have the strongest connection with Vilnius, as I have lived here for many years, so my family, friends, most important memories and favourite places are here.

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To foster their urban culture. Many stories happened in Vilnius, Kaunas or other cities. By telling them and making them relevant, we can make the city more colourful.

I used to think little about the reader,

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In 1942 during the first days of summer in German-occupied Kaunas, the atmosphere was grim. Among other obvious hardships of the time, the news spread around the city that Jonas Vileišis had passed away. This is how the city and Lithuania lost the last of the three Vileišis brothers who had made a profound impact on public life.

A burgomaster to remember Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis J. Vileišis © National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art

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the United States and to establish contacts with Lithuanian Americans for the rebuilding of the state and financial support. For war-torn Lithuania’s needs, a loan of about one and a half million dollars (equivalent 20 million dollars today) was received, and potential business contacts were established.

Vytautas Magnus bridge, opened in 1930 © National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art

Many Kaunas residents considered J. Vileišis a patriarch of the modern Kaunas; the first burgomaster who made every effort to make Kaunas not only a habitation-friendly city but also a city that would match the title of the temporary capital. Still, his life was not limited to the role of the head of the city.

Looking at his biography, the multifaceted experience of J. Vileišis seems to deserve much more recognition.

When J. Vileišis, at the end of his forties in autumn of 1921 became a burgomaster, it was a one more solemn duty for him but not a result of an end in itself career ambitions.

J. Vileišis had already left such an imprint on the country’s history that it seemed he could have quickly taken a well-deserved rest. His name could be found on the pages of Varpas. Promotion of Lithuanian culture through publishing continued to

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be an important component of his life.

How did J. Vileišis find himself in the position of the burgomaster? For about three years after the restoration of independence, the city did not have a burgomaster. That was due to political disagreements on the issue between the representatives of the largest Polish, Jewish and Lithuanian factions, who formed the basis of the city council at the time.

J. Vileišis had recently returned from his US mission and was seen by the local government, as a “man from the outside”, whose democratic worldview and organizational work experience was a perfect compromise.

It was him, who in 1909 founded one of the leading publications of the opposition in the interwar period – Lietuvos Žinios. Together with his brother Petras, they were among the co-organizers of the Great Seimas of Vilnius, an important point of national revival. Later he became a member of the Council of Lithuania. On the eve of the most critical day for Lithuania, together with M. Biržiška, S. Kairys, and S. Narutavičius, he drafted the Act of February the 16th and became one of the twenty signatories.

In addition to such projects as the installation of water supply or sewerage system in the city or the development of bus transport system, which were described several times in the press, the social infrastructure was also being established at that time. Special attention was paid to education and fire safety. The building of schools, reading-rooms and the strengthening of fire safety was particularly important because, at the time when Vileišis became the burgomaster, Kaunas was constantly plagued by large fires and illiteracy was up to 30 percent.

In the spring of state-building, he served for some time as the Minister of Internal Affairs and then as the Minister of Finance. Finally, he was entrusted with a high-level diplomatic mission to secure recognition of Lithuania’s independence from

Unfortunately, some wishes of J. Vleišis would encounter financial issues or bump into walls built by interest groups. Because of that, Kaunas never got its electric tram and the re-planning of the city, often emphasized by the burgomaster, was

progressing at a snail pace.

Burgomaster greatly contributed to the development of the administrative apparatus. In 1924, a fund for the construction of primary schools was established, much attention was paid to the development of the medical and sanitation department, and social care was considered as a matter of great importance. Even though clear priorities were set, efforts were made to improve all aspects of the city’s functioning as evenly as possible.

He coordinated his managerial activity with his work in various other cultural, social or other organizations, from the Animal Welfare Society which was promoting the humane treatment of animals and was founded with the like-minded people, to Automobile Club established on his own initiative.

The establishment of the Union of Lithuanian Cities is an important mission of J. Vileišis. Founded in 1924, the organization united the burgomasters of all cities and towns in the country and functioned not only as a platform for sharing the experience or predicting common trajectories but also to strengthen the weak position of local governments at the time. It is noteworthy that the organization eventually became a sufficiently influential institution and significantly influenced the development of the country’s cities.

In addition, the organization participated in the activities of major international city administration and planning federations, where it was mostly represented by J. Vileišis. The character of the burgomaster of the time is well illustrated by the fact that he greatly valued objective criticism. For example, in 1929, he told journalists that a “broad and unbiased information and consistent criticism of the Municipal work is the best help a municipal employee can get.”

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The best way to finish the story about J. Vileišis would be with an observation made by his colleague, in regard to the burgomaster’s creativity, “... in this field, not a single burgomaster of Kaunas can compare to him ... Having developed the city of Kaunas, he has left his trace of genius in a variety of areas.“

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Although the political attitudes prevailing in state politics forced J. Vileišis – who had held the position of a burgomaster for almost ten years – to leave the post, he still remained an influential figure not only in Kaunas but also in the life of the state. In 1933 he became a member of the Lithuanian Council; In 134 he was elected to Kaunas City Council, and in 1935 he established the Rotary Club of Lithuania with his peers and was an active member of various international relations organizations.

Vileišis in the horse tram closing ceremony in 1929 © VDKM

The elementary schools Kaunas municipality built in 1930-1931

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I don’t know when Lithuanians started to be proud of Antanas Mockus. Was it when he got elected as the mayor of Bogota?

Or when he introduced a curfew for men in the Colombian capital so that women could feel safe (and they did)? Or perhaps the time he invited mimes to regulate traffic (and that worked as well)? Bogota still isn’t the most habitation-friendly city in the world, but the fact that a Lithuanian, the son of Lithuanian immigrants, contributing to bettering the quality of life in the city, is inspiring. Maybe some were inspired by the bold move of the academic when he decided to show his naked posterior to full university auditorium and television viewers.

Of course, it was a symbol and symbols help communicate. Aurelijus Rūtenis Antanas Mockus Šivickas – that is the full name of our hero who, unfortunately, did not become the president of Columbia. His mother, Nijolė Šivickas, is an extraordinary artist.

“I work with clay,” she says to the camera several times behind which stands an Italian Sandro Bozzolo. She also adds that Antanas can do many things (when Nijolė says work, she means manual work) except ironing.

Well, perhaps he can’t iron clothes, but how about making the world a better place?

Antanas does (not) know how to iron

Film still

Kotryna Lingienė

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Film still. Antanas and NijolÄ— are getting ready for her presentation at the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius

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Just after the film was finished and showed to its main character, Nijolė passed away last year. She is buried in Bogota. There are some cemetery scenes – Lithuanian and Colombian – in the film, but there is much more of that mother-son relationship that cannot be captured by any technology – stronger than a handshake, deeper than a gaze. It seems that quite a few women (who have children) who saw the film, saw themselves in it. Perhaps that is why they shook Antanas’ hand and thanked him for love, warmth, and presence. After a week of interacting with viewers all over Lithuania, and having survived the meeting at the office of Kaunas 2022 the same day, Antanas seemed tired before the screening. After a month of trying to get an interview with him (I had tried to phone Sandro while he was in Bogota, but...) I thought I had no chance, even though the film producer Dagnė Vildžiūnaitė (Just a Moment) was doing her best to help me. I got that chance in the car of Rytis Zemkauskas while the viewers were waving outside. It was cosy.

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How do you dream? In Lithuanian or Spanish?

I think in both. But probably more in Spanish. Before my first trip to Lithuania, I had dreams about it.

From books or pictures sent to me.

Those pictures were of bad quality in Russian times. There was a ritual to write letters to grandparents. We would write a draft; mother would correct it, we would rewrite it and post it.

Have you ever wondered if everything your mother told you was true? Have you always trusted her one hundred percent?

She understood it was essential to uphold the perspective of children.

And if she ever hid something, it was for our own good. It was clear to her that things had to be a certain way. She didn’t chatter. She spoke seriously. We got along well in part because of that seriousness our conversations had.

While watching the movie, I particularly noticed one scene in which you come to visit your father’s relatives in Lithuania. They were delighted to see you and your mother; they were hugging you, served you food and played the accordion and even burned the Easter palm. Both of you looked pretty confused and maybe even scared.

Emotions were very strong. Nijolė even cried, and that happens rarely.

It can be seen in the film. Emotions are an important though dangerous thing. A person might trip up with emotions, but it is impossible to live without them. It would mean losing the colours of life.

You are often presented as an eccentric personality, a brawler and your mother as a complex personality. But for me, in the film, you looked like simple, straight and direct people.

Your mother in the film said something along the lines of not liking to be around people. Do you think this could have helped her retain her Lithuanian identity?

Yes, many people say, “I feel like I understand you.” I believe that every Colombian sees him/herself as a person who can talk to me and learn from my experience. Direct communication is the most important thing when it comes to conducting people. Can I say that? Conducting.

Or should I use the word manage?

Yes, this was probably her understanding. She believed that his/her land could protect a person. I don’t know how many times Colombians have helped me, even saved my life.

I am sure Lithuanians also helped my mother survive when she lost her husband. We don’t know many things. But people can receive help from a place they least expect.

Has the film director Sandro become a member of your family in those few years?

You could say so. That’s right. That relationship has developed incredibly. I still sometimes wake up and think about what happened. Beautiful closeness in just a few years.

Why do you think Lithuanians receive this film and you so warmly? They don’t want to let you go; they take pictures. We only know you from the media, you were never a politician in Lithuania.

Maybe it helps that I have no interest here. Lithuanians are now free.

They got liberated not only as a country with a constitution and so on but also from the feeling of shame and guilt. Perhaps I have contributed a bit to that. Not necessarily Lithuanians are heading in the same direction as me, but they see something in common. There is a band in Lithuania called Antikvariniai Kašpirovskio dantys, and I really like their music. I learned about it from Colombians. An interesting detour. I have been listening to them for quite some time now and encouraged others to listen. Their song “Į Venesuelą” is well made.

And Nijolė never thought about returning to Lithuania? How about you?

She had visited a couple of times.

And I am personally too far already, professionally as well. At one time, I dreamed of teaching here, but there was a dispute whether it should be in Kaunas or Vilnius. I found myself between two fires. But... Once, this Lithuanian had told me – if you want to do research, go to research centres, to London, Paris, Boston. But if you are staying here – he meant Colombia – then you must do something for this country. You see, some Lithuanians were bigger Colombian patriots than the Colombians themselves.

The world premiere of Nijole was held last year at the 61st International Leipzig Documentary and Animated Film Festival. After visiting its hometown, Nijolė travels further.

In October you can see the film in Romuva also in Vilnius – Skalvija and Pasaka cinemas and Klaipėda’s cinema Arlekinas. In Colombia, Nijolė will premiere at the international documentary film festival in Bogota. I bet it will be a full house – a two-time mayor of the city is loved until this day.

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The story of the film Nijolė began in Kaunas. No, neither Antanas’ mother nor father was born here – it was Sandro who came to study in Kaunas as an Erasmus student. “Exactly thirteen years ago today, on the 23rd of September,” the director says to the broad audience of the temporary Romuva cinema hall. For him, this is the first work of this scale filmed in both Colombia and Lithuania. He found out about Antanas’ family by accident while searching for interesting stories. Not only did he find a story but also a new family. He spent some time in Bogota with Nijolė and allowed her to get used to the camera so she would learn to ignore it. It is normal for the mother of a famous politician to be tired of lenses.

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Calendar STAGE Thursday, 10 03, 7 pm

October Friday, 10 04

Saturday, 10 05

Sunday, 10 06

Various places

Various places

Various places

“Animal Carnival”. Photo by Vojtech Brtnicky.

“Alien express”. Photo by Borut Bučinel.

“Animal Carnival” is a performance for children aged 5-12 years. It will be presented at 4 pm by a dance company “Barbora Látalová & Col.” (Czech Republic) in the National Kaunas Drama Theatre. Next in the program is a dance performance “Prime mover” by Estonian dancers Roona & Flak also in the same theatre. Last of the day – a night performance “Third dance”, which deeply moved Israeli critics.

On midday, the youngest dance enthusiasts will be able to see “Animal Carnival” once again. In the National Kaunas drama theatre at the evening time, Ben J. Riepe’s dance company from Germany will be presenting “Untitled: Persona”, which will lead the viewers into a different understanding of bodies and their meaning. In Kaunas city chamber theatre, the audience will have a pleasure of seeing one more night performance.

It’s a dance project by a duet Niv Sheinfeld and Oren Laor, who are partners on stage and in real life.

“Third dance” will be presented in the business leader centre “BLC”.

This time it will be “Alien express”

by Slovenian dancers Žigan Krajnčan and Gašper Kunšek.

“Alien express” is a continually changing performance or to be even more precise an improvisation with a predetermined structure.

The choreography is adapted and modified with each performance.

International dance festival AURA29

International dance festival AURA29

International dance festival AURA29

International dance festival AURA29

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Business leader centre “BLC”, K. Donelaičio g. 62/V. Putvinskio g. 53

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“One. One & One”. Photo by Rune Abro.

Photo by “Aura”

This year international dance festival AURA29 is starting with two satellite transmission events in St. George the Martyr Church and in Raudondvaris manor. On October 3, don’t miss out on a premiere of “OH-2” presented by Kaunas dance theatre “Aura”. It’s a perfect chance to get to know the new dancers of the international dance company.

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At 11:55 am the Kaunas town hall will become a starting point for the festival’s tour “4x4”. In the span of three hours participants will see four performances: “Sick Women Practice”

by Ula Liagaitė, “Ideal Fe[Male]” by Jānis Putniņš’s and Eva Kronbergos (Latvia), „KaGaMiToMiMi” by Kyrie Oda and Love Hellgren (Sweden / Japan), and „Almost a Mensch“ by Maya Yogel (Israel).

Festival’s closing event will be held in the National Kaunas Drama Theatre. The ultimate performance is “One. One & One” by an Israeli dance theatre “Vertigo”, which was established in 1992 by Adi Sha’al and Noa Wertheim. “One. One & One” is a performance about each person’s inner need to be fulfilled while constantly experiencing social and existential challenges of fragmented reality.

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Pet-friendly places

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Calendar Thursday, 10 24, 6 pm

Performance “Ghetto“

National Kaunas drama theatre, Laisvės al. 71

October

Jules Massenet’s opera „Manon“.

Conductor: Maurizio Benini.

Actors: Lisette Oropesa, Michael Fabiano, Carlo Bosi, Artur Ruciński, Brett Polegato, Kwangchul Youn.

MUSIC Saturday, 10 05, 6 pm

Concert “Music of Eduardas Balsys”

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Kaunas state philharmonic, L. Sapiegos g. 5 Photo by Donatas Stankevičius.

“Ghetto”, a performance directed by Gintaras Varnas and based on a play

by Joshua Sobol, was the highlight of the theatre’s 99th season. The play focuses on the experiences of the Jews of the Vilna Ghetto during Nazi occupation in World War II, as well as the story of the Jewish theatre inside the ghetto. The theatre became the source of strength and resistance. It’s a story about a collective fight for survival, both physical and spiritual. Varnas added a lot of documentary material to the work of Sobol. You’re able to catch it surtitled in English on October.

Klaipėda state musical theatre has prepared a seaside themed live performance from the musical pieces of composer Eduardas Balsys (1919–1984). This is a commemoration concert for the composer’s 100th birthday. In the live performance, you’ll be able to hear the Violin concerto no. 1 written by E. Balsys in 1954. The piece will be performed by a violinist Lina Marija Songailė and Klaipėda state musical theatre symphony orchestra. In the second part of the concert the Suite for symphony orchestra from composer’s only ballet “Eglė the Queen of Serpents” will be performed.

Saturday, 10 26, 19:55

Saturday, 10 05, 9 pm

Live from “Metropolitan Opera”: “Manon” “Forum Cinemas Kaunas”, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 49

“Forum Cinemas” is continuing the tradition of showing live satellite transmissions from “Metropolitan” opera based in New York. This time on the big screen you’ll be able to catch 4 4

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Live. “Molchat Doma”

Photo from the band’s archive.

Photo by “Metallica”

Their second album “Etazhi” was recognized as the best album of the year 2018 by post-punk.com and is being re-released by German record company “Detriti Records”. Everywhere else in Europe the tickets to the band’s concerts are getting sold out, so this is a great chance to see them live.

Double live album by Metallica and San Francisco symphony orchestra “S&M” was released back on 23rd of November 1999. “Master of Puppets”, “Sad but True”, “Enter Sandman”, “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, “The Call of Ktulu”, “Nothing Else Matters” and other famous pieces by the band got a whole different feel to them in that concert. The unexpected match of metal and classical music stunned and took away many fans all over the world. After 20 years, Metallica is sharing the stage with the orchestra once more. Two and a half hours long screening will be shown in different movie theatres all around the globe and will reveal the footage from two live performances, which took place in San Francisco’s sports arena “Chase Center” on the 6th and 8th of September.

Saturday, 10 05, 23:00

“Digital Tsunami: Nastya Muravyova” Club “Lizdas”, Nepriklausomybės a. 12

After changing the entrance placement “Lizdas” isn’t changing their musical direction and is starting the season strong. “Digital Tsunami” is bringing a representative of Kyiv’s rave phenomenon Nastya Muravyova to Kaunas.

Club “Lemmy”, Girstupio g. 1

ednesday, 10 09, 7 pm

Post-punk diamond from Belarusian lands “Molchat Doma” is returning to Kaunas for the fifth time.

“Forum Cinemas Kaunas”, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 49

„Metallica & San Francisco Symphony: S&M2“

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Calendar many different genres. His music is rich with strong contrasts, emotional breakthroughs as well as lyrical moments paired with an ability to master the piece as a whole rationally.

In the live performance, you’ll hear many of the composer’s best works as well as a piece called “Birch”, which has never been performed before, however according to A. Kubiliūnas it hasn’t lost its value through the span of 50 years.

Sunday, 10 13, 2 pm

Musical fairytale “Jazzland”

Kaunas big band will be performing a musical fairytale for the whole family “Jazzland”. The unique feature of this live performance will be an improvised jazz piece full of informative and playful elements played by trombonist and composer Jievaras Jasinskis. Two characters Mister Swing and Miss Bosaniva tightly knit into the jazz history will address the audience usings the universal language of music.

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Kaunas state philharmonic, L. Sapiegos g. 5

Sunday, 10 13, 3 pm

A concert “Masterpieces of Liturgical Music“

Cathedral Basilica of apostles St. Peter and St. Paul, Vilniaus g. 1 In the commemoration of 1100th anniversary of the first written mention of Lithuania a live concert “Masterpieces of Liturgical Music“ will be performed by VMU chamber orchestra (conductor Jonas Janulevičius) and soloists Žygimantas Galinis, Nerijus Noreika, Gitana Pečkytė, and Živilė Lamauskienė.

Tuesday, 10 15, 6 pm

An evening of composer Algimantas Kubiliūnas music Kaunas state philharmonic, L. Sapiegos g. 5

Algimantas Kubiliūnas (born 1939) is one of the most productive Lithuanian composers, who writes pieces in 4 6

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Friday, 10 18, 8 pm

Live. Eros Ramazzotti

October classics. On the occasion of the anniversary, the choir invites you to listen to Carlo Orff‘s impressive cantina „Carmina Burana“, which Kaunas state choir performed at the vast Berlin stadium in 1992. For the choir it became one of the most memorable concerts when a crowd of 75,000 people was clapping after their performance. Kaunas state choir will be performing the cantina together with the National Lithuania symphony orchestra.

“Žalgirio arena”, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 50

Friday, 10 31, 7 pm

The Italian superstar released a new album called “Vita ce n’è” at the end of 2018. It’s his 14th record, and the artist is bringing it on a world tour. The only stop in Lithuania will be a concert in “Žalgirio arena”.

“Žalgirio arena”, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 50

Friday, 10 25, 6 pm

Anniversary Kaunas sate choir concert Kaunas state philharmonic, L. Sapiegos g. 5

One of the most acknowledged and representative collectives in Lithuania – Kaunas state choir lead by its founder, art director and principal conductor Petras Bingelis is celebrating its 50th birthday. The choir‘s performances are distinguished by their high quality and wide range of dynamic expression.

The extent of the choir‘s repertoire is already approaching the scores of two hundred large-scale vocal-instrumental works belonging to the treasure trove of world’s

Asmik Grigorian Grand Gala

Milan’s La Scala, London Royal Opera, Vienna State Opera, Paris Bastille Opera, New York’s Metropolitan Opera.

When the whole world wants to see this extraordinarily talented singer from Lithuania, you realize what a great gift and privilege we have to be able to hear her in Lithuania with an exclusive program. The best soloist in the world, soprano Asmik Grigorian, will perform her exclusive concert with Lithuanian State Symphony Orchestra conducted by maestro Gintaras Rinkevičius.

CINEMA 09 26 – 10 06

Kaunas International Film Festival Various locations

The festival gathers the cinephiles of Kaunas and Lithuania for the 12th time. As always, the festival shares a diverse program with all the cinema lovers: they can choose between art house films, audiovisual arts to the grand award-winning films. After two weeks in Kaunas, the festival will travel around Lithuania.

Wednesday, 10 02, 7 pm

Film “Roger Waters: Us + Them” “Forum Cinemas”, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 49

Us and them

Missed the performance by Roger Waters in Kaunas last year? Good news! Shot over three nights in June 2018 during the “Us +Them” tour stop in Amsterdam, the film is coming to Kaunas, and it looks and sounds fantastic. If you blink and miss its one-day-only theatrical release in October, the DVD is set for store Photo by Donatas Stankevičius.

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Calendar shelves in early 2020.experts, activists and festival audience to appreciate and discuss the role

October Friday, 10 31

Film “The Silence of the Lambs” “Forum Cinemas”, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 49

From 10 04

Film „The Death & Life of John F. Donovan“

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“Forum Cinemas”, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 49

Film still

“The Death & Life of John F. Donovan” is a Canadian drama film, co-written, co-produced, and directed by Xavier Dolan in his English-language debut.

It stars Kit Harington, Jacob Tremblay, Natalie Portman, Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Thandie Newton, Ben Schnetzer, and Jared Keeso. The film deals with themes of celebrity, tabloid media in Hollywood, mother-son relationships, and homosexuality.

The film had its world premiere at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival, making it Dolan’s first film to premiere at the festival.

10 11 – 10 20

Festival “Inconvenient films” Various locations

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The Festival’s International Competition is dedicated to the films by new filmmakers – their first or second feature documentary. Films are selected considering artistic value, filmmaking skills and revelation of a relevant human rights topic. The Best Film is selected and awarded by an international jury. All films screened during the Inconvenient Films festival are eligible to win the Audience Choice award. The winner of the prize is chosen directly by spectators.

05 11 – 12 31

Exhibition “In Memory Of Paper” Kaunas Picture Gallery, K. Donelaičio g. 16

Still from “Hi, AI”

“Inconvenient films” is an international competitive human rights documentary film festival, taking place in various cities and towns across Lithuania. Established in 2007 as an annual film event, it is currently the biggest documentary film festival in the country and the only film festival of this kind in the Baltic States region. The festival invites filmmakers, experts, activists and festival audience to appreciate and discuss the role of documentaries in reflecting and shaping our understanding of reality.

The mission of this festival is to use award-winning author-driven films in raising awareness about human rights issues around the world, encouraging public debate on ways to address them.

EXHIBITIONS

Film still

“The Silence of the Lambs is” a 1991 American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme from a screenplay written

by Ted Tally, adapted from Thomas Harris‘s 1988 novel of the same name.

The film stars Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, and Anthony Heald. In the film, Clarice Starling, a young FBI trainee, seeks the advice of the imprisoned Dr Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist and cannibalistic serial killer to apprehend another serial killer, known only as „Buffalo Bill“, who skins his female victims‘ corpses. The novel was Harris‘s first and second respectively to feature the characters of Starling and Lecter and was the second adaptation of a Harris novel to feature Lecter, preceded by the Michael Mann-directed “Manhunter” (1986). Halloween is a unique chance to see the classic movie on the big screen!

In memory of paper

The exhibition introduces the former J. Janonis paper factory and its community. Turning points in politics and economy come into view on notebook covers and their margins. The pre-war paper of Petrašiūnai preserves the handwriting of Salomėja Nėris. It also proves the Lithuanian identity in the form of a passport. Finally, having turned into temporary money of the newly restored Lithuania, the Kaunas paper rustles in a pocket. These paper-based history witnesses are sensitively and wittily complemented by the stories of the factory workers and art pieces specially created for the exhibition. “In Memory of Paper” continues the exhibition cycle “The Great Industry” curated by Auksė Petrulienė.

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Calendar 05 18 – 12 31

Exhibition “Kaunas (Un)Temporariness”

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Kaunas City Museum Town Hall Branch, Rotušės a. 15

Students resting in Oak Grove Park 1929. Photo from the archive of Kaunas City Museum

The temporary exhibition is dedicated to the Year of the Temporary Capital. It presents Kaunas in 1919-1940. After WWI, when Vilnius was occupied by the Bolsheviks and later by the Polish, Kaunas became the temporary capital of Lithuania from January 1919. This exhibition represents not only the past but also the present of the city and analyses which signs of the Temporary Capital Period have become an integral part of Kaunas identity.

09 06 – 10 06

Festival “Kaunas Photo” Various locations

Photo by Karolina Krinickaitė.

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The longest-running annual international photo art festival in Lithuania and the Baltic States spreads across various spaces of Kaunas with the theme “Digital-Virtual-Real”, aiming to reflect upon our contemporary digitized society from different perspectives. Visit exhibitions in galleries and museums as well as open-air public spaces and look out for artist talks and other events connected to the 16th edition of the festival.

October Muses, born of the Nine Nights of Mnemosyne and Zeus.

09 13 – 10 20

Exhibition “Between Painting and Duty” A. Žmuidzinavičius Creations and Collections Museum, V. Putvinskio g. 64

09 12 – 12 01

Exhibition „Face forward to Kaunas“ National M. K. Čiurlionis Museum of Art, V. Putvinskio g. 55

Leonora Kuisienė is an artist from Kaunas who cherishes the fading art of bookbinding. Her creativity is best described by three things: professionalism, experiment and neo-romantic aesthetics. Fostering the tradition of bookbinding culture, the artist is also building new paths for the future of this branch.

This is the fourth exhibition of the bookbinder, the central theme of which is about inspiration and the inspirers – the muses. The exhibition presents books, in one way or another related to the divine inspiration: from the first act of creation – the beginning of human beings, to the manifestations of creative inspiration by one of the Lithuanian geniuses – M. K. Čiurlionis: the bound notes of the composer, and letters to his wife, Sofia. However, the central leitmotif of the exhibition is the nine-month-bound books of the Greek

P. Stauskas, The Portrait of Rūta Staliliūnaitė

The exhibition is dedicated to the 100th Anniversary of Petras Stauskas, one of the most memorable representatives of Kaunas Art World – a painter, watercolourist, and director of M. K. Čiurlionis Art Museum Petras Stauskas (1919-2003). Mr Stauskas was the director of the museum during the most challenging years in Lithuanian history – the Soviet period.

Having become aware of the essence of history, having experienced both exile in 1941 and the compulsory participation in the World War II, one of his most significant works was the creation of the museum – a shelter for non-conformism. At the same time, there were official events, and a hiding place for former political prisoners, deportees, essential people for Lithuanian culture, including

P. Galaunė, who was fired from the position of the director, and many other people, inconvenient to Soviets.

Thanks to Stauskas’ prudent and far-sighted thinking, the Čiurlionis Museum has become a unique system of opportunities that has helped not only to preserve valuable collections, to enrich it but also to discover new exhibition spaces. During years of his leadership, two new galleries were built, new branches were opened in Druskininkai, Jurbarkas and Kaunas (Pažaislis Architectural Ensemble, Stained Glass and Sculpture Gallery in Sobor, Ceramics Museum in Kaunas Town Hall, A. Žmuidzinavičius Memorial Museum). The former temporary capital – Kaunas – was named “the city of museums”.

09 14 – 10 13

“Town at Edge of Garden at Edge of Town” POST gallery, Laisvės al. 51A

“Town at Edge of Garden at Edge of Town” is a duo show by Evita Vasiljeva (LV/NL) and Daniel Walwin (GB/NL) which is open at the premises of POST Gallery in Kaunas. Even though the work of both Evita and Daniel is characterized by distinct artistic language and their work is exhibited together for the first time (as well as for the first time in Lithuania in general) in the exhibition it intuitively coalesces into an integral narrative, establishing an allegorical relation between architecture and nature,

2019 OCTOBER

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Calendar reminiscence and expectation. „Town at Edge of Garden at Edge of Town“ is foremost a collage produced by both artists in which constant repetition allows new rudiments of meaning to emerge.

10 04 – 10 19

KAFe2019: Exhibition “Architect’s Herbarium”

10 31 – 11 15

KAFe2019: Exhibition “Architect Erik Bryggman” Kaunas Artists’ House, V. Putvinskio g. 56

The exhibition presents the career of architect Erik Bryggman (1891-1955), one of the most influential architects of Nordic classicism, functionalism, and new empiricism. Bryggman introduced Functionalism in Finland together with Alvar Aalto, making it the nationally accepted style of architecture.

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Kaunas Artists’ House, V. Putvinskio g. 56

October

Illustration by A. Ambrazevičiūtė

“My work is balancing between architecture, sculpture, digital art, biology, and technology. Particularly inspiring I find nature’s diversity in material, form and different scales.

Therefore, I am constantly searching interrelations between nature-based elements, where it is important not only the imitation of visual forms but also its hidden wisdom,” says architect Aistė Ambrazevičiūtė, inviting to take a look at another Kaunas, a city which is creating its unique patterns and generating symbiotic design decisions each and every day.

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The Bryggman Institute and the Estonian Museum of architecture have combined an exhibition presenting Erik Bryggman’s architecture. The show is based on Mikko Laaksonen’s book “Architect Erik Bryggman: Works” (Rakennustieto, 2016).

10 10 – 11 09

Vaida Tamoševičiūtė’s exhibition “Mother’s body” Gallery “Meno parkas”, Rotušės a. 27

Photo by Darius Petrulis.

all previous priorities at least one position backwards. Becoming responsible for teaching, educating but first and foremost feeding, making sure that the baby develops safely and successfully is mother’s priority number one. However, moms before becoming moms were women who had their own lives, who wanted to express themselves and fulfil their goals. This clash of two key goals leads to an inevitable conflict of priorities.

Performance art has been one of the main spheres of contemporary artist Vaida Tamoševičiūtė for some time now. The artist’s performative work has always been characterized by the personification of a sensitive inner feeling through physical action.

V. Tamoševičiūtė’s works analyze the reality created by the internal tension, pain, stress, or excitement of things happening in the environment.

After becoming a mother in 2017, the author of the exhibition has been in a transformative state - until then she was a free, independent young artist and now she is responsible for taking care of another, still helpless but truly beloved little person. This inevitably had an impact on her creative work, abilities, and themes.

Trying to stay creative and productive V. Tamoševičiūtė found a mentoring program with professional artist Lenka Clayton. Clayton‘s work explores the hardships that art institutions, which are unadapted both physically and in terms of a working environment, pose to artists who are also mothers.

10 14 – 10 28

KAFe2019: Exhibition “Study KAFe”

Public space in front of the Kaunas Cathedral, Vilniaus g. 1 A while ago, Kaunas architecture festival invited students of both bachelor and master degree architecture studies to participate in the international exhibition-competition of the final projects of their universities on the topics of the central part of Kaunas city. In this exhibition, you’ll be able to see the best works of the competition.

10 14 – 11 11

KAFe2019: „Feedback“

Lithuanian Union of architects Kaunas department, Vilniaus g. 22 This exhibition of Kaunas architecture festival invited five young architects who had graduated abroad to present their work and to get back in touch with Lithuania. The show will showcase the works of Mantas Gipas (Umeå University, Sweden), Dalia Puodžiūtė (KU Leuven, Belgium), Julius Seniunas (KU Leuven, Belgium), Kotryna Urbonaitė (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands) and Gabrielius Varnelis (Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands). The exhibits will cover a wide range of topics, from the forensic centre in Bucharest to the heterotopic enclaves in Bangkok.

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Being a mother instinctively shifts

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Calendar OTHER EVENTS Saturday, 10 12, 6 pm

KAFe2019: “Wooden buildings in the city centre [UN]needed”

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Location to be confirmed

Kaunas Architecture Festival presents a third event of the project “Wooden buildings in the city centre [UN]needed”. During this event, a special map dedicated to wooden architecture in the center of Kaunas will be presented. This event will include an overview of the project’s previous events, a workshop organized by “Architecture of Shame” (Italy) and Kaunas’ exposition at the “Birthday of Shame” festival in Matera.

Later on, participants will be invited to an evening tour which will emphasis the past, the present and the possible future of wooden architecture.

10 17 – 10 24

CityTelling Festival Various locations

Photo by “Kaunas 2022”

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of stories. They are dramatic, weird or comic. Sometimes they are sad and controversial. Stories fill the streets of the city and the little towns around, their empty windows, squares, and houses. Stories make our environment alive, authentic, and unique, and we dream about them wherever we are.

Stories not only help us to discover the place in which we live, but they also help us to understand ourselves better, listen and empathize with others.

CityTelling Festival invites everyone to embark on a journey which will bring happiness through discoveries and new experiences. Maybe you will find something you have not expected entirely, an answer to a question that you did not even know you had.

On this eight-day journey, you will be guided by experienced storytellers of Kaunas and Kaunas District: museum guides, theatre professionals, and artists. They will invite you to almost 50 different events for families, people with disabilities, foreigners, youth, and seniors. The stories of the festival will guide you through the long life of the city from the ancient times to the interwar period, from WW2 to these days.

Each day of the festival will offer you a promise for a new adventure. The faces of this year’s festival include Helene Holzman, Henry Parland, and Rosian Bagriansky. These are residents of three different ethnicities that have left their mark in the history of Kaunas.

Together they remind us what rich and diverse our city and district are.

The full program can be found at www.istorijufestivalis.eu.

October Wednesday, 10 16

“KTU WANTed career days“

“Žalgirio” arena, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 50

It’s the largest career fair in the Baltics organized by Kaunas University of Technology where thousands of students from Lithuanian universities, hundreds of business and industry companies, as well as organizations, meet. This year’s event is being organized for the 15th time. This year, more than 130 companies and public organizations, and more than 9 thousand job seekers are expected in the event!

will undoubtedly contribute to that.

The evening’s guests are the royal basketball club from Spain.

Friday, 10 25, 6 pm

“Flashes”. Video art screenings

Kaunas Artists’ house, V. Putvinskio g. 56

Thursday, 10 17, 8 pm

EuroLeague. Žalgiris Kaunas – Real Madrid “Žalgirio” arena, Karaliaus Mindaugo pr. 50

Photo by BC Žalgiris Kaunas .

A packed arena, green and white hearts, sincere shouts and hopes dedicated to the most popular basketball team in Lithuania. The new EuroLeague season is set to reach new record highs, and Kaunas’ players

Rimas Sakalauskas. “Synchronisation“.

In this event, media art and culture researcher professor dr.

Remigijus Venckus will present video works by five Lithuanian authors. “Synchronisation“ by Rimas Sakalauskas, “The shadow echo”

by Kristina Inčiūraitė, “Gariūnai” by Eglė Rakauskaitė, “Genesis” and “A dream about Iran” by Andrius Kviliūnas as well as „Tainstvo“ by Anastasija Sosunova will be shown. During the event, R. Venckus will discuss video films from social, technological and geopolitical perspectives and will introduce viewers to the development of video art. The project is organized by Kirtimai cultural centre.

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“Kaunas is not at all a dump, as you might have thought, but a city remarkable for its beautiful nature and vast spaces, with electricity, buses, Jews and lots of bad coffee” From Henry Parland’s (1908–1930) letter to his parents. The writer who resided in Kaunas for a short yet impressive time is one of the faces of the first CityTelling festival.

KAUNAS FULL OF CULTURE Monthly magazine about personalities and events in Kaunas (free of charge)

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Laisvės alėja 59, third floor

Editorial office:

Authors: Artūras Bulota, Austėja Banytė, Bernadeta Buzaitė, Eglė Šertvyčūtė, Emilija Visockaitė, Gediminas Skyrius, Julija Račiūnaitė, Justė Vyšniauskaitė, Kamilė Kaminskaitė, Kipras Štreimikis, Kotryna Lingienė, Kęstutis Lingys, Lukas Mykolaitis, Paulius Tautvydas Laurinaitis, Teodoras Biliūnas, Vaida Stepanovaitė.

Patrons:

KAUNO MIESTO SAVIVALDYBĖ

RUN 100010COPIES. TIRAŽAS 000 EGZ.

K AU N A S F U L L O F CU LT U R E

ISSN 2424-4465

Leidžia: Publisher:

2019 2017Nr. Nr.102 (50) (18)