One thing is for sure – everyone will want to be in Kaunas, the epicentre of European culture in 2022, as the program is packed with meetings from internationally acclaimed artist and musician Yoko Ono to performance art prodigy Marina Abramović.
Marina Abramović, synonymous with performance art, will meet her fans from the whole world in Kaunas, the European Capital of Culture 2022. She will open an exhibition and give an open lecture on 31 March 2022.
A solo exhibition “Memory of Being”, initiated by Meno Parkas Gallery, is one of the most important and ambitious events in the programme of Kaunas 2022. It will present in detail the work of Marina Abramović from 1960s to the present day. The exhibition will feature video documentations of her interviews and most famous works, as well as the artist’s best-known video installations. The exhibition will be opened to the public at the Kaunas Picture Gallery from 30 March.
According to the director of Marina Abramović Institute Giuliano Argenziano, the exhibition partner, the exhibition will have a unique form – it will be displayed as a spectacular video installation of the selected artist’s performance documentation and films.
According to Arvydas Žalpys, curator of the exhibition and director of Meno Parkas Gallery, the worldview of people in our region is close to the work of the Serbian artist: “Since the times of the Soviet Iron Curtain, Lithuanian artists and people of culture have tried to find information about Abramović’s work in many different ways – her art has symbolised a brave pursuit of liberty, surpassing fear and established clichés, as well as an unconstrained expression of the artist’s identity freeing from the shackles of the Soviet system. This is why this meeting of the audience and the author is very important.”
Meno Parkas has already published a Lithuanian-language version of “The Cleaner”, the most comprehensive catalogue of Abramović’s work, which is a must-read for those planning to attend “Memory of Being”. The exhibition at the Kaunas Picture Gallery will be open until 31 July.
This impressive project was made possible through the partnership between Meno Parkas and the Centre of Contemporary Art Znaki Czasu in Toruń, the Marina Abramović Institute, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Belgrade, and the Moderna Museet in Stockholm.
Open lecture by Marina Abramovic in Žalgiris Arena and support for Ukraine
The exhibition itself will be on view for four months, while the contemporary art lovers and fans of Marina Abramović from the whole world will have a chance to meet the artist on 31 March at 6 pm. Due to the huge interest in the open lecture, it was decided to hold it at the Žalgiris Arena instead of the Picture Gallery.
In response to the aggressive actions against Ukraine and its people, the organizers have announced that part of the proceeds from ticket sales will be used to support the Ukrainian culture program in Kaunas. The Ukrainian culture program will host, support, and provide space for artists and creators, who will choose Kaunas as their temporary home during the war in Ukraine.
According to the Kaunas European Capital of Culture 2022 team, culture will be inescapable in 2022. From cosy rendezvous under verdant trees to massive spine-tingling events, from installations to world-class performances, from theatrical tours to design workshops, Kaunas 2022will offer over 1000 events! More than 40 festivals, 60 exhibitions, 250 performing arts events (including more than 50 premieres), and over 250 concerts are planned to take place in 2022, organised by the Kaunas 2022 team of 500 people alongside 80 local and 150 foreign partners, 2,000 artists, 80 communities, and 1,000 great volunteers in 141 cities in Lithuania and the world.
