Lithuania and France embark on a co-creation project of cultural exchange and exploration with the Season of Lithuania in France 2024. This collaborative program aims to unveil the essence of contemporary Lithuanian culture to the French public through a diverse array of artistic expressions, discussions, and presentations. United under the theme “The Other Same” (Se voir en l’autre), the Season invites audiences to discover common ground and mutual understanding through various projects and activities across France. Officially launched in Paris on March 11th, the Season promises an exciting lineup of over 200 events spanning from September 12th to December 12th. With the participation of more than 500 artists, performers, and cultural representatives, and over 120 bilateral partnerships, the Season anticipates attracting over half a million spectators and visitors. We invite you to explore the highlights of the programme of the Lithuanian Season in France.
Multifaceted Partnership between Lithuanian Organisations and Pompidou Centre for Art and Culture
From September 13th
Partners: MO Museum, Lithuanian Film Centre, Literature Festival,Extra!, Pompidou Centre for Art and Culture, Cinémathèque du Documentaire
The Centre Pompidou National d’Art et de la Culture will host several major events, including a significant exhibition of Lithuanian artists organised by the Centre Pompidou d’Art et de la Culture and the MO Museum. Opening on September 13th, the exhibition will showcase Lithuanian artists newly added to the Pompidou collection. The MO Museum is providing guidance to the Pompidou regarding artworks suitable for inclusion, with a focus on the period from the 1960s to the present day, coinciding with the time of the MoMA collection.
The realisation of this project was made possible by the donation of iconic works of historical significance from the MoMA collection to the Pompidou. The donation includes works by Kazimiera Zimblytė, Linas Leonas Katinas, Vincas Kisarauskas, Maria Teresė Rožanskaitė, and Marija Švažienė. Credit for this gesture goes to the founders of the MO Museum, Danguolė and Viktoras Butkus. The overarching goal of this project is to restore historical truth, as the occupation prevented Lithuanian artists from appearing in the collections of major Western museums. Given the ongoing war in Ukraine and geopolitical tensions, this mission seems even more crucial.
Other works by contemporary artists will be funded through the Lithuanian Season in France initiative. On the opening weekend, the Pompidou Centre for Contemporary Art, along with more than ten other cultural venues worldwide, will celebrate International Poetry Day by presenting Jonas Mekas’s poems and creative legacy. In November, the Pompidou Centre’s film library will present a retrospective of films by director Audrius Stonys.
Exhibition: Walls are Nocturnal Animals (Les frontières sont des animaux nocturnes)
October 9th, 2024 – January 5th, 2025
Contemporary Art Centre, Palais de Tokyo, KADIST Paris
In October, the Palais de Tokyo and KADIST Paris will present the project ‘Walls are Nocturnal Animals’, curated by Neringa Bumblienė and Emilie Villez. Having started its journey in Paris, it will return to Vilnius in 2025. The exhibition emerges from the current geopolitical turmoil caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, featuring a dozen artists from different generations, mostly Lithuanian, exploring complex colonial histories, realities, and visions of the future.
50 Lithuanian plays at the focus of the Théâtre de la Ville in Paris
October 2024
Partners: Theatre Information Centre, the Théâtre de la Ville-Paris, Lithuanian National Drama Theatre
The Théâtre de la Ville will present a special programme dedicated to Lithuania, featuring around fifty plays and performances by Lithuanian theatres. Over three weekends, Parisian audience will enjoy an exceptional programme for all ages, including the play ‘Fossil’ by Eglė Švedkauskaitė, choreographic works by Davidas Strimaitis and Agnietė Lisčiskinaitė, and concerts by various artists.
Lina Lapelytė’s musical magic at Festival d’Automne
September 12th – 19th, 2024
Partners: Lina Lapelytė Studio, Le Festival d’Automne, Operomania
As part of the Lithuanian Season in France 2024 and the opening week of the Festival d’Automne, Lina Lapelytė will present a newly commissioned live piece for a large group of Parisian children, exploring the relationship between humans and nature. Additionally, the Festival d’Automne will feature the opera ‘Geros dienos!’ produced by Operomania.
Festival International des Arts Vivants and the Lithuanian Performing Arts Programme (Toulouse)
September 27th – October 13th, 2024
Partners: La Biennale – Festival international des arts vivants Toulouse Occitanie, Lithuanian Dance Information Centre, Kaunas Puppet Theatre, Contemporary Circus Association, Operomanija, Kaunas State Puppet Theatre
The audiences at the Toulouse Biennale and Festival International des Arts Vivants will experience a special programme featuring no less than eight performances showcasing the diversity of Lithuanian dance, circus, theatre, and music scenes.
Lithuanian Contemporary Circus in France (Bagneux, Châlons-en-Champagne, Lille, Auch)
October 18th – 26th, 2024
Partners: Le Plus Petit Cirque du Monde, PALC, Prato, Circa, Teatronas
Teatronas has brought together four contemporary circus organisations in France to promote Lithuanian circus. The joint French jury selected and invited three new Lithuanian contemporary circus projects and their creators to work on their product in residencies and to present the premieres of their performances at the international circus festival CIRCa Auch.
Showcasing Lithuania at the Chroniques Biennale
November 7th, 2024 – January 18th, 2025
Partners: Kaunas Biennial, Seconde Nature / Biennale Chroniques
Lithuania will also participate as a guest country in the Marseille Biennale Chroniques. The presentation of the opera ‘Sun and Sea’ by Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Lina Lapelytė, and Vaiva Grainytė will be an expected highlight.
Aleksandra Kasuba and Marija Olšauskaitė’s exhibition at Carré d’Art-Musée (Nîmes)
October 24th, 2024 – March 16th, 2025
Partners: Carré d’Art-Musée
Carré d’Art-Musée will host exhibitions of two Lithuanian artists from different generations and historical backgrounds.
Collective Exhibition ‘The Ambassadors / Les Ambassadeurs’ (Romenville)
October 10th – December 1st, 2024
Partners: Lithuanian National Museum of Art, Fiminco Foundation
For the Lithuanian season in France 2024, the Fiminco Foundation, together with the Lithuanian National Museum of Art (LNMA), will invite visitors to a group exhibition featuring works from the LNMA collection and young Lithuanian artists, which reveal the multifaceted and boundaries-pushing reality of the Lithuanian art scene. Curators Aušra Trakšelytė and Monika Kalinauskaitė have chosen the theme of vitality as the main axis, exploring it through a diversity of forms, media, and imagery, reflecting the multiplicity of the Lithuanian art scene, and the abundance of dialogues constantly taking place within it.
Among the artists featured are Lina Lapelytė, Ieva Rojūtė, Rimaldas Vikšraitis, Gediminas G. Akstinas, Karla Gruodis, Janina Sabaliauskaitė, Ieva Kotryna Skirmantaitė, and others. Each of these ambassadors, in their own way, are asking and exploring the same question: how far does our determination to be on the side of the living really go?
Contemporary Lithuanian cinema and classics in the Seasonal programme across France
Throughout the Season In collaboration with Marché
In cooperation: International du Film Classique Lumière festival (Lyon), Lille International Short Film Festival, Rencontres audiovisuelles (Lille), Théâtre et Auditorium de Poitiers (Poitiers), FIFIB – Festival International du film indépendant de Bordeaux (Bordeaux), La Cinémathèque du documentaire (Paris), Festival LGBTQI+ de Paris Chéries-Chéris (Paris), Association Rainbow Submarine, Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre, Meno avilys, Lithuanian Film Centre, Lithuanian Shorts, NGO Naratyvas
Programmes have been drafted to cater to different audiences: children, students, film professionals, amateurs, curators, video enthusiasts, festival-goers. From engaging workshops to special presentations and networking events, there’s something for everyone. Renowned figures like Audrius Stonys, Kristina Buožytė, Lina Lužytė, Alantė Kavaitė, Marija Kavtaradze, Skirmanta Jakaitė, Deimantas Narkevičius, Romas Zabarauskas, Vytautas Katkus, Saulius Baradinskas, Laurynas Bareiša, Anastasija Sosunova, Emilija Škarnulytė, Agnė Jokšė, Lukas Kacinauskas will be part of the programme, ensuring an enriching experience for all.
Europavox: Music! New Voices from Lithuania (Europavox Project) (Paris, Vendôme, and Bourges)
November 27th – 30th, 2024
Partners: Loftas, Lithuanian Music Business Association, Les Femmes s’en Mix, festivalis Rockomotives
A musical tour in France in the autumn, created in collaboration with festivals and concert halls in France. In addition to the musical programme, meetings and discussions/debates on inclusion will be organized during the day at each stage.
Events to Promote Children’s and Adolescent Literature
Throughout the Season
Partners: IBBY Lithuania, Vaikų žemė, Salmantina (Baïka magazine), le Salon du livre et de la presse jeunesse en Seine-Saint-Denis (Montreuil)
The literary programme, Children’s Land, in collaboration with its French partner, Le Salon du Livre et de la Presse Jeunesse en Seine-Saint-Denis, is undertaking one of the projects of the Lithuanian cultural season in France titled ‘Our Legends, Intertwined Threads’ (‘Nos légendes, gestes croisés’). This project invites French and Lithuanian artists to engage in a creative dialogue on the legends, myths, and fairy tales of both cultures, culminating in the creation of new stories to be presented to young French readers at the upcoming Montreuil Book Fair in November 2024.
Additionally, a special issue of the children’s educational magazine ‘Baika’, dedicated to Lithuania, will be published in the autumn. This issue will feature a rich variety of content, including illustrated Lithuanian fairy tales, recipes, interviews with Lithuanian children living in France, insights into Lithuanian history and traditions, engaging games, and a helpful glossary.
