The cultural centre SODAS 2123 is inviting to join in for the celebration of the 700th anniversary of Vilnius city with events addressing some pertinent questions in relation to spatial policy and encouraging to work together for a dynamic, contemporary city, which would be open for discussions.
Spaces and buildings are projections of our rules, conventions, imaginations and dreams. Although architecture as a practice of spatial production is intertwined with political issues, in Lithuania we often leave this connection behind aesthetic or functional considerations, seemingly forgetting the political. In the international academic context however the architectural and political studies are gaining importance, while in practice there is also a shift towards the search for different methods of spatial agency.
The symposium Politics of Space brings together boundary crossing experiences of researchers and practitioners, architects and artists, and invites to explore together how political issues are intertwined with processes of spatial production at different levels: from smallest spatial units and our relationships in domestic environment, to agreements that shape regions and geopolitical territories.
The event seeks to deepen the understanding of architecture as a practice of the politics of space (raumpolitik) and its potential in changing social and economic structures in relation to questions such as gender equality, social inclusion, decolonisation, reduction of climate change and other.
The symposium will continue as an exhibition at gallery Atletika, showcasing the participants’ research and artworks, including unique work produced for the event. The exhibition will run until 16 October.
More information about the participants and the programme will be announced shortly.
The project is part of Vilnius 700th anniversary programme. Find out more at www.700vilnius.lt.
Event location – cultural centre SODAS 2123
Symposium curators – Martynas Germanavičius, Vilius Balčiūnas, Gabrielė Černiavskaja
Film programme curator – Mantė Valiūnaitė
Organised by cultural centre SODAS 2123
Project supported by Lithuanian Council for Culture, Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, Vilnius city municipality ir Lithuanian Film Centre under the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.
Partners – Architektūros fondas, Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association.
Main information partner 15min.lt
PROGRAMME
THURSDAY, 09 29
17:00–18:30 Guided tour of SODAS 2123 Cultural Centre
Guides – Ona Lozuraitytė-Išorė, Petras Išora-Lozuraitis
18:30–19:00 – Symposium and exhibition opening
19:00–20:00 – Circus kitchen
[A Unit of Space and Its Component]
Workshop
Artist – Erik Vojevodin
An experiment exploring food rituals and developing the parameters for a socially, aesthetically and critically enhanced form of gathering.
20:00–22:00 – PlayTime (1967)
Film screening
Director – Jacques Tati
Clumsy Monsieur Hulot (Jacques Tati) finds himself perplexed by the intimidating complexity of a gadget-filled Paris. He attempts to meet with a business contact but soon gets lost. His roundabout journey parallels that of an American tourist (Barbara Dennek) and as they weave through the inventive urban environment, they intermittently meet.
22:30 – Ambulance on Fire (Live), Roudtraxx (DJ)
Music
FRIDAY, 09 30
17:00–17:45 – Table
[A Unit of Space and Its Component]
Artwork presentation
Artist – Vytautas Gečas
An artwork entangled between the anthropometric criteria of the small scale and geopolitical discourse.
18:00–18:30 – Cova da Moura
[Micropolitics of Cohabitation]
Artwork presentation
Artist – Artūras Čertovas
A dive into the experience of informal architectural environments, where spaces and structures are created from everything found by hand.
19:00–20:00 – Apie ką mes kalbame (ir kas kalba) ir kas kalba, kai kalbama apie bendruosius išteklius? / What do we talk (and who talks) about when we talk about commons?
[Micropolitics of Cohabitation]
Lecture
Lecturers – Klodiana Millona, Yuan Chun Liu
Using (auto)ethnographic research, the lecture dives into different forms of shared living and their politics from the scale of the bed to that of the city.
21:00–22:00 – Constant (2022)
Film screening
Directors – Sasha Litvintseva, Beny Wagner
Constant is a journey through the social and political histories of measuring. For most of recorded history, the human body was the measure of all things. Constant asks what led measuring to depart from the body and become a science unto itself.
22:30 – Kanalizacija (Live), Puppystyle (Jelisejav & Šarūnė) (DJ), Certo (Artūras Čertovas) (DJ)
Music
SATURDAY, 10 01
12:00–13:30 – Unrealised Projects in Vilnius from the 20th Century
[City and Imagination]
Presentation and discussion
Speakers – Rasa Antanavičiūtė, Marija Drėmaitė
Moderator – Andrius Ropolas
Political power in Vilnius changed hands ten times in the 20th century. Despite the different ideologies and regimes, politicians, planners and architects hoped to create a better world, a better Vilnius and a better society in general. Many urban, architectural, engineering and memorial projects could have transformed the face of the city but remained only on paper.
13:30–17:30 – Vilnius as a Case of the Many: An Attempt to Understand the Global Housing Crisis
[Beyond the Walls of Our Homes]
Workshop
Moderators – spaceforfuture.org (Angelika Hinterbrander, Jonas Illigmann)
Workshop participants will explore urban housing situations in Vilnius that are tied to complex global interdependencies while simultaneously addressing local specificities to suggest new solutions for ensuring housing affordability in the near future.
Advance registration is required.
13:30, 14:30, 15:30, 16:30 – Microraion
[City and Imagination]
Game
Creator – Povilas Vincentas Jankūnas
A utopian city planning game that takes us back to the peak of the ruthless building of block houses in Soviet-era Lithuania.
15:30–16:30 – You May Dream
[A Unit of Space and Its Component]
Workshop
Authors – Magdalena Beliavska, Klodiana Millona, Yuan Chun Liu
A workshop about sleeping, its (im)possibilities and implications within space.
17:30–18:30 – Social Architecture. New Forms of Social Space and Lessons from the Food Justice Movement and Social Eating Initiatives.
[Beyond the Walls of Our Homes]
Presentation
Presenter – Louis Koseda
Louis will share lessons and discoveries from his time developing projects within social architecture, talk about instigating and expanding community-focused spatial projects and touch on contemporary research methods that are becoming the cornerstone of the new era of social practice.
18:30–21:00 – Unconditional 𓇢 field
[Beyond the Walls of Our Homes]
Performance
Creators – Kamilė Krasauskaitė, Pijus Džiugas Meižis
Close your eyes to encounter multisensory lived experiences and through them, explore your inner spaces interconnected with distant landscapes and ephemeral soundscapes.
19:00 – Ugnė Uma (DJ)
Music
21:00–22:00 – Infinity According to Florian (2022)
Film screening
Director – Oleksiy Radynski
On the eve of his 90th birthday, Kyiv-based architect Florian Yuriev gets some bad news. The city has rented out his architectural opus magnum—a flying-saucer-shaped avantgarde concert hall—to a real estate developer who wants to turn it into a shopping mall.
SUNDAY, 10 02
11:00–14:00 – Neo-Futuristic Walks
[City and Imagination]
Walkshop
Facilitators: Goda Verikaitė, Aušra Česnauskytė
Neo-Futuristic Walks is a series of urban inspections in which walking, as a research method, allows new connections to form with the surroundings and create site-specific visions of the near future as an alternative to the present.
Advance registration is required.
14:00–15:30 – Urban Practice as a Lever for Co-production
[Beyond the Walls of Our Homes]
Presentation
Presenter – Leona Lynen
An exploration and discussion of three manifestations of Urban Practice: alternative approaches to planning processes through creative participation formats, self-organisation of pioneering uses and shared responsibility for public resources through public-civic partnerships.
16:00–17:00 – POWER
[Geopolitical Spaces]
Presentation
Creators – Traumnovelle (Léone Drapeaud, Johnny Leya)
The presentation of a speculative international agreement on energy politics addressing the future of energy production infrastructure, as well as its symbolic and even civic role in our civilization.
17:00–18:30 – Democratic spaces at the time of crisis
[Geopolitical Spaces]
Discussion
Participants – Benas Gerdžiūnas, Arvydas Grišinas, Andrius Bielskis
In the discussion participants will analyse, what significance does the public space acquire for democratic processes, or even for radical utopian self-organisation movements at the times of geopolitical tensions or inner revolutions?
19:00–19:40 A programme of Bert Haanstra’s short films (1950–1983)
Film screening
Director – Bert Haanstra
Bert Haanstra, one of the most well-known Dutch directors, was a master of unique documentary shorts who blended free improvisation with precise and delicate shots, complimenting their poetic cinematography with rich humour. Selected films: Mirror of Holland (1950), Glass (1958), Zoo (1962), The Netherlands (1983).
20:30 – Simonas Nekrošius (Live), Visvaldas Morkevičius (DJ)
Music
Curators – Martynas Germanavičius, Vilius Balčiūnas, Gabrielė Černiavskaja
Curator of the film programme – Mantė Valiūnaitė
Project manager – Danutė Gambickaitė
Coordinators – Gabrielė Voida, Lina Rukevičiūtė
Curator of the evening programme – Benas Trakimas
Designer – Rokas Sutkaitis
Communications manager – Stefanija Jokštytė
Social media specialist – Aistė Marija Stankevičiūtė
Accountant – Marina Rudzinskienė
Intern – Pauline Fezas
The project is part of Vilnius’ 700th anniversary programme. Find out more at www.700vilnius.lt.
Partners – Architektūros fondas, Lithuanian Interdisciplinary Artists’ Association.
Main media partner – 15min.lt
The project is funded by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Office of the Government of the Republic of Lithuania, Vilnius City Municipality and the Lithuanian Film Centre under the Ministry of Culture.