Mass Moving

Rupert leaving Valakampiai / Saturday 28 June, 18.00 until late, with contributions from Futurefarmers’ Amy Franceschini, Max Pairon and Diede Roosens, George Finlay Ramsay, Alina Schmuch, Rūta Junevičiūtė, Sophie Paul, Edgy Palates, and the Rupert AEP

In the moving, we are moved
In the moving, we move others
In the moving, others may come to help us move
Together, we move mass(s).
– Futurefarmers

Mass Moving is both a farewell and a celebration — an evening of performances and collective action that will conclude with a boat journey along the river.

This particular journey began with the artist collective Futurefarmers and artist Amy Franceschini, who, during their residency last autumn proposed building a ship — for a journey to the city center. We had long been speaking of ships — of the journey as a vision, of sails as texts, of the kind of cargo the Rupert ship might carry. This dream of a voyage into the city unexpectedly materialized when we realized that Rupert was, in fact, relocating to the city center.

The ship is a potent poetic image, often used in metaphors and symbols. The origin Greek word metapherō — meaning to carry or to transfer — suggests that metaphors themselves are vessels, transporting meaning from one place to another. Perhaps a floating metaphor in the river Neris could be our ideal vehicle to leave Valakampiai tonight and reappear in the new context. Here the paradox of the Ship of Theseus also comes to mind — If every part of a ship is replaced, is it still the same ship? If Rupert moves out of Valakampiai, is it still Rupert?

But let’s thank the River Neris among others — she stands out as a rare example among rivers flowing through urban areas worldwide — remarkably little urbanized, with much of its course remaining in a natural state. Biologically richer than any global capitalist structure, the Neris today becomes a place where landscape preservation, cultural imagination, and geopolitical reality intersect. The city raises considerations to significantly adapt the river for transportation and security purposes that would affect the ecosystem irreversibly.

As José Ortega y Gasset wrote, metaphor is the most effective way to grasp the highest forms of abstraction — which are sometimes closely tied to the absurd. Today, I believe poetic and metaphorical thinking is essential in so-called times of crisis. While we could get by using everyday language, it is precisely metaphors — language with layers of meaning — that help us approach and comprehend the incomprehensible.

We may not know the answers nor trajectories of the future, but we’ve invited a group of artists to create a last ceremony to mark Rupert’s departure from Valakampiai, and we’ve called this MASS MOVING — and everyone is welcome to join.

— Monika Lipšic

PROGRAMME
18:00 — Doors open, the beginning of Mass Moving with Futurefarmers’ Amy Franceschini, Max Pairon and Diede Roosens
19:00 — Rūta Junevičiūtė, I revise my yellow for the second solstice to turn it into green, dance and movement performance (dancer Barbora Groblytė)
20:00 — Sophie Paul, The Crystal Monologues, text performance
21:30 — George Finlay Ramsay, Answers arrive in the dark, life is made up of quark, performance
22:30 — Edgy Palates, Queen of the Night, concert-performance
23:15Mass Moving boat journey to the city (registration required)

OngoingAlina Schmuch, Underpasses, a video installation by the river on view throughout the event

During the event intermissions, Aistė Marija Stankevičiūtė will play a selection of music.
The Druska Miltai Vanduo café will be open during the event for refreshments.
The AEP is not responsible if you trip on the ribbon or if you choke on the cookies.

Participating artists: Futurefarmers’ Amy Franceschini with Max Pairon and Diede Roosens, George Finlay Ramsay, Alina Schmuch, Rūta Junevičiūtė, Sophie Paul, Edgy Palates, and Rupert AEP.

Coordinator: Aistė Frišmantaitė
Communication: Aistė Marija Stankevičiūtė, Kornelija Žvinklytė
Graphic design: Marijn Degenaar
Editor (LT): Evelina Zenkutė

Special thanks to Goda Palekaitė, Viktorija Šiaulytė, Gustė Kripaitė, Tea Gradassi, Alicia Grobholz, JL Murtaugh.

For more information, please follow the link: https://rupert.lt/mass-moving/

The event is part of New Perspectives for Action, a project by Re-Imagine Europe, co-funded by the European Union and Lithuanian Culture Institute. Rupert is also supported by TechZity.