Vilnius – European capital of culture 2009

January

European café

Each month the all-year-round discussion club will invite the residents and guests of the capital to join discussions on hot topics of culture, economics and policies related to the presentation and perception of contemporary culture. The debates in cafés with the participation of various cultural figures from architects and film-makers to poets will provide a fine opportunity to discuss contemporary culture and today’s art live.

Project 4A

In 2009, Vilnius will become a platform and launch pad for originating pieces of art known all over the world. Eight artists from different 4A continents of the world are meeting for this single purpose – to open up a large modern art exhibition in concert named "Code Share". For the whole month this ambitious project will be followed by the 4A events: joint concerts, cinema and visual projects, artistic installations in places visited by the public.

1984. Survival drama

This survival drama in a underground bunker, located xx kilometers from Vilnius, is set in the Soviet era in Lithuania during the 50 years of occupation which ended on 11 March 1990. The project will strive to portray the impact of the totalitarian regime not only on political, economic and cultural life, but on the daily lives of people as well. The authentic atmosphere of 1984 will cast participants of the project into the grim reality of those times. 1984. Survival Drama will have no stage or viewing hall, no actors or audience. All those who go down to the bunker of their own free will become its actors.

Perhaps you simply forgot or cannot even imagine what it looked like? Well, now you are presented with a unique opportunity to experience the historical setting of the Soviet regime.

February

Baroque in Ice

The most prominent feature of the architecture of Vilnius – the baroque – will reveal itself in ice sculptures. Spectacular representations of Vilnius baroque will aid in the discovery of similar, authentic buildings in the streets of the city. While refracting the light directed at it, the ice will help to convey the splendour and uniqueness of the baroque architecture of the capital in an attractive manner.

European Jazz

All year round a cycle of concerts featuring European jazz stars will bring together artists of various nationalities and artistic traditions. Vilnius, as one of the capitals of European jazz will become a platform for radical experiments. Four concerts of the cycle will reflect the variety of modern European jazz, the diverse cultures of world music and art phenomena. The program will present legendary performers of modern European jazz from Austria, France, Finland, Belgium and other EU states.

March

Yearning for nature - European landscapes

The Exhibition will disclose the diversity of European landscapes in different aspects: cultural traditions, differences of geographical landscape structure, chronological and style development of landscape genre, originality and role of artists’ art in the context of European art history in the major regions of the Old Continent - North, South, East, West and Central European countries. The painted landscapes of 16-20th centuries contain characteristic landscapes and locations from the Adriatic to the North Sea, from the British Isles to Hungarian plains. The exhibition contains 250 exhibits. Most of them were selected from the collections of Lithuanian Art Museum and Upper Austrian State Museum implementing the project.

April

George Day of Scouts for Vilnius City

An international scout camp will be constructed in Vingis Park with about 1500 scouts from European countries staying in it. During the camp, which will last for 4 days, educational trips, social action and cultural workshops will be organized to involve the community of the city in common activities. About 1500 scouts will build an impressive tent town and invite children to camp there.

Children´s Creativity Festival

The festival programme will reflect how children see their city, their country, and their culture. At the end of April, the city of Vilnius will become the capital of children’s art.

The programme will include the international children’s folklore festival, children’s contemporary art and creativity workshops, the ecological festival demonstrating the unity of nature and children, the biggest picture of Vilnius where each child will be allowed to leave his creative imprint. The event will also feature non-traditional theatre, costume-making workshop and processions, kite-making workshop and kite competitions, traditional crafts and cuisine, as well as an extraordinary presentation of European languages in which national traditions, customs, languages, music, art and other specific activities will be presented by children from European countries.

Animal

This joint project by Lithuanian kindergartens and British neon artist Ron Haselden enjoyed great success when it was initially contracted by Liverpool Biennal in 2006. In 2008-2009, children attending kindergartens will be asked to draw some sort of animal. The commission will select 100 best drawings and, from these 100, Haselden will choose 3-5. While faithfully adhering to the original outlines drawn by the children, Haselden will create impressive, 10-metre-high neon installations that will adorn the walls of buildings in the residential areas of the drawing authors. Three installations will emerge in Vilnius, while a total of five of these children-inspired neon creations will be exhibited in Lithuania. The neon animals on these buildings will be switched on by the authors of the drawings themselves. Additionally, powerful equipment will project special video clips with the children’s drawings on the façades of buildings in the major cities of Lithuania (those in which the kindergarteners were most active).

May

Street Musician Day

Street Musician Day is the event uniting all those speaking in the most universal language of the world, i.e. music. In response to the invitation from musician and actor Andrius Mamontovas, the professional and amateur musicians will flood Vilnius streets, inner yards, small parks and squares. Armed with a variety of musical instruments, they will play rock, classics, jazz, avant-garde and folklore as well as beat African rhythms. This is the day bringing all Lithuanian cities and towns into the celebration for the communication of free art, musicians and public.

The campaign will be organised on this day in cooperation with the Lithuanian Association of the Disabled for reducing social exclusion so that culture would become accessible to as many Vilnius residents as possible. The disabled who have no possibility to move on their own will travel in Vilnius aided by volunteers on the Street Musician Day. The disabled will visit Vilnius Old Town, vernal parks, exhibitions and museums.

Ladyfest

This festival is to involve youth, members of subculture and a number of public groups into a joint creative process. The ideas to promote self expression of girls and women, to seek deeper social understanding, and to stress the ideals of a democratic society will be implemented by various means: from hardcore music or flashmob social events to academic seminars and contemporary art events. In solidarity with other European Capitals of Culture, where such festivals have long-term traditions, there will be developed general discussion platforms to raise relevant issues concerning society and gender.

The main events of the festival will include social interventions in public areas, various creative workshops, academic seminars, events in unusual social areas, poetry and music soirees, girl sport tournaments, and meetings with musicians, authors and scholars.

Sacral Music Festival

The project will introduce Vilnius, which has been open to ideas, languages and religions in all periods, to the residents and guests of the European Capital of Culture. Art programme of the festival will not be limited only to the influence of Latin culture but instead will take an extensive look at the sacral nature of music. It will present sacral music composed by the authors of different epochs and beliefs. Plainsong, Taize, Corsican folk songs, gospel music, Ukrainian cants, sacral music of Russian classics, Tartar and Karaite songs, Jewish music, Lithuanian songs and A. Scarlatti oratorio for the Lithuanian patron St Casimir as well as monastic musical compositions and organ music cycles will be played in the concerts. Groups from Lithuania, Austria, Czech Republic, Great Britain, Spain, Italy, Israel, the USA, Poland, France, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine and Germany promoting sacral music will participate in the festival. The events will take place in the most picturesque Vilnius temples.

June

Let there be night!

That is the festival of culture, art, museums and music taking place on mid-summer night. Vilnius residents and guests are invited into cultural night life of Vilnius where they can attend night dance lessons, open air cinema, concerts in churches, exhibitions in museums and galleries, fashion shows, laser performances, poetry reading and other art campaigns mingling local and European traditions.

The increasing number of people behaving as cultural guests instead of arrogant observers celebrate the cultural night in the city and create live and creative city atmosphere.

Opera Festival

In the first International Opera Festival, recognized classical operatic works and authentic old baroque operas, experimental theatre and a new Lithuanian opera will be performed. Tours of the legendary St. Petersburg Maria’s Theatre and internationally acclaimed Israeli Opera Theatre, baroque performances of the unique Les Arts Florissants ensemble, a spectacular experimental programme by Gidon Kremer and the Kremerata Baltica chamber orchestra as well as new productions by the Lithuanian National Theatre of Opera and Ballet with famous foreign artists are planned.

Terno Vilna - Young Vilnius

Terno Vilna project features creative workshops, a seminar Contemporary Creative Initiatives and Dialogue Between Ethnic Communities and a music event in the Roma community of Vilnius. An audiovisual project based on the synthesis of Roma ethnic music and electronic music will be produced during the workshop. The tasks for workshop participants will be selected with regard to the hot issues of today’s Roma encampment, as well as its environment, mythology, traditions and even the stereotypes ingrained in public opinion. The seminar will be aimed at sharing local and international experiences in order to understand various ethnic communities and involve them into creative processes. The project will culminate in the concert.

Monmartre Convention in Užupis

Having only premiered in 2008, this festival will now be in full swing. The Užupis National Philharmonic will open its doors and will feature jazz and funk music concert, a Fluxus retrospective performed by the international actor troupe, and a programme by fire brigade brass and percussion orchestra. One will be able to stroll down an alley of kinetic sculptures, participate in a Georgian feast and listen to a Monmartre choir, as well as marvel at the works of expressionist painters of Germany, Denmark, Finland and Lithuania (Nida).

Passers-by will be entertained by Fluxus activities, street provocations, grand processions and parades, pictures flying and sailing by, hovering bridges and floating sculptures. The existing or historical European and world artist colonies and quarters will be presented in the language of fine arts, music, theatre and dance.

For guests from all over the world (England, Australia, Austria, Denmark, Greece, Georgia, Latvia, Poland, Holland, France, Russia, Finland, Switzerland and Germany), residents of Vilnius and other cities in Lithuania, or simply anyone full of spontaneity, Užupis has been and will always be the best place to get together.

Urban Stories - 10th International Art Triennial of the Baltics

Forty Lithuanian and foreign contemporary artists and city researchers will stay in the peripheral Vilnius districts of Pilaite, Šeškine, Naujininkai and Naujoji Vilnia for two weeks.

European artists will map everyday life of Vilnius with innovation by enriching traditional image of the old city with the feel of modern reality. The artists and theorists will be invited to leave behind stereotypical tourist and representative Vilnius images and explore more varied social and physical geographies of the city. On the base of this research the city atmosphere, the stories of its current residents will be merged into a new complex narrative about Vilnius with the help of modern art means (such as dimensional installations, cinema and video films, different art campaigns and mass media interventions).

The artist research and communication with the residents of the peripheral Vilnius districts will translate into the exposition that will take place in September-November and a two-week programme of temporary events and different projects throughout the city. Vilnius will acquire project chronicles that can be turned into a newspaper, magazine, community radio station or TV channel. The creations will be shown in the Museum of Modern Art www.cac.lt in September-November.

Creative Works of M. K. Ciurlionis and his Contemporaries

For the first time ever, the works of M. K. Ciurlionis and his contemporaries, revealing similar artistic ideas and devices and highlighting their vision, will be brought together from Lithuanian, Polish, Russian, German and French museums. The exhibition will be prepared and a new catalogue, presenting the most recent study on European art connections and research on the creative work of M. K. Ciurlionis and other artists of the period from the end of the 19^th until the beginning of the 20^th century, will be published with the kind assistance of the Hermitage museum.

July

Vilnius Art Fair ´09

This is the first event of such nature and scope in the Baltic Region. Lithuania, the geopolitical crossing of the East and the West, is a strategically convenient location for the presentation of contemporary art and expansion of limits of the local culture. Art galleries of Lithuania, other Baltic States, the EU and East Europe will partake in the fair where independent artists will also be provided with the opportunity to present their projects.

The international jury will ensure the quality of expositions in the fair. The programme aims not only to present contemporary art, but also to attract famous foreign curators, museum experts, gallery managers, collectors and art managers who will arrange conferences and seminars, presentations of art publications and informal art soirees.

Programmes Art Without Borders and From a Local to a Global Context in Art of the International Gallery Fair will enable the visitors to see professional art, receive expert consulting and acquire art valuables, while fair exhibitors will be able to exchange experience and make long-term international contacts.

August

Be2gether Rockfestival

The eastern border of the European Union is fenced by the barbed wire beyond which there lies a beautiful country isolated from Europe by the will of its political leaders. But common roots in history and culture connect the people who live on both sides.

To this day the cape of Dieveniškes has a junction of 5 old roads leading to Vilnius. This is the location where the impressive rock music festival, Be2gether, will peal out. The huge, three-day music event will take place in a 100-hectare area. Four stages will face the direction of the EU, while the video screens and audio equipment will face the direction of Belarus so that the music would metaphorically destroy the walls.

Handicraft Heritage of Vilnius

The heritage of crafts in the city is relevant to the Vilnius of today in its struggle to revive old handicraft traditions as an expression of urban culture of the Lithuanian Grand Duchy (LGD). The revival of olden craft customs in Vilnius is also important to the development of cultural tourism and the endeavour to present Vilnius as a city upholding old European traditions. Once per month, educational events will be organised in the original sites of craft workshops in order to revive the old tradition of Vilnius handicrafts. During the Bartholomew Fair, fine, crude and ethnographic handicrafts using old technologies, will be demonstrated by Vilnius craftsmen. The fair is expected to attract the members of ethnic minorities (Karaites, Tartar, Jewish) and, thus, to disclose the historical multi-cultural characteristics of both Vilnius City and its old crafts. The educational, entertainment, cultural and social influences of the project will allow Vilnius to be portrayed as a modern and dynamic city in which creative people design the future by reconstructing the past.

Klezmer Festival

The Klezmer Festival that will take place during the Third Litvak Congress has been in existence for several years and is analogous to the Klezmer Festival in Krakow, which attracts worldwide attention. The Vilnius event will feature concerts in public areas and concert halls by Jewish folk music artists and world renowned Klezmer musicians like Frank London.

The 3^rd Congress of the World’s Litvakas‘

Scientific conferences, exhibitions and various supplementary activities associated with the programme of the European Cultural Capital and Klezmeriai Festival, organized in Lithuania for the first time will be held during the third congress of the Litvakas of the world.

Congress of “Vilniukai“ (Polish people originated from Vilnius area)

The first congress of “Vilniukai” will be accompanied by a diverse cultural program: the solemn opening concert of the congress, historical pageants, corporate projects of Lithuanian and Polish artists which will enable people to feel the deep historical roots, the unique multicultural qualities and the spirit of Vilnius.

September

Art in Unusual Places

This is the project transforming Vilnius face, the creative intervention of artists and far-outers into the unexpected city areas in real time! The projects of professional artists such as video and audio installations, operettas, performances, dances, social campaigns and surprises will astonish the audiences in a variety of extraordinary city places, like market, bridges, dead fountains, inner yards of the Old Town or ghost buildings.

Special maps will help people to detect the “hidden” attractions. City residents are also invited to create projects in their yards and houses. The most inventive projects will be awarded with special prizes.

8mm Mute Filmfestival

The majority of the short films made for Lithuanian festivals are not shot on film. Digital technologies numb film professionals by turning them into users of the media. Why, cinema does not mean viewing films in a motion-picture theatre, cinema means viewing cinema films in a motion-picture theatre. The 8 mm film festival differs from others because the films will be shot on film. Also, it will not become a “closet“ festival since the films will be specially produced for the event. Theoretical and practical training sessions will take place after selecting participants according to their submitted scenarios. Each participant will receive a special 8 mm film (3 minutes in length), of which no editing or post-production will be possible (each take will be final and the only one). All 8 mm festivals have guests from foreign countries. The most successful films will visit other film festivals worldwide.

October

Viva Musica Via Baltica

Active music exchange platform will be created in the countries connected by Via Baltica motorway. Its main purpose is to promote the music by neighbouring countries’ composers, played by young professionals in the historical sites of these countries. The programme is to include the concerts of Lithuanian Chamber Orchestra with the participation of young soloists from Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland, the performances of visiting Virtuosi di Kuhmo (Finland), Hortus Musicus (Estonia), Latvian Chamber Orchestra (Latvia), Chamber Orchestra of Warsaw Beethoven Academy (Poland), St Petersburg soloists, Kaliningrad Chamber Orchestra (Russia), and Malmö Chamber Orchestra (Sweden).

November

International Festival of Light LUX

LUX Festival of Lights will light Vilnius at the darkest period of the year. It is to encourage the city to resist the dark and, furthermore, to let more light into life! Science, nature and art will unite in this Festival of Lights to reveal the mysterious world of light.

The important aspect of the festival is the trips of socially deprived groups into the lighted city. The light must be lit not only in the city areas but in each and every heart.

Crossing Europe

This is a special film programme reflecting and expressing the idea of Europe’s unification and community. This is also the first innovative exchange of programmes between film festivals arranged in Vilnius and Linz, both of which are European Capitals of Culture 2009. Crossing Europe film programme will outline the developments in Europe today. The plots of films will provoke the cultural crossing of Europe, the discovery and understanding of European diversity, and the perception of oneself as its part.

December

European Christmas

The special Christmas event for passing the relay-race of European capital of culture status to the capitals of 2010 – Essen, Pécs and Istanbul.

Changes in the dates and the times of the events may occur, for more information and more events:

www.vilnius2009.lt