Lithuania Shares 'cuLTture' with Europe

by Ana Catarina da Fonseca, Cend

Poetry will be riding the bus in Brussels, opera will resound through BOZAR and interactive exhibitions will come to the Institutions. This is a just a glimpse of what the cultural programme of the Lithuanian Presidency of the Council has to offer.

Starting this month and running until December, ‘cuLTure’, the Lithuanian Presidency’s cultural programme could not be more diverse. It ranges from classical music, poetry, literature and book art to contemporary audiovisual installations, poetic documentaries, auteur films, contemporary theatre, and visual arts.

The highlighted letters ‘LT’ (Lithuania) in ‘cuLTure’ express the importance of culture in everyday life in this Baltic country. As explained to Commission en direct by Gabija Žukauskienė, Deputy Cultural Attaché at the Lithuanian Representation: “The programme reveals the very essence of artistic creativity in Lithuania – a mixture of poetical worldview and intellectual provocation, self-reflection and response to the world’s beat, playfulness and preoccupation with historical memory, simplicity and refinement.”

In an effort to meet the expectations of the international and local audience, the programme has been put together in partnership with some of Belgium’s major cultural institutions – BOZAR, Flagey, Ghent Museum of Fine Arts, the CINEMATEK, and the KlaraFestival and Flanders Festival.

An opera diva and two masters of cinema

The musical events, focused on internationally acclaimed and upcoming young artists, are scheduled to kick off in September with a Gala Concert by the opera star Violeta Urmana. A worldrenowned soprano, Urmana will participate in the KlaraFestival accompanied by the Lithuanian National Symphony Orchestra. Modestas Pitrėnas, another prominent figure in the Lithuanian musical scene, will be conducting the concert. For those not able to go to BOZAR on 12 September, the recital will be broadcasted via radio.klara.be.

A scene from audiovisual performance Sandglasses

by Justė Janulytė and Luca Scarzella
Towards the end of the Presidency, Flagey’s Studio 4 will present the Ąžuoliukas Boys and Youth Choir, active since 1959, on 15 December and a musical and video art performance created by the young composer Juste Janulyte on 18 December.

However, not just Brussels audiences will be treated to classical musicians from Lithuania. This year’s edition of the Ghent Festival of Flanders will play host to concert pianist Petras Geniušas, the Čiurlionis String Quartet. Ghent will also be the host city of an exhibition on the work of the painter and composer Mikolajus Konstantinas Čiurlionis. ‘Dreaming Lithuania’, which will run from September to December at Ghent’s Museum of Fine Arts, will comprise more than one hundred paintings, drawings and photographs of the artist.

Moving on to cinema, there will be the opportunity to explore the works of two acclaimed filmmakers – Jonas Mekas and Šarūnas Bartas. A Mekas retrospective will be presented by the CINEMATEK and BOZAR CINEMA on 16-30 October in the Cinémathčque royale de Belgique and the Bartas retrospective will be presented in Flagey’s Studio 5 cinema in the second half of November. Mekas, who is connected to the Fluxus art movement, will be in Brussels in October for a conversation with Lithuania’s first President, MEP Vytautas Landsbergis. This chat will open an exhibition about Mekas life which will run from October in BOZAR. One part of the display provides an overview of Mekas’ creative endeavours with films, photos, poems, installations and a video diary. Another part, entitled ‘The Fluxus Wall’ consists of objects by the Fluxus art movement.

The renowed stage director Oskaras Koršunovas is also coming to Brussels, bringing with him his unorthodox interpretation of Hamlet. “Our Elsinore is a make-up room, which slowly turns into the Kingdom of Denmark,” explains the director.

Music, cinema and theatre are on the menu, but poetry will clearly not be forgotten. On 26 September, the young poet Agnė Žagrakalytė will participate in a poetry evening at the International House of Literature. Furthermore, her verses, along with works by other European poets, will be displayed in Brussels trains and buses. Poetry will be on the move, so that everyone can enjoy it.

Lithuanian culture at the Institutions

Last but not least, the sounds and colours of Lithuanian culture will also be on display inside the EU Institutions. Several exhibitions will be organised during the Presidency, including ‘Lithuania in the Mail Parcel’. Basically, this show consists of ten boxes, each of them containing items registered as UNESCO natural and cultural heritage. Inside these boxes you can find recordings of music, videos of dance, historical instruments for land measurement or even a children’s game.

Gabija Žukauskienė sees the EU Council Presidency as an opportunity to let Europe know more about Lithuanian culture and hopes that this cultural programme “will open the doors for future professional exchanges between Lithuanian and European artists, curators, culture managers and institutions”.

Source: Commission en direct #05 – Juillet-Août 2013

www.eu2013.lt

www.cultureguide.lt

Read more about the diversity of Lithuanian musical culture (information prepared in collaboration with the Lithuanian Music Information and Publishing Centre): http://www.cultureguide.lt/en/cgmodule/music_en_fin.html

INTERNATIONAL PROGRAMME OF MUSIC EVENTS

JULY – DECEMBER 2013

JULY 2013

Kremerata Baltica Concert
1 July | Großer Saal des Rotes Rathaus, Berlin (DE)
Programme

In 1997, the renowned violinist Gidon Kremer came up with a brilliant idea: the three Baltic countries, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, should have a joint chamber orchestra! The three ministries of culture supported the idea with rare enthusiasm, but no one could have anticipated the success the orchestra would achieve, including a Grammy award. Kremer himself makes a point of supporting his young musicians, of whom about half are still studying and the rest are beginning their professional careers, by playing with them and providing various types of financial support. But what you will enjoy most is their repertoire, which is already well known for its unexpected juxtapositions.

www.kremerata-baltica.com

Opening the Lithuanian Presidency Cultural Programme in London

1 July | St John’s Smith Square, London (UK)
Performers

Martynas Levickis and the Band

Martynas Levickis became a household name in Lithuania when he won the ‘Lithuania’s Got Talent’ television show in 2010. But he’s a serious musician: the same year, he also won the Coupe Mondiale. Since he studied at the Royal Academy of Music, London is his second home, and he’s played on many of its prestigious stages. What does he play? Anything, from Beethoven to Lady Gaga. If you love him as much as we do, and we promise you will, you’ll be happy to know that his new album is also out in July from Decca Classics.

http://www.levickis.com/ | http://www.sjss.org.uk/

Lukas Geniušas & Čiurlionis Quartet @ TIVOLI FESTIVAL
1 July | Tivoli’s Concert Hall, Copenhagen (DK)
Performers
Lukas Geniušas, piano

Čiurlionis Quartet: Jonas Tankevičius, violin; Darius Dikšaitis, violin; Gediminas Dačinskas, viola; Saulius Lipčius, cello

Programme
M. K. Čiurlionis String Quartet in C minor
Frédéric Chopin Polonaise-fantasie in A-flat major, op. 61
M. K. Čiurlionis Four preludes for piano
Robert Schumann Piano Quintet in E-flat major, op. 44