Hi there,

If you are not from around from these parts, you might not yet know that last week Lithuania celebrated 100 years of its restoration of Independence (our Baltic cousins, Latvia and Estonia, will celebrate centennials this year as well!). Just a day before this occasion, an opportunity not only to celebrate but also to reflect on our Baltic heritage and national identities, Rupert was excited to open Undersong at kim? contemporary art centre, Riga, an exhibition of two Lithuanian artists, Lina Lapelytė and Indrė Šerpytytė curated by Justė Jonutytė, and assistant curator Yates Norton.

Both artists explore the relationship between cultural and personal identities, collective and individual memories, and investigate different modes of communication and collaboration. Šerpytytė’s work investigates how the making, exchange and ritual use of traditional woven sashes found across the Baltic States both inform and are informed by shifting cultural and political dynamics, examining how folk traditions are central to the formation of local and State identities. Lapelytė’s performances are often constructed as songs, or more specifically, sutartinės (traditional Lithuanian polyphonic songs), where melodies are symmetrical and consist of equal-length parts, and where repetition is key. Lapelytė explores how we can negotiate social and cultural norms through collaboration and performance. Former Rupert resident, artist Felix Kalmenson, opened his solo exhibition titled From a Body I Spent, curated by Maya Tounta, the same night. Here are some glimpses from the opening. If you are in Riga, please come by –  the works are on show until 1 April.

For those of you currently in Vilnius (or planning to come here), we are pleased to invite you to a showcase of new works developed while here by current Rupert residents, artists Laurie Kang and Santiago Taccetti. Together, their work shows a shared interest in details and observation. For both, the act of observing is situated, embodied, inextricable from thought, an ‘active event’, to borrow Laurie Kang’s words; a ‘combinational’ process of looking, collecting, recording and remembering, to draw on  Santiago Taccetti’s thoughts. Both artists remind us of the role of wonder with the world as profoundly important – even urgent in a time when political and ethical complacency and despondency can seem a  dominant mood. The works will be on show at the Pakrantė gallery space (Vaidilutės str. 79) on Monday from 3pm, all welcome.

Keep an eye out as the participants of the 6th edition of Rupert Alternative Education programme and July-December 2018 residencies at Rupert will be announced in the coming weeks. We are very excited to work with what is shaping up to be a splendid group of local and international artists, thinkers and researchers involved in our programmes and Vilnius’ cultural landscape this year. A reminder before we set off: to find out our latest news and announcements, please take an occasional look at Rupert’s website, Facebook and Instagram.
See ya next month,
Rupert

In Residence

Santiago Taccetti

Santiago Taccetti (Argentina) lives and works in Berlin. He is the co-founder of the ongoing project Stoneroses.

At Rupert Taccetti will develop his project “A House is not a Home” which combines video, sound recording, and the collection of objects and comes together using different techniques such as Loose Association, a thought disorder in which series of ideas are presented with loosely apparent or completely unapparent logical connections and Derivé, a mode of experimental behavior linked to the conditions of urban society: a technique of rapid passage through varied ambiances; introduced by Guy Debord of the French Situationist movement of the last century.

In Residence

Laurie Kang

Laurie Kang (b. 1985, Toronto, Canada) works in photography, sculpture, installation and video. Kang has exhibited internationally at Topless, New York;  L’inconnue, Montreal; Carl Louie, London. Kang lives and works in Toronto.

During her residency at Rupert, she will continue research and making around a project “The Scribble, The Knot and The Blob”. The project spans photography, sculpture, installation and video, becoming a space to enact ongoing research and making as affected by science and technology studies, personal history, science-fiction and feminist theory.