Opening of the Clay Playground

As summer approaches, we warmly invite you to the opening of the sculptural installation Clay Playground at the cultural centre SODAS 2123, taking place on 5 June from 6:30pm. This long-anticipated space, developed by a selected team of creators in collaboration with architecture students, welcomes both children and adults to engage in playful exploration with clay 

At a time when traditional earthen architecture is disappearing from architectural vocabulary and practice, and urban development seems inseparable from concrete, plastic, and other carbon- and oil-intensive materials, Clay Playground invites us to return to clay – as both a tool for construction and a medium for play.

The opening of the Clay Playground marks the beginning of a series of educational events dedicated to creating with clay. Throughout the summer, SODAS 2123 will host workshops for children led by various artists offering opportunities to play, experience, and explore with clay in their hands 

Clay Playground also initiates a new direction for SODAS 2123’s educational projects: a series of seasonal playgrounds and related programmes developed in collaboration with curator Vilius Vaitiekūnas. These temporary installations – to be created over the next two years – will become a platform for reimagining spaces of play, where children form unique relationships with the world they’ve inherited through touch, movement, and games.

The architectural installation itself is composed of a hand-pressed blend of unfired clay, sand, lime, gravel, and rammed earth. Its creation offered the invited team of architects and students a hands-on experience with earthen construction technologies. Developed in consultation with international experts, the site was shaped through a practical workshop format – testing formworks and material blends, and implementing solutions directly on site.

The launch event on 5 June will be part of the wider OPEN SODAS: GAMES programme.

CLAY PLAYGROUND LAUNCH PROGRAMME

 6:30pm – Presentation by the Clay Playground team
 7pm – Educational workshop for children with Karen Vanhercke (in English)
 7:30pm – Educational workshop for children with Mindaugas Reklaitis

 The programme is free of charge and open to all visitors.

Sculptural installation created by: Architects Mantas Peteraitis, Kamilė Vasiliauskaitė, Aistė Gaidilionytė
Creative collaborators: Emilija Kazakevičiūtė, Otilija Ieva Končiūtė, Svetlana Zobnina, Paulius Bogavičius, Radvilė Šapranauskaitė, Gabija Adelė Mandeikaitė, Ignas Uleckas, Matas Trimonis.
Curator: Vilius Vaitiekūnas
Clay technique consultant: Gabrielė Šimkutė
Project Manager: Lina Rukevičiūtė
Coordinator: Gabija Stašinskaitė
Communication Coordinator: Gustė Grigaliūtė
Text editing and translation by Alexandra Bondarev
Graphic Designer: Daniil Lapickij

Organiser: Cultural Centre SODAS 2123
Partners: Vilnius Academy of Arts, Moline, Akee

SODAS 2123 is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Vilnius City Municipality.