A Talk With Authors of Sun&Sea

Imagine a beach - you within it, or better: watching from above - the burning sun, sunscreen and bright bathing suits and sweaty palms and legs. Tired limbs sprawled lazily across a mosaic of towels. Imagine the occasional squeal of children, laughter, the sound of an ice cream van in the distance. The musical rhythm of waves on the surf, a soothing sound (on this particular beach, not elsewhere). The crinkling of plastic bags whirling in the air, their silent floating, jellyfish-like, below the waterline. The rumble of a volcano, or of an airplane, or a speedboat. Then a chorus of songs: everyday songs, songs of worry and of boredom, songs of almost nothing. And below them: the slow creaking of an exhausted Earth, a gasp.

The talk with Sun & Sea (Marina) authors Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė, Vaiva Grainytė, Lina Lapelytė and curator Lucia Pietroiusti will be moderated curator Povilas Marozas

About speakers:

Rugilė Barzdžiukaitė (b. 1983, based in Vilnius) works as filmmaker and theatre director. In her creative practice, Barzdžiukaitė explores the gap between objective and imagined realities, while challenging an anthropocentric way of thinking in a playful way. Her recent full-length film-essay Acid Forest was awarded at the Locarno International Film Festival in 2018 and is touring extensively in film festivals around the world.

Vaiva Grainytė (b. 1984) is a writer, playwright, and poet. Her creative practice usually crosses the confines of deskwork and becomes an integral part of an interdisciplinary polylogue in the form of radio plays, operas, site specific performances, and musicals. Her book of essays Beijing Diaries (2012) was nominated for the Book of the Year award in the adult literature category and included in the top twelve listing of the most creative books for that year. Vaiva's poetry debut Gorilla's Archives was published in 2019 and according to critics recognized as a distinguished voice of neo-avant-garde poetry.

Lina Lapelytė (b.1984, based in Vilnius and London) is an artist, musician and composer. Her performance - based practice is rooted in music and flirts with pop culture, gender stereotypes and nostalgia. Lapelytė's works were presented at KIM? in Riga, Rupert in Vilnius (solo exhibition), gallery 1857 in Oslo, the Modern Art Museum in Malmo, MACBA in Barcelona, DRAF in London. Upcoming shows include Cartier Foundation in Paris, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Kunsthalle Praha.

Lucia Pietroiusti is Curator of General Ecology and Live Programmes at London's Serpentine Galleries. Pietroiusti has programmed and curated performances and series including Park Nights, Serpentine Cinema and the long durational symposium on interspecies consciousness, The Shape of a Circle in the Mind of a Fish (with Filipa Ramos). As part of the General Ecology project, Pietroiusti is currently researching eco-feminism, new materialisms, mysticism, environmental humanities and complexity theories across disciplines.

About  26th series of Architecture Fund Talks:

Behind the shallow technical description of landscapes and public spaces as 'site arrangement' and behind practices that shape them named as 'softscape design' exists a rich and complex world of environments and spaces formed by natural and cultural forces and myriads of practices involved in creating and transforming them. The 26th series of Architecture Fund talks are dedicated to exploring the rich and ripe scene of design and artistic practices that shape, transform and articulate urban and rural open spaces around us and inquire into different contexts and complexities that they engage with. The events aim to ask what kind of cultural and environmental qualities do landscape architecture, community-led and artistic interventions put forward and what kind of meanings these types of work convey to different users of shared urban, suburban and natural environments. By inviting to participate in the talks with prominent artists, landscape architects, architects, developers and local community members the series also seeks to encourage the general public to critically assess and reflect upon local culture and its relation to shared spaces and practices that transform them.

The event is open to everyone and free of charge.

Sponsors:
Lietuvos kultūros taryba
ACO
Tarkett Lietuva
Exterus / ištikimi sienoms