The Reader of the 10th Edition of Alternative Education Programme

For the very first time the Reader of the Alternative Education Programme is released. And it’s dedicated for 10th Programme’s Edition that just ended with a spectacular exhibition “Adero”.

DOWNLOAD THE READER IN ENGLISH / DOWNLOAD THE READER IN LITHUANIAN

In 2022 the programme continued to explore the theme of “Magic and Rituals”. Alongside the thematic approach, both the programme and the journal delved into different modes of knowledge exchange, alternative pedagogy, and forms of collectivity through various individual expressions.

Following the ethos of the Alternative Education Programme, the editorial process of the Reader took a collaborative approach – the tutors of the programme were invited to propose texts that represented their workshops, while some of the participants contributed visual entries that were conceived during the programme. This approach does not aim to lay an in-depth theoretical foundation of the programme or closely follow the discussion that happened during different sessions. Most of the conversations, notes, and ponderings are reserved for the participants and temporal learning spaces that they created. Instead, the Reader combines different languages to provide a flowing trip through the fields and discourses that the programme tapped into.

The Reader is composed of different entries, making a kaleidoscopic collection of poetic thoughts, elaborate articles, visual contemplations, and ideas that glances at the theme and activities of the 10th edition of the Alternative Education Programme through different experiences of the tutors and participants. The visual inspirations for the publication are contributed by Delphine Lejeune, iolo Walker, laura fernández antolín, Laura Marija Balčiūnaitė, and Studio Misti. Their scribbles and images were integrated into the design of the Reader, canvassing it with vivid memories of the time spent in Vilnius.

The Reader includes 3 essays proposed by different tutors – “Distributed Reproduction, Chemical Violence, and Latency” by Michelle Murphy, “Haunted Geologies: Spirits, Stones, and the Necropolitics of the Anthropocene” by Nils Bubandt, and “Witches, ‘bitches’ or feminist trailblazers? The Witch in Folk Horror Cinema” by Chloé Germaine Buckley, all of which were previously published in other journals and books, and are brought together to create an echo of the discussions in many different material and speculative spaces over the course of six months.

Alongside the proposed essays, the Reader probes into the diverse curriculum of the programme with the help of short notes on the lectures, workshops, research trips, and final events. Although there is no perfect way, or, to be honest, no need to thoroughly document all the activities of 10th edition, these short snippets and images will provide both insights and the vibe that created the programme.

While all the parts of the Alternative Education Programme are crucial components, it is impossible to imagine the programme without the participants! Their biographies and introductions of their art works that were developed during the programme are presented just before a reading list put together by the tutors of the 10th edition of the Alternative Education Programme.

The manifold list represents different angles and approaches towards the theme of magic and rituals as well as alternative education. Some of the proposed books and texts treat magic and rituals as a research object, keeping necessary critical distance, while others dive into the internalised practices that constitute the very subjectivities of the writers. Some of the texts might not directly fall into these broad categories.

The most patient and curious readers will be rewarded by the poem “when spelunking forgotten dreams” by this year’s tutor Nisha Ramayya, concluding the Reader and the 10th edition of Alternative Education Programme.

Read it, experience it, do your own magical and ritualic contemplation towards “The Reader of the 10th Edition of Alternative Education Programme”. 

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Editors: Tautvydas Urbelis and Brigit Arop
Co-editors: Eglė Ambrasaitė, Denis Petrina, Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė
Illustrations: Delphine Lejeune, iolo Walker, laura fernández antolín, Laura Marija Balčiūnaitė, Studio Misti
Translations: Aleksandra Fominaitė, Paulius Balčytis, Ugnė Marija Andrijauskaitė
Language editors: Jurij Dobriakov (English), Evelina Zenkutė (Lithuanian)
Graphic design: Jonė Miškinytė

Participants of the Alternative Education Programme: HASHIA, Misti studio, Delphine Lejeune, laura fernández antolín, Laura Marija Balčiūnaitė, Ana Lipps, Algirdas Jakas, Dovydas Laurinaitis, iolo Walker

Tutors of the Alternative Education Programme: Bones Tan Jones, Denis Petrina, Dorota Gawęda and Eglė Kulbokaitė, Joey Holder, Mary Maggic, Nisha Ramayya, Agency Agency (Victoria Meniakina and Roel van Herpt), Aikas Žado Laboratory (Eglė Ambrasaitė and Domas Noreika), Arts of the Working Class (Dalia Maini and Amelie Jakubek), Verpėjos (Laura Garbštienė)

Rupert’s activities are financed by the Lithuanian Council for Culture
Supported by: Vilnius City Municipality, Tech Zity, Nordic Culture Point