In the eighth micro-exhibition from Building Narratives series, we present the multifaceted discussion about the city and water Fluid Perspectives which took place in September 2020 both in Vilnius and London. At the heart of the discussion are artists’ views of the city from a subjective perspective, expressed from a floating scene on the river Neris with the city physically running through their eyes, and transmitted in real-time to the keynote listener of the discussion – artist and curator Will Jennings who was walking the banks of the Thames and contemplating voices from Vilnius that covered and merged with the views of London. The reflection of this experience was transformed into the text for the "Building Narratives" publication, and into micro exhibition, where we invite you to explore the multilayered atmosphere of the project together with Will's commentary and complements. The physical exhibition takes place at the cultural centre SODAS 2123 until the 14th of November. 

The project was curated by Justinas Dūdėnas and Tautvydas Urbelis, coordinated by Indrė Ruseckaitė and Sandra Šlepikaitė. Speakers on board in Vilnius – Julijus Balčikonis, Vytenis Burokas, Rasa Chmieliauskaitė, Kipras Dubauskas, Marija Nemčenko. Keynote listener in London – Will Jennings. 

Will Jennings is an artist and writer interested in the intersections of architecture with politics, place, history and culture. His architectural writing explores some of the issues surrounding architecture & modern place-making to a wider audience, connecting unexpected ideas to find a place in between. Over recent years he was involved with the successful opposition to the proposed Garden Bridge development in central London, and occasionally lectures & teaches.

Rasa Chmieliauskaitė is an architect-urbanist, manager of cultural-social projects, one of co-founders of 'TẽKA' - creative/culture initiative for restoration of river culture which from 2015 works with Kaunas city and Kaunas region riverside communities and international partners. Rasa is also actively involved in educationl-artistic projects involving various socially excluded communities (manager of experimental architecture projects for the blind 'ECHOtektūra' and '[Ne]matoma architektūra', author of the tactile educational publication for the blind, coordinator of 'Keliaujančios architektūros dirbtuvės' 2016 and 'TẽKA: (re)animacija', also curator of Kaunas architecture festival 'KAF'e'.

Vytenis Burokas is an artist, curator, lecturer, who received his BA and MA degrees in Sculpture and Art’s Pedagogy from the Vilnius Academy of Arts. He participated in Rupert’s alternative education programme. From 2015 to 2018 Burokas worked as education and exhibition curator in the National Gallery of Art, and since 2016 he has been working as a lecturer at the Vilnius Academy of Arts, where he teaches the Sculpture programme. Burokas’ interests include the history of art and culture, rituals of everydayness, social roles and changing belief systems in relation to knowledge systems. In his work he documents passing historical and personal time in the face of these changes.

Kipras Dubauskas lives and works in Vilnius. He studied Installation at the Royal Academy of Ghent and Sculpture at the Vilnius Academy of Arts. The artist’s works have been presented in solo exhibitions at POST Gallery in Kaunas (2019) and the Ex Elettrofonica Gallery in Rome (2018); and in the group exhibitions Waiting for Another Coming in Vilnius and Warsaw (2018), Some Pieces from a Cracked Sidewalk (through an intent gaze) in Gdansk (2017) and the 12th Baltic Triennial (2015), and Words aren’t the thing at the Contemporary Art Centre in Vilnius (2015); he regularly participates in film festivals, self-organised events in public spaces, and in exhibitions by other artists. Kipras Dubauskas is the founder of the “Spongé” analogue film laboratory collective.

Julijus Balčikonis is Vilnius Arts Academy graduate, holds one BA in sculpture and other BA and MA in photography and media. He condsiders history (espacially visual part of it) to be very special hobby of him. He is also interested in other related forms of collective and visual memory – it’s partly visible in his work. Julijus Balčikonis had been working on sculpture restoration, in advertising industry and CAC cinema. Currently he is teaching academical drawing, photography, graphic design and visual communication at Vilnius College of Design, also works as a freelance artist, advertising creative, graphic designer and filmmaker.

Marija Nemčenko is an interdisciplinary artist, one of the BRUT Collective project founders. BRUT Collective encompasses a network of artworks, public lectures, workshops, exhibitions and focuses on exploring brutalist architecture from social, cultural and political perspectives. In BRUT work, the concrete edifices, that changed Europe’s urban face in the post World War II climate, are discussed for what they really are – as affordable housing structures. 'We believe that by getting to know each other’s stories, struggles and successes, we can look at our own direct environment with a fresh eye, and with a strong sense of solidarity.'

About “Building Narratives”

In the micro-exhibition series, we present works developed within Architektūros fondas programme "Building Narratives" in 2019–2020. Creatives of the  “Building Narratives” programme explored the relations between architecture and narrative, when buildings aren’t shaped by mortar and concrete anymore – crucial and sometimes the most important ingredient is narrative. Whether it is purely a PR product or an organic construct it creates perceptions and shapes the way we see and understand our environment. Hearing, reading or assembling a narrative from smaller pieces helps us to determine if something is good, useful and even beautiful. At the same time, changing narrative has the power to change perceptions of our environment. Bad can become good, ugly-beautiful, all without any changes in physical structure.

As a new narrative has the power to transform architecture on its own, it becomes extremely important to understand how different ways of talking about architecture can shape its future. Therefore Architektūros fondas was seeking to discover personal narratives and encourage the creatives to get involved in this affair. Programme merged the ongoing projects of Architektūros fondas and their methods, while looking for common ground among podcasts and publications platform Aikštėje and Future Architecture platform creatives.

Creatives of the Future Architecture platform within the "Building Narratives" programme: Goda Verikaitė, Povilas Jankūnas, Sonja Lakič, Tatiana Letier Pinto, Un-War Space Lab, Will Jennings. Curators of programme: Andrius Ropolas, Indrė Ruseckaitė, Justinas Dūdėnas, Sandra Šlepikaitė. Curators of micro exhibitions: Indrė Ruseckaitė ir Justinas Dūdėnas

"Building Naratives" is also a part of the Future Architecture platform and European Architecture programme 2020, co-funded by the Creative Europe Programme of the European Union. Architektūros fondas' strategic partner is Lithuanian Council for Culture. Partner – Kaunas 2022 programmes "Modernism for Future" and "All as One".