Mutual Empathies – Residency presentation and artist talks: Vanja Smiljanić and Saroot Supasuthivech
Date and time: Saturday, 25 January, 18:00–20:00
Location: Medūza, Šv. Jono g. 11, Vilnius
(The event will be held in English)
Rupert Centre for Art, Residencies and Education, Goethe-Institut Vilnius, and the Academy of the Arts of the World (Akademie der Künste der Welt, ADKDW) present the culmination of the first Mutual Empathies cycle in Vilnius.
For this event, artists Saroot Supasuthivech and Vanja Smiljanić will screen past moving-image works, share their participatory research still in progress, and converse with the audience about their projects.
Both artists have parallel projects assessing our individual, emotional responses to compounding global crises. Supasuthivech has excavated the layered connections between migration, folkloric song, and the construction of nationality. Smiljanić has researched regional ethno-cosmology, extraterrestrial visions, and tuning our senses to engage the unknowable.
Mutual Empathies is an experimental residency framework developed by the three institutions, that brings together Germany-based artists with those beyond Europe for a series of residencies and public programming. It aims to platform artistic positions that would not otherwise meet, responding to the countless, difficult ecopolitical questions looming for global society.
The twin values of cultural discourse and close listening are more important than ever. Existing rifts in the media and social policy landscape are widening, and many of its long-trusted pillars seem content to watch these crevasses grow. While this can appear overwhelming, we look to the practice and implementation of empathy as a critical function in imagining positive futures.
In February, both artists will travel to Cologne for a residency at the Academy of the Arts of the World, with a final presentation at the ADKDW Studio opening on Saturday 15 February, and running through the following Saturday, 22 February.
Vanja Smiljanić (Belgrade RS, 1986) is a visual and performance artist based between Cologne and Lisbon. Smiljanić’s interdisciplinary projects combine visual arts, video, and performance to investigate how ideology emerges from the alienation of others, employing her body as a narrative vessel.
Saroot Supasuthivech (Bangkok TH, 1991) excavates the layered narratives of ritual sites, questioning the recording and construction of official history and identity. He uses installation, image, and sound to synthesise these projects, constructing intense hyperrealities and rites of remembrance.
Curator: JL Murtaugh
Coordinator: Aistė Frišmantaitė
Communication: Aistė Marija Stankevičiūtė
Graphic design: Marijn Degenaar
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Mutual Empathies is a programme by Goethe-Institut, Rupert Centre for Art, Residencies, and Education, and the Academy of the Arts of the World. The vision of this partnership is to continue the programme over the coming years, with each edition connecting a new set of contemporary artists from distinct contexts. The 2024/25 edition is possible through the support of Goethe–Institut Vilnius. Rupert’s residency programmes are supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture and Tech Zity. The Academy of the Arts of the World is funded by the City of Cologne and the Ministry of Culture and Science of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia.
The Mutual Empathies programme is designed and led by JL Murtaugh (curator, Rupert, Vilnius), Anna Maria Strauß (director, Goethe-Institut Vilnius), and Paulina Seyfried (strategic consultant, Academy of the Arts of the World, Cologne, until October 2024). The project coordinator is Aistė Frismantaitė (Rupert). Communications are managed by Aistė Marija Stankevičutė (Rupert) and Janna Dittmeyer (head of communications, Academy of the Arts of the World). Additional administrative leadership is provided by Viktorija Šiaulytė (director, Rupert) and Monika Kerkmann (managing director, Academy of the Arts of the World). The Mutual Empathies identity is by artist and designer Marijn Degenaar (Rupert).