N WIND | 02 ENG by N WIND

November 2014

CREATIVE NORTHERN ENERGY

Imagination

The Boundaries of Imagination The human imagination does have boundaries – that’s where it comes to life. The next time you look towards the horizon – the visible boundary between the known and the unknown – make a note of it. That’s where your imagination was born. The Beauty of Boundaries is the concept underpinning the design of Norway’s new krone banknotes, created by Snohetta, an Oslo-based multidisciplinary design agency (in Lithuania, you can see their work on the redesign of DNB’s identity). They are scheduled to enter into circulation in 2017 and – although the design will only appear on the backs of the new banknotes – the krone has now been labelled ‘the world’s coolest currency’ by design experts and the international media. According to Martin Gran, a partner at Snohetta, boundaries are meeting points as well as points of collision. The boundary between the present and the past – pixels – is the visual language of today, the origins of which date back to ancient mosaics. The way boundaries inspire the human imagination is an important aspect of the Norwegian identity because the country has one of the longest coastlines in the world (the total length of the coast with islands and fjords is over 100,000 km). It’s no secret that the brief by the Norwegian central bank had a fair few limitations. Even the pixels on the different denominations of the new banknotes have their own unique logic – they have been distorted in accordance with the Beaufort wind scale. The North Wind is rising. That is why this innovative concept is an example of bona fide boundary-inspired northern design. It’s open, because it invites you to create your own interpretation, but it’s also logical, because it has all the key components you would expect: national identity, progress and ambition. Because there is no visible boundary separating logic and the human imagination. Rather, that boundary is a meeting point and the starting point for fresh ideas. This topic will feature heavily in the second issue of N WIND. And in 2017 we will definitely be making the trip to Oslo – to invest in their imagination. Yours truly N WIND

N WIND ENCOURAGES TO CHANGE INSIDE AND ECHANGE BETWEEN

Monthly magazine about culture and creative business in Northern Europe

ISSN 2351-647X 2014, Nr. 2 Published by UAB BLACK SWAN BRANDS Address Šiaulių g. 10 / Žemaitijos g. 13, Vilnius www.nwindmag.eu hello@nwindmag.eu www.facebook.com/nwindmag

Editor Tautė Bernotaitė, taute@nwindmag.eu Authors Tautė Bernotaitė, Daina Dubauskaitė, Edvinas Grin, Brian W. Jones, Aat Kask, Dovydas Kiauleikis, Jara von Lüpke, Lina Mrazauskaitė, Tomas Mrazauskas, Giedrė Stabingytė, Domantas Širvinskas Advertising, distribution, projects Dovydas Kiauleikis, dovydas@nwindmag.eu Design Laura Tulaitė, Tomas Mozūra, tomas@nwindmag.eu Spinted by UAB „Lietuvos ryto spaustuvė“

Cover A PLACE TO WASH THE HEART – CHAPTER 3 – AMERICA 01 by Monika Bielskytė, 2014

Subject

JARA VON LUEPKE

ARE YOU A CHAOS PILOT?

The principal of Kaospilot WindelĂ¸v-LidzĂŠlius

Imagination is more important than ever before. The Kaospilot, a hybrid between a business and a design school, based in Denmark are driving a paradigm shift in management education, with a curricula that is not designed simply to shape students to fit the future, but to help them create it.

The future executive – like a host selecting guests to the party

FACTS ABOUT KAOSPILOT Founded in 1991 by Uffe Elbaeck (former Danish minister for culture) Studies last 3 years in 6 semesters 36 students admitted each year The school is located in Aarhus (Denmark) and Bern (Switzerland) Students work on projects worldwide No Bachelor degree, but 180 ECTS points can be transferred

Subject

Alumni: 1/3 start their own company, 1/3 assume leadership positions in private companies, 1/3 work within public sector

We live in disruptive times. “How do we train an entrepreneurial mindset, rather than productionline executives?” is a question more frequently asked around the heavy boardroom tables of today’s companies. Disruption has become every organisation’s constant companion. Over the past years IBM’s annual studies stated that the rate of change experienced by today’s businesses - dealing with rapidly evolving technology, an ever-growing mountain of data and the increasing need for global integration - is not manageable anymore. More so, this change needs to be interpreted, lead and navigated. It requires a novel and radical approach in training such knowledge. F**k Business without Culture. Kaospilot have been one of the pioneers in incorporating a broader liberal arts education approach into business teaching. The school aims to install a creative understanding of value-based entrepreneurship in its students, so that they may “do good, while doing well”. The Kaospilot self-proclaimed purpose as an institution is positive social change though personal growth and enterprise. In its mission the school envisions itself to give its students the power to consider what kind of society they want to be part of and to teach them to use their abilities to create the change they want to see. Business, our most powerful capital-driving force in translating ideas into action, must create value for society, not just for shareholders. The Kaospilot teaching program is based on the notion of systems thinking and process design, cultivation of team culture, and forward thinking approaches in project management, business and leadership. Already during the studies, students work as consultants for international companies to test their newly acquired knowledge. This action-based approach allows for individually tailored and self-directed studies. The external experts, flown in internationally to lecture at Kaospilot, are open to mentoring the budding changemakers. The principal Windeløv-Lidzélius puts it like this: “What differentiates Kaospilot from your regular university, is that we give our students space to experiment so that they create their own future. Being involved in a lot of practical projects allows them to obtain both a specific type of knowledge, but also a more generic set of competencies, to apply over and over again to new situations, and adapt into an ever changing world.” As a recent graduate myself entering the job market, I marvel at the intensity and complexity of my past years of studies. Over the duration of my studies I have consulted a Mexican waste management initiative on their business plan, supported a hospital in Spain to design an openinnovation process to improve the health-care system collaboratively with their customers, and co-founded a social movement in South Africa called 100in1day, aimed at fostering civic participation for residents to reclaim their cities regeneration, currently spreading itself to over 15 cities on 4 continents. Particularly fascinating for me was the diversity in both individual backgrounds and futures being dreamed about by my fellow students, ranging from medical college dropout, salesmen and managers, to activists, former art directors and dancers. Diversity in the classroom is seen as an asset at Kaospilot, as it creates opportunity for

Jara von Luepke is an engagement practitioner and curious connector of people and ideas. Educated as a process designer at Kaospilot, her focus is on building relationships that enable multi-stakeholder conversation across sectors. She is particularly passionate about creating inclusive urban experiences.

creative friction as well as for deep inter-personal learning. What we have in common is a desire to re-imagine the current business narrative. At Kaospilot you will find those who want to not only deal with the symptoms of a system that is collapsing into itself but work towards its core. Those who would like to practice a view that goes beyond the rim of their own teacup and who are willing to learn how to collaborate with others. Innovation generally takes place through a process of conversations among people and organisations with different background & perspectives, together choosing, identifying and clarifying problems to the point where a solution can arise amongst their midst. The future role of the executive or manager therefore becomes much more the one of a facilitator and host, who identifies the ‘guests to bring to the party’ and aims fostering a culture that encourages these conversations, keeps them flowing across difficulties and in general aims at removing organisational barriers that prevent them. We have to move away from our obsession with creativity and focus on imagination instead. Creativity has become a factory-job, with ideas being

Photograph: idoart agency

Such schools brand the Nordics as a region invested in innovative education mass-produced by minds perched in post-it clustered rooms. To come up with new and truly creative approaches to service-delivery and product design we need to re-install the childlike, mysterious and expansive quality of imagination in our work. Cognitive imagination means to interpret and look at a problem from multiple angles, to become empathic and imagine our selves in the shoes of our customers. We have to be able to imagine a new world, to then creatively create it. Just like Buckminster Fuller famously stated: “To change something, build a new model that makes the existing model obsolete”. The Nordics lead educational innovation. The Kaospilot are not the only tertiary business

school anymore, actively working on creating new educational models. Especially in Scandinavia such schools are popping up all over the place like mushrooms. The Scandinavian soil, well tilled from early implementation of the popular education system, seems to provide a fertile ground for this trend to grow. Initiatives have already been started between institutions in Finland, Sweden and Norway to plug into the potential of collaborating to push experimental educational approaches even deeper into mainstream schooling and to thereby also further brand the Nordics as a region invested in innovative education. Although frequently praised, with features in BusinessWeek, Fast Company and Monocle’s “Guide to good business”, challenges remain in how the school is perceived by the public. Academia critics the generalness of the education and the student’s attitude in “asking for forgiveness rather than permission” in their endeavors to experiment with new ideas, can be perceived as cocky. Windeløv-Lidzélius however trusts in the process of changing educational paradigms: “Knowledge production via universities has a 1000 year old tradition. The Kaospilot have just

turned 20 years old. We are a breath in the universities history. More so, we are predominantly practitioners. We are not researchers, who can academically explain, why you should organize a project exactly this way, but we can instead help you realize it.” You might wonder, what are the reasons for a dynamic person who already is in business to attend Kaospilot? First of all, it may teach you to better decide which challenges to pick to work on, to train your critical sensitivity to hidden assumptions and ask better questions to find better problems. You can cultivate your entrepreneurial spirit, to stay alert in a fast moving start-up economy. Learning about concepts such as ‘experience design’ and ‘design thinking’ will help you discover new approaches of meeting your customer’s needs. Furthermore, you will facilitate multi-stakeholder conversations that will give you the chance to face your inner edge and enter those challenging yet meaningful collaborations that will move your practice to the next level.

www.kaospilot.dk

Facilitator Organisational Creativity Giedrė Stabingytė “Ha, Kaospilot – that’s sooo 90s,” said Jonas Boutani Werner, a Kaospilot alumnus, with an air of nonchalance and dismissiveness during a conversation a few years ago. And he probably didn’t believe it himself, because his work is consistent with the Kaospilot ideology – Jonas worked as a designer and facilitator of creative processes and innovation and change agent mentor with the Danish consultants Changedesign and is currently starting a new company with another chaos pilot. As for me, I found out about Kaospilot when I was taking part in a leadership program in Stockholm. As the nature of Kaospilot is more akin to a movement of ideas than a simple business school, it should come as no surprise that its alumni feel at home in interdisciplinary waters. I was left with the impression that this movement is guided by somewhat hippyish methods, that it appears to be different by its very nature and, as I viewed it at the time, chaotic. However, Kaospilots are not a subculture within business, they are instead facilitators of organisational creativity, a phenomenon of modern economics.

Tema

So what about that idea that Kaospilot is sooo 90s? Ha! I don’t remember when I said that or what I meant but the school was founded in 1992 and there was some hype surrounding it in the years that followed. It embraced, and even pushed, some of the cultural and organisational trends that were new then. The school has outlived many of the other organisations with similar values because it continuously develops to stay relevant. What was your experience with Kaospilot? I have had a lot of education and I think Kaospilot is the first of all of those that really put the student as the centre of attention. Those tree years were so much fun but they were also incredibly challenging professionally, personally and socially. It has influenced me on a very deep level. You’re working on a new company. What’s in store? Me and my colleague Henrik Johansson have

acilitator of anisational reativity

Noticed Paper. We have become used to comparing ourselves to the Estonians almost to the point of being sensitive to it, but one thing for which we should envy the Latvians is the abundance of print magazines. Agnese Kleina and Madara Krievina’s bilingual (LV and EN) magazine Benji Knewman (referred to as a ‘bookazine’ by its authors) joins the ranks of the conceptual Veto and The Modernists. The biannual magazine has a circulation of 3000 and, for €15, will tell you stories about people from all over the world. People who try to spend their days the way they spend their lives. You can order it online, the next issue is coming out in spring. benjiknewman.com Age. Did you go and see Sasha Waltz’s dance show Korper two years ago? We were happy to have a superstar of her calibre appearing in Lithuania but nevertheless felt that the age of the performance was discernible and, being 10 years old, it felt less sensational, more textbook and archetypal. The same can be said of the Theatre de Vidy-Lausanne, who will be visiting the National Theatre on 9th November with German theatre legend Heiner Goebbels’ play Max Black. Max Black premiered 16 years ago. We get our share of good culture, but too often it comes over when it is no longer provocative and poses no risk of getting under our cultural skin. And we definitely need to thicken our cultural skin – just remember the reaction to Castellucci’s vaccines.

worked together for almost ten years and we have a passion for making people work smarter together so that is what’s in store. That can mean design thinking, learning journeys or other types of transformative experiences. But I think where we have the biggest impact is when we get invited into organisations to develop teams and working cultures to meet challenges over longer periods of time. In December/January, I will be leading some workshop sessions at a retreat on the Andaman Islands, which is also where I’ll be making my own plan for 2015 and beyond. One big project that excites me for the coming year is focussed on raising the creative capacity in one of the world’s leading environmental organisations. Jonas and the imagination: =,>,<,…? I see the alligator but I usually do it like this: >”I—I-~ boutani@me.com

Skype: Boutani

Everything. The Person Who Knew Everything. Would that be philosopher Kristupas Sabolius or Tomas Ramanauskas, one of the founders of New!, an advertising and ideas agency? Neither, actually – it’s the name of a book about creativity written by the pair, which is due for release in November. It will contain 98 stories about events, visions, solutions, achievements, and unusual decisions. It appears that the book’s authors have searched the world over for people who knew everything. They remind us that knowing everything is impossible; however, the insatiable desire for knowledge inspires creativity. The book promises to be an antidote to ‘alchemic’ coaching textbooks and we can’t wait to make sure.

Diary

Jonas Boutani Werner

Drop. ‘Lithuanian Design Drops. Selected products from a rainy country’ was the motto used to introduce Lithuanian design on 1st-5th October in Copenhagen. Lithuanian Design Drops were aiming to sell a small part of Lithuanian culture in the ‘Dome of Visions’, a glass pavilion set up in the centre of Copenhagen. Aside from the design fair, which had everything from jewellery by Tadam to furniture by Narbutas, there was also an evening of short films and there were more than a few drops of Lithuanian ‘devil water’ imbibed by the guests at the closing party. The result? The visitors – mostly Lithuanians living in Copenhagen – were able to enjoy a small piece of home and tourists visiting Copenhagen had the opportunity to buy some exotic souvenirs. It would seem that a lack of publicity was most likely responsible for the scarcity of Danes in attendance.

Stance. In the first issue of N WIND we wrote about the statues on the Green Bridge and invited you to sign a petition calling for their removal, which we hoped you would do before the conference organised by the State Commission for Cultural Heritage. While the magazine was on the printing presses, the Commission postponed the conference. We would like to emphasise the stance taken by N WIND: there is no point in waiting for decisions made in conferences – the Green Bridge statues must be taken down immediately.

Protagonist

ASTON MARTIN ONE-77 Creative direction & photography by Monika Bielskytė, 2011

Tautė Bernotaitė

Seeing Possibilities 8

Monika Bielskytė

“Monika, if you can imagine it, then you can do it.” That is how Monika’s yoga teacher gave her advice to overcome fear when Monika doubted whether she could do a handstand. It appears that he picked those words deliberately for someone who makes a living out of her ability to imagine. Photographer and creative strategist Monika Bielskytė’s clients are, among others, car manufacturer Aston Martin, fashion designer Dries Van Noten, fashion icon of the century Rick Owens, tech companies Intel and Samsung, and Jake and Ridley Scott’s RSA Films. Monika is 28.

One could say science is the new art

ossibilities

Like many multidisciplinary creatives, Monika doesn’t want to be bound by any one artistic practice or medium. “Image production is the most visible part of my work, but it’s certainly not my main focus. It’s all about storytelling, photography is a tool, like any other,” she says. “The results of my work as a brand/strategic consultant aren’t as immediate. For example, a year ago, I was consulting some people in Argentina and as a result of those discussions, they’ve made great strides forward and are working on some interesting things. I like to sow seeds and watch them slowly grow into something.” Still, Monika devotes a lot of her time to photography. However, she is interested not in photography in and of itself, but rather the possibility of preserving in time the faces, places, and shapes that she photographs. “I want people to feel touched, I want them to linger with the images I have created in the same way they would with a book,” she says during our virtual virtual conversation. A few years ago, Monika was right at the divide between life and death, drowning in Japan. After this, lines from T. S. Eliot’s poem East Coker became especially important to her: “In order to arrive at what you are not / You must go through the way in which you are not.” Monika admits that she would like to create images that entice people to return for new meanings, just as she returns to the words of T. S. Eliot. “Everything can be taken away from you in an instant. Even with big companies like Nokia.”

She pays careful attention to processes and, as part of her portfolio, also has the role of digital content strategist or product development consultant. “That’s why all I’m looking to gain is knowledge and experience,” she adds. Tell us about the inspiration behind your Parisbased project SOME/THINGS, the luxury book/ magazine which later became a creative studio and gallery. You managed to attract some impressive names. I got into photography early. I had my first exhibition in Lithuania at 13. When I was 18, I moved to Paris. A few years later, my works were introduced at the Saatchi Gallery and at Sotheby’s auction, I had a solo show at Foam in Amsterdam, and my first monograph, Times Immemorial, was funded by the Lithuanian Ministry of Culture. But I didn’t feel ready to be in the spotlight as an artist. I was just a kid after all. I felt I could learn much more while working and collaborating with people who had deeper knowledge and greater experience. Also, books were a big part of my life at the time and gave me a way to access the magical world that I couldn’t experience growing up in Šiauliai. Books allowed me to see that there is another reality than what I was exposed to. So, at 22, I found a way to connect my love of literature with my desire to work with the most talented people of the time. The magazine seemed to be an ideal solution. The magazine seemed to be a perfect way to do it. It felt that there was a niche in the market for it. But I guess it was that very genuine desire and authentic attitude that drew people to it. Of course, many people tried to discourage me, pointing out the difficulties I would certainly have to face. But as it is known I’m not great at taking no for an answer. Two such people were the incredibly well known artists Michele Lamy and her husband Rick Owens. How did you make that connection? Oh, that’s an interesting story. I contacted Michele as I wanted her to work with us on the first issue of SOME/THINGS. She saw our address and saw that the SOME/THINGS office was right next to her and Rick’s first home in Paris. So Michele says: “What a coincidence. It’s been a while since I was in that neighbourhood, why don’t I stop by.” And so there she was, Michele Lamy herself, with all her rings, henna-painted fingers and hair. I can only guess she must have told herself: “These kids are interesting, why don’t we help them out.” I’ll be forever grateful to her for granting me that chance.

Protagonist

You spent five years working on the magazine. Why did you decide to stop last year? Initially, the core motivation was to share the things that we loved and in the process of that create something truly beautiful. However, as startups grow and have to be transformed into a sustainable business the points of view of co-founders often diverge. I guess SOME/THINGS was not an exception to that. I wanted to think more long term, focus on innovation and give priority to the most challenging projects. Despite being the creative behind the inception of SOME/THINGS I did not have the majority stake in the company. Hence I could not fully implement my point of view, so it

EFREN GARZA IN JUUN J, SAMSUNG CHEIL INDUSTRIES PROJECT Creative direction, styling & photography by Monika Bielskytė, 2013

seemed a wiser decision to depart rather than get entangled into an everyday argument over different ideals. Lesson learned: everything comes and goes – money, business, friends, love. The knowledge that you gain is that one thing that no one can take away from you. Monika’s talents as a manager and leader caught the eye of graphic designer Janis Milzarajs. “She had a real Parisian work ethic: she was a very strict, demanding and exceptionally meticulous creative director. Monika had her creative vision worked out to the very last detail and it isn’t much of an overstatement to say that she would have compromised on it only over her dead body,” recalls Janis. He believes the experience gained working on the 6th issue of SOME/THINGS taught him to be as attentive to typographical de-

and I also enjoy the limitations of photography – representing a desired reality by finding that image in the real world,” says Monika and adds that her philosophical attitude to the art of photography was heavily influenced by her lonely teenage years spent watching the films of Andrei Tarkovsky and Ingmar Bergman, reading Hermann Hesse as well as her interest in calligraphy, martial arts, philosophical literature and Chan Buddhism drawings. Monika says that absence was more formative than presence: “I was a difficult child, I couldn’t sit still. I had fire in belly. I was driven by the desire to learn. As a teenager I grew somewhat of a recluse. I don’t know whether I was actually like that or whether it was a memory I created for myself.”

RICK OWENS – AT PALAIS BOURBON, PARIS Portrait by Monika Bielskytė, 2010

tails as he is now. In his opinion, Monika’s taste, eye and narrative style are very unique in the creative field. Monika’s relationship with art began with drawing. She took art classes as a child in Šiauliai. “Painting presents you with a wide range of possibilities to represent the vision within you. But I’m more inspired with what I see in the world,

Even though Monika likes to watch, she also likes to turn her back. At 15, she left school and her home in Šiauliai and moved to Vilnius. At 18, she left for Paris and lived there for 10 years. Over a year ago she decided to move again, departing her personal and professional life, and the city. She calls herself a technological nomad of sorts going wherever work takes her. Currently, she most interested in California, which she sees as

time and to be able to see such changes. I think in 10 years we will laugh at the fact that we drew a line between the digital world and reality. The two will merge. How do you establish relationships with companies like that? I contacted Intel myself, while 8i got in touch with me, asking me to show their work to RSA Films (Monika has worked as a consultant regarding visual decisions with them – ed.). After the conversation with 8i, they offered to collaborate. Collaborations can start in different ways. I always tried to meet as many interesting people as possible. You won’t meet them in bars, other interesting people bring them to you. I sometimes feel like I am a collection of acquaintances I have made throughout my life.

CERN – ASAKUSA EXPERIMENT – GENEVA Photography by Monika Bielskytė, 2013

It seems that uncharted territory has attracted Monika for a long time. She remembers her geography teacher and lessons that opened her eyes to the wider world with fondness: “My geography teacher was strict and I really liked her. She didn’t concentrate on facts and instead helped us delve into the culture of each country and tap into the nature of it. I now understand that the way she presented the world gave me a lot.”

a confluence of technological innovation and entertainment. Photographing technology, do you need to employ your imagination in a different way than with subjects that have an emotional basis? Honestly, I don’t think so. I’ve worked with many people from the fields of science and technology, from companies such as CERN, Aston Martin, Intel and Samsung. I spoke with the people that discovered the Higgs boson, one of my dearest friends and a true inspiration is he scientist that laid the foundations for the discovery of gravitational waves; these people are no less creative than any of the artists I’ve met. Scientific imagination might be applied differently, but it is in no way less extraordinary, rather the opposite. The power of imagination (and lots of hard work) brings worlds to being. I think that creativity is really the ability to imagine possibilities where others see a blank space.

have to answer the questions posed by science. I want to use my knowledge, image-making, communication and branding strategy to get to open up to the opportunities that technological innovation can bring us.

You have been spending more and more time working with technology. Why is that? Because, right now, that’s what I know least about. I have spent a long time working with art, fashion, and design. Yet science and technology are so relevant today. They are truly the disciplines that are changing the world as we know it. In some way, science theory is the new philosophy and scientific imagery is the new art. Technology allows us to create forms, shapes and patterns we only recently could not even envisage. Biotechnology, genetical engineering, nanotechnology, robotics touch on the most important topic of today, that is, what is waiting for us in the future. There are no answers to existential questions, but we will

Your newest client is 8i. What will you be helping them with? 8i is a young company from New Zealand working on virtual reality technology. It’s the combined effort of special effects professionals who have worked on films like The Matrix and Star Wars. They met working on Avatar, which needed the best special effects workers around. 8i film the world and turn it into a virtual reality. I work as a creative strategist and introduce them to – in my opinion – the most interesting people in the creative industries. And my task is to pitch the possibilities of virtual reality to those people. To do that, you need to see the potential of the field. Honestly, it’s all incredible. I feel so happy to be alive at this

Protagonistas

What processes take place when you decide that you have to create something? When you think about it, the action of creating something is only a short part of the whole process (laughs). It’s a consequence of conversations, discussions, coordination, letters, meetings, and research. As for my work, I don’t like to do things that have already been successfully done. I like to work on projects that explore unknown territory.

Creativity is to expand the possible

Can you do a handstand now? Yes, and I can do a headstand too. But achievements aren’t the most important thing – it’s the ability to participate in the process in the present. Yoga requires concentration and physical discipline improves the ability of the mind to concentrate. It’s difficult to achieve and can slip away very easily.

Aat Kask I am an air force pilot of completely sound mind. I undergo a compulsory medical examination, mental health included, twice a year. I’ve seen it at least twice. Twice over the course of my entire life. And that’s a lot, when you think that most people have never even seen so much as a damn grouse. The first time was by the North Sea, 27 years ago, near King’s Lynn docks. I had just come off duty and had the next day and a half off. The cutter had docked half an hour before and I was ambling down a street in the dreary town. It was a sunny day, unusual in some way. The plants left by the receding tide had a stench that was stronger than usual (only later did it dawn on me – that the sea was unusual from the very beginning, that is). As I reached the top of the hill, I spotted an unplanned bistro. It was standing next to the display in the window. The clothes it was wearing seemed to have simply grown out from within. They didn’t fit very well – they had just coalesced together with the rest of it. It didn’t have a face, only a mask meant to depict a happy human being. It was only a disguise of course, an eerily cheerful expression that you only see on idiots or lottery-winners. Not only did it not have a gender, it was also missing an intrinsic component. A soul. It looked like it had borrowed a mediocre carnival costume and put it on without even looking. The costume was a little too bright and clung to the body just a little too well to fool you into thinking it was real. The shop was closed but it was looking at something in the display window. This was an antiques shop, filled with dead books, lamps, postcards, records and the like. Captivated by the shop, It was just about climbing inside. He couldn’t see anything around him, wasn’t looking anywhere else, he was inside himself. He needed that mould like a ruthless snorter needs his fix of flour. I felt the urge to go over and hit It. With a road sign, to make the shit spurt out from his skull, because there’s nothing else that could have been in there. But fear, and that’s the same as intuition, told me to stay put. It should have already been inside the shop, it was obvious the glass was no obstacle. Abruptly, it broke away from the window, turned to the other side of the street and darted across. Darted because all of it had simply relocated to the other side. The shiny, varnished shoes, despite being at the point of bursting due to the size and weight of their owner’s feet, some-

how managed to endure the ordeal and simply carried him across to the other side of the street. Each one of his joints was rigid but it moved as if being pulled by some sort of vacuum pump on the other side of the street. It was a kite, whose owner was light years away. Or at least separated by an order of measurement. Cast by some repulsive means into our space, but controlled, by means of a chord, by someone in another. The rubbing of the chord against my brain was painful. The chord extended from the back of the papier mache beast, through my brain, through the buildings and straight to Gehenna. The next meeting occurred in London, in the southern part of the city. It happened in the evening, near Streatham Common station. He appeared again, 28 years later, and he hadn’t changed a bit. His weight was impossible to fathom, he seemed to be made from some extremely dense substance but moved easily, effortlessly even. He was dressed the same, the same gleaming shoes at the point of bursting, a tweed jacket and a shirt with the buttons done up to the top. His face was beaming. He was in the same good mood – if his outlook on life had changed, it was only in the slightest. Except this time, he recognised me. Made a note of me. Nodded with his entire body and floated away from the train station, along the wall, with his back facing forward, as his master pulled him deeper and deeper.

THE ECONOMY OF THE Lina Mrazauskaitė

WORLD

itiveness and position on the international market and can even revive a city’s image, highlighting its creativity.

For a long time, the cultural and creative industries (CCIs) were not acknowledged as an economic phenomenon. In the early 1950s, due to the lack of data, it was difficult to measure its effect on national budgets and there was a traditional view that valuing cultural and creative production in economic terms goes against their very nature. Some time later, Marxists started discussing the economic effects of the industry, however, it was argued that they only reflect – and don’t affect – the economic status of a country.

In the 2010 European Competitiveness Report, the creative sector was acknowledged as one the fastest growing economic sectors in the EU. And in 2013, it became clear that the effect of the creative economy on economic growth is set to keep increasing: in 2011, the international value of the creative sector’s products and services was $624bn and more than doubled in the period between 2002-2011 with an average annual growth of 8.8%. This growth was even more significant in developed countries at 12.1%. The data comes from the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development. According to the latest data from 2013, the economic value of the creative sector in the European Union constituted 3.3% of the GDP and employed 6.7m people – 3% of the total number of those in employment.

The global value of the services and products produced by the creative sector has doubled over the last decade and continues to grow. The technology sector experienced similar growth in the past and now it is impossible to imagine the world without them.

The biggest attitude change to the CCIs was prompted by studies carried out at the end of the 20th century in developed countries. They showed that the industries share similarities with other leading sectors – they can increase a country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and gross value added (GVA), they have the potential to attract investments and highly qualified workers and speed up creative innovation in every economic sector. This is how, in the opinion of researchers, the CCIs improve a country’s compet-

SUBJECT

WHAT ARE THE CCIs? The concept of the creative and cultural industries (CCIs) is broad and includes acting, the visual arts, cultural heritage, cinema, television and radio, music, publishing, gaming, new media, architecture, design, fashion and advertising. The connection between these industries is that they all employ creativity, cultural knowledge and intellectual property in creating their products and providing their services and these have a social and cultural significance. The terms “cultural industries” and “creative industries” are often used synonymously. However, the cultural industries usually emphasise cultural heritage and traditional as well as artistic elements of creativity, while the creative industries emphasise individual creative talent and innovation and intellectual property.

“It is clear that the economic effect of the creative and cultural sector is well known. And the growth of the IT, audiovisual arts and other subsectors indicated that it has great potential for further growth. Culture-centric creativity undoubtedly has an effect on the creation of innovative new products and services,” says Daiva Nazarovienė, the head of the EU Funding Division at the Department of Strategic Planning and Control under the Ministry of Culture. However, the public have only recently started to warm to the idea that the value of the creative sector is equal to that of traditional businesses like the food, textile or woodworking industries Companies from almost every sector experience the influence of the creative industries when looking for ways to stand out from the competition. People from these industries design innovative products and outstanding advertising campaigns, they look for ingenious technical solutions to make the lives of consumers easier. All of that, undoubtedly, increases sales and strengthens their brands. It means the value of a brand depends on the work of people from the creative industries. The difficulty in measuring the value of the creative sector therefore stems from the creative sector’s integration with other sectors. Especially when creative decisions that generate more significant profits are often simply attributed to the manufacturers themselves.

BALTIC STATES

In the Baltic states, the CCIs started receiving national attention in 2005. That year, the British Council presented the concept to the Lithuanian ministries and it was added to the cultural policy agenda. Estonia and Lithuania also added funding the creative industries to their national strategies, looking to receive financing from the EU’s Structural Funds in 2007-2013.

POTENTIAL 7 areas of the cultural and creative industries with the greatest potential in Lithuania* 1. Computer gaming 2. Cultural tourism 3. Design and jewellery 4. Recreational business 5. Advertising 6. Architecture 7. Cinema * according to the expert evaluation of the National Association of the Creative and Cultural Industries

It is still fairly difficult to establish the economic role of the CCIs. Due to the fact that research on the creative sector is carried out differently in all three Baltic States, direct comparisons of the actual benefits, value added and other economic indicators are not feasible, while reliable organisations such as Eurostat do not distinguish the CCIs as a separate category. That is why the economic effect of the creative industries can only be established from the details. This, by the way, makes it more difficult for businesses operating in this sector to receive financing, as it becomes difficult for financial backers and institutions to evaluate their potential. This problem is still relevant in the entire European Union. For example, based on the latest data from Eurostat, the gross value added from the arts, entertainment, recreation and other services in Latvia was €340.8m, the biggest in the Baltics and had an annual growth of 8.9%. In Lithuania, the gross value added of this sector was €251.4m (annual growth – 3.1%) and €203.2m in Estonia (but with an impressive annual growth of 11.2%). However, looking at the more specific categories related, directly or indirectly, to the creative sector, we can see that in almost all of them, the gross value added is higher in Lithuania than the other Baltic states. It is interesting to note that the cultural and creative sector remained stable during the economic downturn. Due to this, its effects have remained more or less the same. At this time, according to data from the Ministry of Culture, employees in the cultural and creative sector make up 2% of the total (although other sources have this figure at 5%) with a gross value added of over 5%, while the products produced and serv-

IMAGINATION ices provided make up 5% of the total exports. Most of these exports are to the UK, USA and France as well as Moldova, Luxembourg, Russia, among others. “These are numbers that reflect only a portion of the value created by the cultural and creative sector. The one that we can calculate accurately. However, we mustn’t forget that this sector covers a large spectrum of activity that is not included due to its intrinsic nature. For example, product design can make up to 70% of the total value but the statistics won’t show that as it is included with the economic indicators of the manufacturing sector. This same principle applies in many other sectors as well,” noted D. Nazarovienė. Similar results have been presented by the other Baltic States. True, Estonia has taken a slim lead, according to Tomas Jancoras, the Chairman of the National Association of the Creative and Cultural Industries. In his opinion, this is probably not due to any specific political decisions but better overall political management.

ESTONIA

Helena Unt, a representative from the governmental agency Creative Estonia, on the situation in Estonia In 2007, Estonia applied to receive EU funding for CCI expansion. This woke up the sector: it increased awareness, improved the framework for funding and the creative sector is now a priority on both a national and a local level. In 2012, the Estonian Institute of Economic Research presented their findings that €1 invested in a local cultural event returns to the economy, via taxes, as €4. These findings encouraged local municipalities to support more cultural events, sports events and festivals. In 2011, the CCIs generated about 2.7% or €426m of Estonia’s GDP. At this time, there are 7066 companies and organisations recognised as belonging to the creative industries. In 2011, this made up 11.4% of all companies in Estonia. In accordance with the Estonian incubatory model, new companies receive an office for the first two to three years. Consultations, contacts, help with exports and marketing services is also included. Participants in these incubatory programs pay only a small portion of the true cost of the services. The incubators do not invest in the companies themselves but help them find investors. Examples of the international successes of the program include the virtual fitting room Fits. me and animation studio TOLM. The first attempts in Estonia focussed on assisting expansion centres instead of specific com-

Gross value added (not adjusted for inflation), millions Field: Arts, entertainment and recreation 2012

2012

251.4 340.8 203.2 €

€

2011

€ 238.3

€ 300.7

€ 176.8

Lithuania

Latvia

Estonia

Eurostat data panies. This helped create a reliable knowledge base and network. This, in turn, encourages export growth – a key economic growth factor for a country with a such a small domestic market. Design, music, architecture and cinema could be singled out as the areas experiencing the most visible changes. For example, Tallinn Music Week, the annual music industry conference, has now become the biggest indoor music festival in northern Europe.

ter gaming. These are the preliminary findings of a study conducted by the National Association of Creative and Cultural Industries. Lithuania’s favourable position in relation to the other Baltic states is down to a much more significant IT boom. According to the Ministry of Culture, several international companies are either opening or planning to open offices in Lithuania and turnover is increasing in multiples rather than fractions.

Skype is the best-known Estonian brand. Newer brands receiving international attention are producers of smart flower pots Click & Grow, the taxi app Taxify and high-end speaker makers Estelon. The aforementioned Tallinn Music Week and the Black Nights Film Festival are important CCI events in the region.

Design, which also has great potential for growth in Lithuania, is far too dynamic to be able to discern a clear leader in the Baltics. “I find the concept of ‘competition’ a little strange in the modern world – I think we should be talking more about cooperation. Do we really want to be significantly ahead of our neighbours in any one field? Maybe being more or less equal and doing something together in the Asian or African market would be better?” said T. Jancoras.

POTENTIAL

Lithuania’s most promising sector in terms of potential for competition and growth is compu-

Workers employed in CCI sectors, 2012, thousands Lithuania

Latvia

Estonia

Printing and reproduction of recorded media

4.4

3.2

3.5

Publishing activities

4.8

3.1

4.4

Motion picture, video and TV production; Programming and broadcasting activities

3.0

1.2

2.2

Computer programming, consultancy and related activities

13.7

12.1

9.1

Advertising and market research

5.1

5.8

3.4

Arts, entertainement and recreation; Libraries, archives, museums and other cultural activities; Gambling and betting activities

16.1

12.4

10.2

Eurostat data

Gediminas Kukta

BALTICLAB: Laboratory For some, the Baltic Sea is 386,000 square kilometres of cold, sad and wet water. And a blustery breeze every once in a while. One that sometimes washes up an unsightly seal, some green seaweed or a piece of ice. If this is how you feel, the breaking waves probably make your insides shrink to the size of a grain of sand. Look how far it is to Sweden. Just think how long I’d have to swim to get to Tallinn. Or how many oars would break by the time I made it to Gdansk. For others, the Baltic is almost holy water. Come rain or shine, snowstorm or heatwave – trips to the seaside still cause the soul to rejoice. Rejoice because of the seagulls, the light sand on the dunes, because you can chew on a piece of grass (or some smelt), while you watch a white ship slice through the horizon. And the lands beyond it are not foreign. If this is how you see the sea, Gotland is a stone’s throw away. You could doggy paddle to Riga or front crawl to Helsinki. The Baltic is a glass of water – either half empty (obstacle) or half full (possibility). It all depends on your point of view. So let’s talk about points of view. Let’s talk about Balticlab.

SUBJECT

What is Balticlab? In official terms, Balticlab is a project aimed at talented young people interested in the creative industries who would like to work on innovative projects that increase cooperation between countries in the region. Balticlab provides the tools and knowledge the projects require. In less formal terms, Balticlab is the Baltic imagination, the work of the minds of 9 countries and their common heartbeat for several months. The region’s heartbeat, felt by a group of Balts. The project first took place in spring of 2012 and will be revived for a third time in December of this year, lasting until spring. Balticlab is jointly organised between the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the Swedish Institute. Participants are from Sweden, Finland, Russia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and, this year, Belarus will be joining the list for the first time. Balticlab takes place over several stages. The first weekend consists of a meeting of 30-40 successful candidates in Stockholm. After various meetings, interviews and creative workshops, about 20 participants go through to the next stage. After that, participants from different countries are placed into groups of 4-6 people to work on their projects. Finally, one project is chosen to receive further funding. Most of the work at Balticlab is done by three key people – Anthony Jay Olsson, Head of Communication at the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the man who came up with the idea for Balticlab. The second is Mirjam Külm, Project Co-coordinator at the Council of the Baltic Sea States and the third – Olga Knudsen, Project Manager at the Swedish Institute.

What do Balticlab’s organisers and participants have to say about it?

Andrius Lekavičius

Film and advert producer, Lithuania Frön is the name of the project created by Andrius and four people from Estonia, Latvia, Sweden and Poland. Frön is a platform/agency for the fashion industry. Frön would help Baltic designers get noticed. Frön would establish links with other countries. Frön would encourage the export of products, services and ideas in the fashion industry. Frön in means ‘seeds’ in Swedish. Frön was chosen as the best Balticlab project this year.

Anthony Jay Olsson Balticlab organiser, Sweden

Anthony speaks about the project in fairly simple terms, calling it a bridge across the Baltic. He is sure that a belief in new technologies, respect for traditions, history and aesthetics – and not just the sea itself – is responsible for the feeling of unity between the countries

“I didn’t have any expectations. I was ready to go with the flow, just as you should with a project to do with the Baltic Sea. That turned out to be the right thing to do,” said Andrius. During Balticlab, he learned to speak Latvian (or at least he thinks he did). He joked that he got to know the participants in official settings and in slightly ‘wilder’ ones, although he was reluctant to reveal what went on behind the scenes: “That isn’t for the press.”

He likes to watch seemingly different people meeting for the first time, seeing how they communicate, how they look for and create a united vision which grows, crystallises and finally turns into a plan. How, at the end, everyone understands “We are Baltic”. Anthony says that over the two years, there have been some really brave projects. From a ship that would introduce Baltic design while travelling across the world, to a unique modern expedition around the 10,000 km of the Baltic shoreline, which would later become a film. Still, it is interesting to consider why this particular model was chosen and not one that is more similar to startup accelerators, which unites people with specific ideas already prepare. Isn’t asking people from different backgrounds to come up with ideas for new projects a little too much? Anthony has an answer: “We chose an open model because our program is oriented not only at startups. People from the business world are invited as well, but so are cultural operators and workers from the services sector. Balticlab is almost a hybrid of the two models. Our project is parallel to diplomacy. Our participants receive a lot of information about public funding, especially related to the European Union’s strategy for the Baltic Sea region. Balticlab doesn’t concentrate only on entrepreneurship.”

of Imagination

BALTIC IS THE NEW BLACK

Ömer Yasar

IT consultant, Sweden Fantastic cities, fantastic people and fantastic life stories – that’s how Ömer describes Balticlab. Those stories gave rise to the idea for his project Indi-Go. A mobile app that, in his words, helps you find “blasting” places in the Baltic region through the unique stories of their residents. For example, say you’re in Riga, you turn on your smartphone, install the app and, in the palm of your hand, you can find a unique, out of the way spot in the docks that you won’t find on any tourist guide, which you will be taken to by local hipster Laila. Or you’re in the old town in Warsaw, tap on the screen and, a few steps later, you’re in a secret indie bar where the record player is playing Nico’s Julius Caesar (Memento Hodié), a Frank Zappa lookalike is smoking in the shadows and the barman is pouring anise-flavoured pastis.

Giedrė Stabingytė Salla Kijalainen

Graphic designer. Lived in Sweden during the project, currently lives in Finland She isn’t keen on stereotypes. According to her, people in the Baltic region are connected by a common love of gherkins. People often ask Salla about the differences between Swedes and Finns. She doesn’t know the answer and hates the question: “I like to think that my way of thinking is more like that of people from Estonia and Latvia.” It was her team that came up with the Beach Institute – an artistic-anthropological journey along the shores of the Baltic Sea, the goal of which is to (re)imagine the coastline, give a voice to local heroes, get to know local traditions all the while encouraging people to look after sea. The journey will be well-documented and the material will be used to create six films and publications. At the moment they are still looking for sponsors and ironing out the details. They set off in spring. Salla and her team have already managed to experience the charm of the coast. I ask her to tell me about it. And so she does.

Managing Director at BLACK SWAN BRANDS, Lithuania I took part in the first Balticlab and I would tend to agree with Anthony and all the other participants! But. I would still question the model itself. It’s a really big challenge for the organisers and participants to generate ideas for projects that you have to create without an organic need for them. And, even though the organisers stress the importance of the process and the network being created, it seems that we’re nearing the point where we will have to evaluate the result: the projects that have been created, their long-term value in improving the potential for the region. I think Balticlab has to show that to the public by next year. I think the project needs a more solid structure. Maybe Balticlab could become an institute? Or a partnership or network between universities in the region and a platform for their innovation? Or maybe Balticlab should create a new team of organisers to work on local events and to coordinate stages of the project? Big strides have been made in strengthening the Balticlab brand so the organisers should now be thinking about ensuring the sustainability of the project.

About the local shaman she met in Gotland, about his spiritual seance in a giant stone circle, about the strange old woman with a pet parrot who taught her team to play Korona on an Estonian island.

Daina Dubauskaitė Life is certainly full of coincidences. My debut in the inaugural issue of N WIND was an interview with a Danish band WhoMadeWho. We mentioned Efterklang, another Danish band, when we talked about the possibility being a prophet in your own country. Right now Rasmus Stolberg, one of the members of Efterklang, is under my radar. The authors of four elaborate studio albums are on their way to Vilnius where on November 14th they will present a totally new program together with a Finnish musician Tatu Rönkkö. Their performance will be a part of the finále of Insanitus, an art festival that has been moved from Kaunas to Vilnius. The music of Efterklang is always superlative both in the common context and in that of their own musical path. We’ve already witnessed glitch, post rock, indie, electronica and pop, sometimes quite straightforward and sometimes very intriguing. It’s always something more than just songs and I’d like to call that sound stories.

Personality box

A few years ago Efterklang travelled way North to record their last album Piramida and they brought back something more. That’s a film called The Ghost of Piramida – one should definitely watch it on his way to see the band live. Of course that’s just a small piece of what Efterklang have been able to produce, discover and invent during their 15 years of history. Never repeating and always surprising. Themselves in the first place.

Rasmus Stolberg. Photography by Jonas Bang

You’ve visited Vilnius just a couple of months ago. What are your brightest memories from our music week? Loftas and the whole atmosphere and environment around it really blew me away. What an incredible space. The actual concert room is very nice, but what I really liked was all the other elements around. I tried the zip line, lost a game of mega chess to local who was clearly high on something and I really enjoyed the art gallery and the little basement where some DJs with a great music collection where making me dance until early morning. The whole area and all the small installations and happenings sort of reminded me of Terry Gilliams film Brazil from 1985. Oh! I also really love the Frank Zappa statue and the whole story behind it and how it has become a landmark. It is an example of how what first seems like a silly idea can grow into something really meaningful and something to be proud of. How did your creative partnership with Tatu Rönkkö start? How long have you been playing together? It started when we asked Tatu to join the Efterklang live band. From November 2012 to February 2014 we played over 100 concerts together with him. But it was Efterklang material. For Tatu Rönkkö + Efterklang we have decided to cre-

The Eternal Change of Efterklang I have this image of his mind where music resembles a crazy neverending roller coaster ride

We mainly worked in telemarketing and kindergartens, but I also once had a job in the national sports arena in Copenhagen. I would server beers and hotdogs to fanatic football fans. It was an experience. Often a horrible experience.

what inspires you, but maybe instead what happens in the moment of inspiration? I am very interested by this. When inspiration hits and an idea occurs in your head. That spark. What is that?

Do you think people imagine more or less the same things when listening to Efterklang? At least the same topics? I mean, do you put the story between the lines (notes) and hope people will read it? Most of our music is made for free interpretation by the individual listeners. I don’t think they imagine the same stories or images, but maybe sometimes we can all share a feeling when listening to the music together.

Have you ever wanted to be in someone else’s place? Some other musician, or maybe not even an artist? Just for a day? I would love to visit Van Dyke Parks’ head for a day or two. I have this image of his mind on music will resemble a crazy never-ending roller coaster ride. Very fascinated with his way of thinking music. It is very different from Efterklang. We collaborated with him recently and his take on our music was a big shock to me. After some time I got

ate new music together all four of us. From the scratch. It is a new band. There are a lot of amazingly talented artists in Scandinavia. Do you think it has to do with children’s education? Or social system? Or the nature? I think that there are a lot of talented artists in every country and city of the world. You just have to search for it and often the mind of the public and medias tend to overlook amazing things. In this search it is important to remember that music should not sound the same all over the planet and neither shall we always listen to the same style of music. You were childhood friends with Mads and Casper. Tell me about growing up together. When exactly did you meet and under what circumstances? Did you spend a lot of time together – and how did music come up? Mads and I went to kindergarten school together. We started our first band in 5th grade. In high school I met Casper and we decided to make a band together and very quickly we invited Mads to join that. That is now 16 years ago. We have been making music for a very long time. I get a little dizzy thinking about it now. Denmark is, let’s put it that way, a very comfortable country to grow up and live in. Were you able to devote your time for music from a very early age, or did you still have to do some dirty jobs to make ends meet? And maybe it’s a good thing to have a balance in your life, so that art doesn’t drag you in too much? Denmark is no wonderland where you don’t have to work hard to make it in art. It is true that we have great opportunities and systems for supporting the arts, but if you want to make it you have to work extremely hard. For the first many years we all had jobs on the side to make money.

Efterklang playing with Tatu Rönkkö in Our Festival, New York Photography by Maarit Kytöharju

There are quite a few genres that could be pinned next to your band’s name. Maybe even too many – maybe there should just be a single genre called ‘efterklang’? I think that is a brilliant idea. I don’t care for or understand genres and find it unnecessary in most cases. A lot of journalists ask musicians about inspiration. After reading so many interviews I actually find it a pretty boring question just because most of the answers not necessarily very original – nature, cinema, people around you… Why do you think the answers are so similar? Are all of us inspired by the same things? I agree. I think the interesting question is not

to understand and appreciate and it has now become one of my favorite collaborations we’ve been part of. What is more important for Efterklang – the recording of your sound stories or performing them live? Which, would you say, is the real Efterklang? The real Efterklang is about changing. We thrive with changes and also thrive with changing the way we express ourselves. Giving our albums independent character, working with filmmakers, making a new band with Tatu Rönkkö or opening The Lake – our new radio station. www.thelakeradio.com www.efterklang.net

Art should even help you urinate Edvinas Grin “I notice there’s a tendency, in articles and interviews, of presenting emigrants as exotic. As if they left and immediately became better. But no way. You’re still the same fool as all the fools here,” says Andrius Katinas, a choreographer and contemporary dancer, who has been living and working in Helsinki for 10 years. I’ll admit, looking at him, I do feel the urge to exoticise him. It’s as if he no longer belongs here, but somewhere more northern. Why Finland? My current wife came to Lithuania on an exchange program from Finland, and that’s when we met. I was just finishing my bachelor’s degree and thinking about where I should study next, because I didn’t want to study in Lithuania. I found out about the master’s program in Finland and that was a reason to following after a loved one. For a while, the country was very alien to me. What cultural differences did you come across in Finland? The cultural differences will stay for as long as I live there – even if I am gradually becoming slower, less talkative, I maybe don’t get as close to people as I did and sometimes I just want total peace and quiet or to spend some time in the forest... Finland was always a modern country with strong social-democratic principles. That is reflected in art as well – everything has the right to exist. It was quite difficult for me as someone coming from a conservative country with quite a critical, even censorial, view of what is art. Even now, as much as I try to be open, I sometimes catch myself thinking: “I don’t think that’s really dance.” Then I think – who decides what something is or isn’t, what gives me the right to judge or define it. It just is. It’s something. It has the right to exist.

Personality box

Do you still feel the shadow of emigration or that you have to adapt? The culture I’m in is tolerant and multicultural. In spite of that, I still feel like an eastern European. Maybe I’m just paranoid, but that’s how I feel everywhere I travel. Sometimes in northern European countries you come across the view that, “We’re the good part of Europe and we know, with our perfect society, how everything should be done.” As if they felt above everyone. I notice a lot of polarising comments, for example: “In dance, we’re... and what about you?” On the other hand, sometimes the egzoticisation is disproportionate – eastern European artists are so creative, so talented, they’ must have a link with outer space (laughs).

Do you think this view can be changed? Maybe it’s just a question of time until it all balances out, until our inner attitudes change, when migration isn’t such a big deal any more. When our area, the Baltic region, becomes more recognisable. Some countries are so shut off from everybody else that even their closest neighbours seem exotic. I sometimes think Vilnius as a city is more open to the world than any megacity. How has Finland affected your ‘Lithuanian’ imagination? If I lived in Vilnius, my work would be more poetic, maybe reflect more on the past, become more mystical, the stage would have a lot of smoke (laughs). In reality, Finland affected my imagination as much it would have been affected had I been living in Rokiškis. Your surroundings affect you as much as your other senses. The imagination is one of my work tools. I think it was Lynch that said: “the film already exists – you just need to notice it.” My motto is similar to that. So being able to imagine is being able to notice things? Maybe. It’s the ability to notice what is around you and what is happening inside you, the ability to record it or use it as an impulse. The imagination is very important to both the artists and the viewer. The action on the stage is communicative but I don’t agree that dance is the universal language. Travelling the world, I notice how different people understand what they see on the stage differently. A lot depends on cultural norms, the contexts and meanings. What would you say to people that don’t go to contemporary dance performances only because they’re sure that they won’t understand anything? I would compare dance with literature. Some people enjoy the ritual more, while for others – the content is more important. I think enjoying reading is valuable in itself. The same goes for dance. Maybe you won’t remember anything, you won’t be overwhelmed, but just being there and watching a moving body encourages you to reconsider what a human is and how they move. It encourages you to think of movements as ideas. That people gather together to think about something is valuable, face to face meetings with artworks should be encouraged. In your work, you often use paper to express yourself. It looks like this element is becoming an important tool for you.

Working with paper is very interesting. It’s strange that certain elements start following you around. I did have the nagging feeling that “I shouldn’t repeat myself, each piece should be different.” But I can’t not do it. It’s impossible. I use certain elements as long as they interest me. Now I’m working on a performance called Paper Piece, where everything will be made out of paper. Maybe after that, I can move on to plastic (laughs). What ideas currently motivate you? Working on Paper Piece, I started thinking about the antihierarchical system between objects, an-

useful only when it can be utilised. Artists should embrace innovation, technology, NASA, psychology. If an artists is in the forest, stimulating his imagination, and then creates an installation in that same forest that no one ever goes to, it isn’t useful. It would be better if the installation was gleaming and visible from space! Accurate! And what would you say about the Baltics? These tendencies are starting to spring up here as well, not because of an intrinsic need for them, but because it’s what everyone else is doing. In

I don’t agree with the idea that dance is the universal language

imals and people. That we essentially exist as equals, without a hierarchy. That can provide an interesting perspective, valuable in choreography – whether the moving thing is an object or person.

Andrius Katinas. Photography by Tim Wright

In your piece Work, you quote Mladen Stilinovic’s the Praise of Laziness. This ingenious text is an intellectual and witty satire of the cultural differences between the creative methods of eastern and western artists. If you tried to satirise the differences between artists from northern Europe and the Baltic States in a similar way, how would that sound? In northern Europe – as many artists, artworks and educational programs as possible must receive funding. Art itself isn’t important. It should be social. It should help the disabled. And children. And aunts. And pensioners. Art should be in trolleybuses. Toilets. It should help you urinate. An artwork can’t function in isolation, it’s

Lithuania, I can feel the desire to change and destroy everything, to catch up with someone. Just like the statues on the Green Bridge – people say we need to take them down because, in terms of our moral values, they’re dated. But they’re a part of our identity and we won’t change history by taking them down. Yet we feel the need to update ourselves for some reason: everything we had was bad, and everything still to come is good. Being dissatisfied with who and where you are is a very provincial. What can we do better? Work on developing what we have instead of trying to change everything. For example, we don’t have our own airline. Great – let’s create an ecofriendly Baltic States railway and we’ll be accessible to everyone! We’ll be a nice rural corner of Europe. That’s positive. We don’t need to prove anything, it’s all good.

Nothing stRange, just working in a church Domantas Širvinskas

What do you get if you cross a church with a loft? KYRKAN: a collaborative work space, courtesy of those clever Swedes. An old protestant church has is now a place for individuals or small teams of creatives/entrepreneurs to rent work spaces. Founded in 2010 and known as the Entrepreneurs Church, KYRKAN has gathered about 60 members from various companies under one roof (or should that be ‘under one dome’?) Among them, there are people from tech startups, NGOs and international companies.

Space

KYRKAN’s employees refer to themselves as a family, and their office as the church. Alongside the many projects, there are also lively events taking place here. On Tuesday, KYRKAN opens its doors to anyone who wants to get some work done. Freelancers have the opportunity to revel in the atmosphere of the converted loft/church, and the established clientele can recruit potential new colleagues. If they don’t have another family or a hungry cat waiting for them at home, KYRKAN’s residents spend their evenings with music and snacks. That is how they carry out product testing and have film screenings. And that’s not all – TEDx conferences also take place between the church arches. Still don’t feel that the space is all that unique? Imagine the church hosting a 100-person candlelit dinner or a giant dance floor with the DJ in the pulpit. Most memorably, KYRKAN was used to host a wedding. No ordinary wedding at that – one with no budget and 70 guests!

During the working week, when there are no 3 a.m. dance sessions or traditional Swedish fikas (a coffee-and-something-sweet break) taking place, KYRKAN’s residents are hard at work. The bills need to be paid, so residents can rent a chair, a desk or a locker, although renting a chair means you won’t have a permanent working space. The congregation is growing: when it first opened, people would spend an average of 5-6 months at KYRKAN. Most members of the team now stay for almost a year. The community has grown at such a speed that soon it won’t be able to fit in the church, so the next step is moving to a 16th century castle in the centre of Stockholm. Asked about the public response to a sacred place being used as an office, Jesper Lejfjord, one of the founders of KYRKAN, smiles and says: “We haven’t had a single complaint so far. Only the Church of Sweden tweeted us and asked us what we were up to.” By the way, there were no

When our employees can’t fit here anymore, we’ll move to a castle

traces of clergymen or priests left by the time KYRKAN moved into the church. The ex-church was first a community centre and later a theatre. Still, the calmness and divinity hasn’t disappeared and is one of the reasons why the space is popular. KYRKAN is becoming known for its remarkable working atmosphere and as a place for effective collaboration between different projects. Family ties run deep and, once companies grow up and leave the KYRKAN family, they still find time to visit by coming to its events. We asked Jesper to imagine KYRKAN in five years’ time: “We have to grow in every sense of the word. At one end of the spectrum, we see a wonderful space with happy people, desks, chairs, internet access, coffee and everything you need to be able to work. At the other end – there are more philosophical aspects: we’re looking for the meaning of life.” Jesper says that they are creating a place where people can reveal more sides to their personality and where they can feel safe. A free-thinking attitude to work is taking over the world. A clear advantage of unusual spaces is the freedom to create your own surroundings. KYRKAN is a great example of how to create great working conditions by utilising a unique space and giving the imagination room to express itself. On the other hand, maybe using a church as a work space is just symptomatic of the times we live in.

A Pigeon Sat on a Branch Reflecting on Existence

(Director: Roy Andersson, 2014) Junk-peddlers Sam and Jonathan travel from city to city and knock on people’s doors attempting to sell all sorts of scrap – from vampire fangs to rubber masks. The comically hopeless pair spend their time constantly bickering like an old married couple but the people they meet on their way are even stranger. In this surrealist film, the protagonist attempts, in vain, to understand the world from the absurd and tragicomic events taking place around.

Love at First Fight

(Director: Thomas Cailley, 2014) Madeleine doesn’t waste time. She spends every day training like crazy so that she can be ready for the inevitable end. Arnaud isn’t really crazy about anything but that soon changes when he meets Madeleine. At first he refuses to fight a woman. Before long, he realises that is the only way to win Madeleine’s heart and so the two begin a game of love and war.

Scanorama, which starts on 6th November, calls itself a festival of serious films. The festival will allow viewers to enjoy a range of films, meet directors and producers. For industry professionals, there will be workshops and discussions. N WIND’s Wind Vane will help you pick what to watch. The films don’t make for easy viewing but they will certainly make you think.

Force Majeure

(Director: Ruben Östlund, 2014 m.) A Swedish family pose for a photograph in front of the French Alps. This marks the beginning of the winter holiday for Ebba, Tom and their two children. Everything seems to be perfect until an avalanche interrupts the festivities. The unusual sight delights viewers but the avalanche quickly starts looking ominous. A panic breaks out, people start escaping – it’s every man for himself. Ebba calls for help from her husband, but he runs away without looking back at all… Even though the catastrophe never comes, the family’s life changes forever.

The Vane Wind Movies

Something Must Break

(Director: Ester Martin Bergsmark, 2014) When Sebastian sees Anders for the first time, he knows they belong together. Romantic meetings strengthen their feelings but Anders starts to doubt that he can love another man. Is it possible to save the passionate love between Sebastian, who wants to be a woman and the easy-going Anders, who isn’t gay but can’t resist Sebastian’s androgynous charm?

10,000 km

(Director: Carlos Marques-Marcet, 2014) Two people in love, two apartments – one in Barcelona and another one in Los Angeles – and the images of their past, present and

Jodorowsky’s Dune

(Director: Frank Pavich, 2013) Dune is known as the greatest film never made. Alejandro Jodorowsky spent more than ten years working on the script, it was supposed to be a twelve-hour journey through various universes and different cinematographic styles, a journey through genius and insanity. But a lack of funds ensured that didn’t happen. Now, Jodorowsky tells us what the world lost. Or what they were saved from.

Domantas Širvinskas

10/12

07/11

25/11–31/23 What? Urban Research Day Where? Malmö, Sweden When? 10th December. Why? The topic this year is sustainable urban development that would also encourage cultural development. Talks will be given in English. www.isumalmo.se

10/11

What? Workshop – Storytelling. The Power of Storytelling 2 Where? Užupis Art Incubator. When? 10th November. Why? Great stories can help you sell, teach, motivate, concentrate and even win. Especially relevant in the age of social media. The workshop will be led by Rytis Juozapavičius. www.toktok.lt

What? DesignJam exhibition Where? Riga, Latvia When? 25th November – 31st December Why? The event will consider whether good design requires a connection between the consumer and the object being created. Alongside international participants, part of the exhibition will be devoted to young Latvian designers. Part of the Riga – European Capital of Culture programme. www.riga2014.org/eng/notikumi/874-design-jam

13/11–16/11

The Win 11/12

14/11–16/11

What? Insanitus festival Where? LOFTAS Art Factory and Radijo Loftas, Vilnius When? 14th – 16th November. Why? Music and art festival Insanitus opens the secret doors of its laboratory and presents some bewildering experiments: installation labyrinths, an interactive cinema and interdisciplinary performances that will provide a stern test for your senses. www.insanitus.lt

What? Roberto Henke’s audiovisual performance Lumière Where? Contemporary Art Centre, Vilnius When? 7th November Why? Electronic music producer, professor of sound design at the Berlin University of the Arts, one of the creators of the production software Ableton Live and member of Monolake. Each one of Henke’s events is adapted to suit its surroundings. A live laser show and sound extravaganza awaits the CAC. www.j.mp/Lumiere_SMC

What? Vilnius Mama Jazz festival Where? Various places around Vilnius When? 13th – 16th November Why? The festival, which began in 2002, unites a range of jazz styles and performers from various generations: from world-famous ones to complete unknowns with, as the organisers believe, potential for the future. The most important criteria are quality, originality and relevance. This year, we encourage you to see the innovative Terence Blanchard with his Terence Blanchard E-Collective and the slightly mad Kneebody. www.vilniusmamajazz.lt

What? Nobel Peace Prize Concert Where? Oslo, Norway When? 11th December Why? Although Alfred Nobel was Swedish, he specified in his will that the Norwegian Parliament should award the world-famous prize. Let’s congratulate Malala, the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, together with musicians from around the world. www.nobelpeaceprizeconcert.org

20/10–31/12

15/10–30/12

28/11

Vane ind

What? Livet är en lek toy exhibition Where? Malmö, Sweden When? 15th October – 30th December Why? They taught us how to imagine and kept us company during our childhood, but how have toys changed over time? Web: www.malmo.se/museer

What? Silence V concert Where? Opium, Vilnius When? 28th November Why? Silence Family have taken over Lithuania with their musical imagination and are forcing our musical tastes to adapt – so they deserve to celebrate each birthday with a bang. Opium will be hosting their fifth anniversary. The Family will be introducing a double album with the best Silence remixes. www.silencefamily.com

07/11–05/12

26/11

What? SOHN concert Where? LOFTAS art factory, Vilnius When? 26th November Why? Ex-Londoner and current Vienna native Chris Taylor will be introducing his latest album Tremors, which was recorded only during the night – when the imagination is on top form. “I wanted the album to be a breath of fresh air: to say less, but to have more hidden between the lines.” www.menufabrikas.lt

16/10–01/12

What? Beyond Consuming art project Where? Užupis Art Incubator When? 16th October – 1st December Why? Artists from Finland, Germany and Poland, during the duration of their residency at the Užupis Art Incubator, will create and present the city of Vilnius with some unique artworks. The artists will be looking for alternatives to graffiti and will create sculptures and windmills for the Paupys neighbourhood. Web: www.umi.lt

14/11, 29/11 What? Posteris poster exhibition Where? POST Gallery, Kaunas When? 7th November – 5th December Why? This poster exhibition is being organised by the organisers of Vilnus Street Art with participants coming from the international art and street art scenes, for example Mariusz Waras, aka M-City, who tattooed the House of Trade Unions in Vilnius and others, including Karolis Strautniekas, EgyBoy, Antanas Dubra, Upperstudio, Vulovak (aka Morfai) and young illustrator Akvilė MagicDust. Web: www.j.mp/Galerija_POST

What? Sad Songs from the Heart of Europe Where? National Theatre, Vilnius When? 14th November, 29 th November Why? Based on Crime and Punishment, this play exudes a powerful energy. This will be another test for your imagination as because actress Aldona Bendoriūtė will be assuming the roles of several characters. Director Kristian Smeds received the European Theatre Prize for New Theatrical Realities in 2011. www.teatras.lt

Images by organisers

What? Hidden Heroes exhibition Where? Riga, Latvia When? 20th October – 31st December Why? Do you know how paperclips, matches or clothes pegs were invented? The exhibition will centre around 36 everyday objects that we don’t usually pay attention to, revealing their hidden histories. Part of the Riga – European Capital of Culture programme. www.riga2014.org/DizainaZvaigznes

A GULP OF STOCKH BRIAN W. JONES Coffee blogger, an American living in Sweden

I’ve recently moved to Stockholm after living in Sweden’s second-city, Göteborg, for the past three years. I haven’t wasted any time discovering new places to dine, shop and explore. One of the more popular areas of Stockholm among creative people is the island of Södermalm, or Söder for short. The district was once filled with worker housing, but in recent times has become a gentrified neighborhood filled with alternative and bohemian culture where I enjoy spending time away from my own neighborhood. If your day begins near Central Station, stop by Mean Coffee and grab a fresh brewed cup from one of the many esteemed Nordic coffee roasters being served there. Living in Sweden has been easy for someone who enjoys coffee as much as I do. The Swedish tradition of fika, which is having a coffee and snack with friends or colleagues happens multiple times a day and I never get tired of it. Take your coffee with you and walk to Stockholm City Hall. This gargantuan brick structure is one of my favorite buildings in Stockholm. Despite appearing as an old fortress, City Hall was built less than a hundred years ago. It contains government offices and hosts the Nobel Prize banquet every December. Take the T-bana (subway) to Slussen, just two stops from Central Station. Once at Slussen, there are several paths that I can recommend taking.

Head East

By heading East along the water, take in the views of Skeppsbron, the Eastern skyline of the old town. It’s an iconic viewpoint that reminds me where I am—in Stockholm. A short walk further is the photography museum called Fotografiska where I can easily spend a whole afternoon browsing captured light. On November 25, an exhibition of the famed American fashion photographer Herb Ritts will be on display.

Due South

Walking South from Slussen on Götegatan, you will climb up and over a hill on a pedestrian street filled with slightly more touristy shops that I tend to avoid. But as you walk further down the hill continuing South, you will come upon a large square called Medborgarplatsen where I enjoying watching the city pass by while snacking on some of the edible delights found in the nearby Söderhallarna food hall. After filling up on cheese and people watching, walk down South till you arrive at Åsägatan. Here you’ll encounter a variety of shops that are full of diverse, but inspiring items. First there’s Sneakerstuff, a large sneaker store full of colors, shapes and textures that I enjoy browsing. Although I don’t wear sneakers often, I enjoy how futuristic the shoes can look, and the materials and colors seem years ahead of other fashion.

CITY GUIDE

Brian about himself and coffee The Dear Coffee, I love You blog began as a personal passion project and transformed not only my lifestyle, but also my business. In the five years since I began publishing the website, it has led to new clients, collaborations and my current role as co-founder and Brand Director for a new coffee roasting company in California called Supersonic. The blog began when I noticed a strong connection between creativity and coffee. I started looking for projects that reflected this intersection and published them. The more I researched, the more I learned, and I wanted to share all of that information with friends.

As a designer, my primary work has been on creating and building brands. Dear Coffee, I Love You was a great exercise in coffee related branding and it eventually led to several coffee companies hiring me to work with them. I approach every project as an opportunity to do something new. That’s what imagination is to me – pushing forward into new realms and making things that live in the depths of your mind come to life. I do a lot of work for companies who compete in the same industry, so it’s important that none of my projects look the same. I have reimagined what a coffee company can look like several times over. It can be challenging, but it’s extremely interesting. www.dearcoffeeiloveyou.com

TO EAT The Little Quarter, Hornsgatan 66 Häktet, Hornsgatan 82 TO DRINK Mean Coffee, Vasagatan 38 Drop Coffee, Wollmar Yxkullsgatan 10 Johan & Nyström, Swedenborgsgatan 7 TO VISIT City Hall, Hantverkargatan 1 Fotografiska museum, Stadsgårdshamnen 22 TO SHOP Sneakerstuff, Åsögatan 124 And The Revolution, Åsögatan 122 Konst-ig, Åsögatan 124 Regn, Åsögatan 132 Our Legacy, Krukmakargatan 24 Uniforms for the Dedicated, Krukmakargatan 24

Swedes never get enough of coffee Just next door is And The Revolution which specializes in fixed gear bikes and urban commuter clothing. This store has taken the mechanical elements of bicycles to a modern place by curating well designed bikes, parts and accessories. I can never walk past Konst-ig without passing through. This bookstore is filled to the ceiling with new and out-of-print art, architecture, design and photography books that can be hard to find elsewhere. A little further down the street is Regn, the showroom for Stutterheim, a luxury raincoat brand. This Swedish start-up was originally inspired by an old fishing slicker that belonged to the founder’s grandfather and has since gone on to collaborate with Jay-Z, Barney’s New York and Volvo. The company has cleverly embraced melancholy as its source of inspiration and the driver of its brand.

One of the most difficult tasks at music lessons was to listen to the classical pieces. In theory, 10 minutes should had looked like that: concentrate, listen and then describe. Playful, light, dark. However, in reality classmates would make noises, look around and the teacher would interrupt the orchestra with shouts for silence.

Well tempered clavier by J. S. Bach Listen to it fully. Will be liked by both the spiritual and the rational lovers. Bach – this man-genius – have hidden many noble thing under the perfect and formal creations. Not long about I learned that Bach within his creations even encrypted numerological secrets.

Requiem by W. A. Mozart In this turbulent world sometimes one needs concentration and tranquility – Mozart’s Requeim is the best piece for that.

Going West

In Hornsgatan neighborhood visit the showrooms of Our Legacy and Uniforms for the Dedicated, two Swedish menswear brands that highlight unique fabrics with classic cuts and have a growing international following. I’m always surprised by the patterns and textures these two brands use for their clothing lines and I find myself shopping with my hands more than my eyes, enjoying the feel of every fabric. While on Hornsgatan, have dinner and drinks at Häktet, an old prison that’s been transformed into a nice restaurant and wine bar, or head to The Little Quarter for hamburgers and cocktails. If it isn’t time for dinner, I would stop for fika at either Drop Coffee or Johan & Nyström. After finishing another coffee, something you’ll find that Swedes never get enough of, head back to the Central Station where the day began.

Today I ask Rita Mačiliūnaitė, a young composer, where to start if I want to put a classical playlist on Spotify? Rita this year was awarded the Golden Stage Cross (Lithuanian theater award) for creating music for plays 59’Online and W(o)men. So I trust her recommendations.

Sonata for Violin and Piano by Juozas Gruodis Because he’s our! One of the first modernists. A must to hear – will feel good.

AET (After Extra Time) by Michael Nyman A perfect track for a party, for good mood or just to understand how wonderful life is!

Where to start

KHOLM

Where to start: classical music

HE’LL THROW YOU A WORD

something while with others – you have to pore over the same line over and over again. Sometimes you need to put it aside and read it once you’ve changed. I’m not at all saying that any one option is better than the others. Diversity is key!

What food is healthiest for the imagination? Unpork.

How can you stop an argument? Laughing gas.

What would you give anything for? It’s always take take take with you.

How many women does it take to change a man? Based on the signs you find on toilet doors – you only need to turn the woman upside down. Which messiah is the most important? The youngest one.

Why not “why not?” Well, I’m always for “why not?”

What should you stay quiet about? Not about something – with someone.

Do you still use a pen? When? Always. It’s a strange affliction, I often write

Tautė Bernotaitė He writes very good texts. Whether we experience them as raps or without any musical backing as slam poetry, the rhythm still draws you in – the endings and syllables, the sounds and assonance and roots of words. But I’ve never noticed Žygimantas Messiah Kudirka (the subject of this particular segment, that is) play with language for the sake of it, tautologically, solipsistically, immanently. ←Just trying to reaffirm my point. That should also serve as an introduction to the space in which Ž. M. Kudirka operates. He likes repetition, except his, different from mine, are in some way valuable and point you towards meanings you may have missed. You could be fooled into thinking he’s not a poet, but a rhythm apologist, but – what’s the use in that. He was obviously in the delivery room to witness the birth of language and can still hear its primeval sounds. Kudirka – or MC MESSIAH – is releasing a new album of music in February (together with producer Münpauzn!). “The lyrics on the upcoming album are all in the second person, so it’s an album all about you,” promises Kudirka. He is also planning to release an interactive collection of poetry in the form of a printed book. He is 27 and has spent the last 10 years working in communication, five of those were spent writing copy at an advertising agency, and in autumn of 2014, he answered questions for N WIND’s Windmill section.

Windmills

How do you like to read? In the mornings, from paper, before I jump into my trousers. Or sitting down, tearing through space at breakneck speeds (in trains, buses and planes). What should you do if you put your foot in it? I want to say something lewd. What kind of poetry packs a punch? A punch that makes you pour your heart out or one that makes you pack it in? A punch to the solar plexus or a punch to where the sun don’t shine? A one-two punch or two of a kind? People like to put up barriers. The goal of poetry is to break them down. How long does it take to understand? With some people – as quickly as they can say

Žygimantas Mesijus Kudirka Photography by Vytenis Kriščiūnas

Have you taught anyone anything yet? I don’t preach.

on paper and then type it up on the computer. I probably like doing double the work.

Which Lithuanian writer’s work would you not want to change in any way? I wouldn’t change anything. What’s done is done. But the prose of Klimašauskas and Grušaitė, the poetry of Gimžauskas and Andriušis, the studies of Sabolius and the translations of Januševičius come to mind. That isn’t an exhaustive list.

Would you like some thick thermals for the winter? I’d rather have thin but warm ones.

What gives away the fact that a person is beautiful? a) They give themselves away. b) I want to say something rude. Is changing your mind worth it? It’s best not to. But it is worth it. What’s most difficult about riding a tandem? You saw me riding it, seriously? Or is that a hypothetical question. The hardest thing is being on the back, controlling the fake handlebars that don’t move. A lesson worthy of a life coach: always be in the front!

How can you find your dream job? Take the shoe off a horse, The four leaves on a clover, Hold you wrist firmly pressed, On a pregnant girl’s stomach. Also rub Buddha’s stomach, Knock three times on a tree trunk, Have a peacock’s tail feather, And make sure to face south. Throw salt over your shoulder, Don’t flick ash off a cigarette, Spit three times (spit, spit, spit), And keep a rabbit’s left foot.

www.kudirkacentral.com

What’s Next? Attendees of What’s Next?, a creative industries conference that took place at Loftas on 17th-18th October, were invited to write a postcard to themselves with a prediction for the future. more inclined to talk about their previous work or projects and trips. Judging by the presentations, it appears that in order to find what’s next, we have to look back and improve on the past. Martynas Birškys, co-owner of the DADADA studio in Vilnius and head of design at BBDO Kiev, talked about life in Ukraine during the ongoing crisis and what moves are currently being made by the world’s biggest brands. According to him, they are turning back to the past and returning to using elements that have stood the test of time, rather than following the trends of today. Examples included Nivea, who returned to their iconic blue circle, and the somewhat conservative but timeless style of Chanel.

Dovydas Kiauleikis The organisers of the conference promised to send everyone their postcards in exactly a year, to check whether or not their predictions came true. The conference included 18 presentations and discussions and sought to provide some answers to the question – what’s next for the creative industries?

The biggest discovery of the conference was Arminas Ragauskas, head of the Centre of Telematics at the Kaunas University of Technology. He argued that creativity isn’t about creating newer – it’s about creating better. His especially concise advice for overcoming creative difficulties – sit down, think for a bit and come up with a solution – enamoured him to the audience. That, and how easygoing he seemed in discussing the projects he and his team have undertaken for the US Department of Defense, NASA and other international clients.

The event, part of last year’s Loftas Fest, is in its first year as a standalone conference. Occupying three converted industrial spaces, it attracted foreign speakers and the heroes and heroines of Lithuanian creative businesses. Representatives from almost every Lithuanian advertising agency as well as a host of designers and bloggers took to the stage during the two-day event.

So what were the predictions for the future? Even though speakers were tasked with answering the what’s next question, not everyone concentrated on the future. Many were

First impression

Who are the organisers planning to invite next year, given that all the biggest domestic names appeared this year? “That’s the wrong way to look at it – there are many people in Lithuania that are successfully working in creative fields, we just don’t talk about everyone and we don’t know everyone, so next year there will also be some great domestic presentations,” said Aistė Jakimavičiūtė, one of the organisers of the event. As an example, she referred to 5/5/ Junior, an event also based around presentations and discussions which was the precursor to What’s Next. Throughout the past 3 years, 5/5/Junior has organised 13 miniconferences with professionals from the visual arts.

“Is Lithuania next in advertising?” was the title of one of the conference’s interactive debates and representatives from various Lithuanian advertising agencies did not contradict Betteridge’s law of headlines, so the answer was a simple no. That killed any remaining intrigue and the discussion turned into search for someone to blame for the lack of awards our microscopic advertising market has garnered at international festivals.

Not everyone attempted to look into the future

The conference took place, it will need to improve but responses to the event were positive, which is also reflected on social media. And what did Aistė, one of the organisers, write on her postcard? She hopes that she’ll find some time to rest, and hopes that the conference will grow to become the biggest creative industries conferences in the Baltics.

A feel for design Tom Mrazauskas Book designer

Comment

When N WIND suggested that I write about design and the imagination, I first thought about the plates on my grandma’s shelves. Or more specifically the floral ornaments on those everyday plates. My childish imagination turned those abstract drawings of flowers and leaves into either birds or foxes or a host of other things. Ever since I was young, abstract compositions had the biggest effect on me. In the arts, I appreciate experiences, sensations or even simply feelings. Music without words, architecture without ideology, poetry without lyricism and performance without narrative. Theatre is, of course, necessary, but it’s not action, didactics or a happy ending that interest me. When creating the design of a book, I first think about what someone taking the book in their hands will (or won’t) experience. The design of a book is, in a certain sense, a language in itself, another layer accompanying the story being told by the text or images. A language of objects, spaces, relationships, associations, colours and materiality that is easier to read than write about. Discussing a book’s design is as difficult as is talking about abstract art. What could be the connection? Design originated at the start of the 20th century and became needed with the advent of industrially cre-

ated objects (books are no exception). This happened at the same time that Malevich, Mondrian and Kairiūkštis were painting geometric shapes on canvases. Shapes and colours aroused the imagination more than narratives. Art was reduced, ceased to be representational, ‘functional’ became more important than ‘decorative’. That is how design was born (although it wasn’t clear what it should be called at the time). I’ll return to book design with an example – Vytautas V. Stanionis’ album Photographs for Documents (Kaunas Photography Gallery, 2013). I designed it and I must admit that I am still surprised by its success. Owners of small bookshops in Brussels, Paris, Berlin, Tokyo want to have it on their shelves. The publisher and I constantly receive queries about it. Especially after the book was awarded at the Best German Book Design competition and got a special mention at the Paris Photo–Aperture Foundation PhotoBook awards. Something happened. First we should talk about the photographs themselves. Vytautas V. Stanionis created this series in 1987, using photographs that were to be used as passport photos, which he found in his father’s archives. The photographs were taken in 1946 at the orders of the Soviet government. The lack

of materials necessitated people to be photographed in pairs and later separated using scissors. I must admit that I had been dreaming about a book in which all the pages were folded in half (including the cover), but the designer’s job is creating a form determined by the contents. Otherwise, they are just the designer’s ambitions and not a design that fits the book in question. So, the double duality (of the father and son and the double portraits) of Stanionis’ album was a the per-

Photo by Johannes Tolk

To save materials, people were photographed in pairs and later separated using scissors

Kristina Ališauskaitė’s painting Don’t ask II in the album 100 Painters of Tomorrow Photograph: gallery The Rooster

Dovydas Kiauleikis While N WIND was at the printers, young painter Kristina Ališauskaitė in London, at Christie’s Ryder Street gallery was raising a glass of champagne. On the 30th October, the publisher Thames & Hudson presented a new book 100 Painters of Tomorrow, which is dedicated to young and talented painters from around the world. Within that hundred is also Kristina. Writer and curator Kurt Beers together with an international panel selected one hundred artists from more than 4300 applications. Kristina, who presents her work in solo and group exhibitions all around the world, was among the best one hundred. Her paintings are unique explorations of everyday situations each time creating different atmospheres. Sometimes it is a calm environment that soon transforms into something mysterious and dramatic, or sometimes it is even a sense of oppressive emptiness and tension.

Thames & Hudson is a well-known publishing house for everyone who is interested in art. Established in 1949, it was planned as an idea of ‘museum without walls’ intended for a broad and not necessarily specialist audience. All books are written by recognised academics and scholars but in a lively, jargon-free manner.

Diary

fect opportunity for a unique creative solution. There is currently an ever-increasing number of books being published by people from outside publishing, that is, those with ambitions but without publishing experience (this is happening in Lithuania as well). Another thing – there is an ever-increasing number of books being published using ‘found’ materials (look up the Useful Photographs series). While it may not be an indication of quality, the coincidence is interesting: Photography for Documents was published by a gallery without its own publishing division and, as I already wrote, the series was created from found materials. Although to me, the most attractive thing about this book is the abstract nature of the photographs (and design). Yes, we see specific people, but there is no narrative. Yes, they were all photographed in a specific place, at a point in time that may be determined fairly easily but, at the same time, it’s just forty portraits folded in half. “I have nothing to say / and I am saying it / and that is poetry / as I need it,” writes John Cage – about his own work, of course. But maybe it could be about abstract art or design? After all, good design, from the Bauhaus days to the Apple era, has emphasised experience over message. www.mrazauskas.de

Lithuanian and 100 future painters