On 18 and 19 September, Hanne Lippard and Renato Grieco presented Aficionado at Rupert, bringing together spoken word and music in a collaborative performance developed during their residency at Rupert in August and September 2026.

Aficionado is an acoustic composition exploring the artists’ approach to speech, music and language, prioritising reduction over ornamentation. The performance combined Lippard’s spoken voice and writing with Grieco’s instrumental compositions, focusing on the sound of the voice and instruments.

Grieco’s musical practice brings together keyboard instruments with the acoustic timbre of the viola da gamba, while Lippard’s distinctive writing and linguistic practice moves between spoken and written language. Their approaches intersect in a performance that considers the relationship between sound, typography, dramaturgy and poetics.

The collaboration between Lippard and Grieco began in 2025 during Lippard’s residency at Villa Massimo in Rome and Fondazione Morra in Naples, and continued during their stay at Rupert in Vilnius. Their presentation at Rupert marked both artists’ debut in Lithuania.

The performances followed the artists’ recent presentations at Somerset House in London, Art Genève Music in Geneva, Vulcana Festival in Stromboli, Villa Massimo in Rome and Valdemars Slot in Svendborg.

The presentation at Rupert also preceded the release of their new album, Today’s Special, a suite of Lippard and Grieco’s collaborative language works, released by Shelter Press on 30 October 2026.

The artists

Hanne Lippard (NO/DE), born in Milton Keynes, UK, in 1984, lives and works in Berlin. Her practice lies at the confluence of spoken and written language and encompasses sound installations, performance and other forms. Her recent exhibitions and performances include Assembly at Somerset House, London (2026), All the Same Bright at Kunsthall Trondheim (2025), Star Chamber at Biennale Musica, Venice (2025), Preis der Nationalgalerie 2024 at Hamburger Bahnhof, Berlin (2024), and A Model at Mudam Luxembourg (2024). Lippard was awarded the Preis der Nationalgalerie in 2024 and was a Prize Fellow at the Deutsche Akademie Villa Massimo in Rome in 2024–25.

Renato Grieco is a composer and artist from Naples. Since 2012, he has performed internationally as a solo artist under the moniker kNN. His music draws on the semantics of musique concrète and develops into orchestrations that bring together ancient instruments, imaginary lutherie and sculptural rooms. In recent years, Grieco has focused on collaborative practices, working as a performer, musician and sound dramaturg and creating performances, installations, records, hörspiel, lectures, musical theatre and opera librettos. Since 2022, he has been a PhD candidate in the Department of Artistic Research at the Universität Mozarteum in Salzburg.

Lippard and Grieco were resident artists at Rupert in August and September 2026.

Credits

Curator: JL Murtaugh

Production manager: Augustė Verikaitė

Coordinator: Gabrielė Golubovičiūtė

Communications coordinator: Kornelija Žvinklytė

Lights: Justas Bø

Sound: Jokūbas Čižikas

Special thanks to Viktorija Šiaulytė, Monika Lipšic

Documentation photography: Vincas Čygas, Andrej Vasilenko

Promotional partner: JCDecaux 

This project is part of the Ulysses Platform, a 14-member institutional network supporting contemporary music artists. The platform is financed by the European Union and the Lithuanian Culture Institute. Additional support for Hanne Lippard’s residency is provided by Nordic Culture Point. Rupert’s partner is INVL Family Office.

18 September
Documentation photography: Vincas Čygas

19 September
Documentation photography: Andrej Vasilenko