Aunas c on temp o

Partners: Lithuanian school students un-

ion, Kaunas Youth Organisation Round Ta-

ble, different universities in Lithuania and 

in Europe, local business companies.

lADISlAS STAREVICH ANIMATION lABO-

RATORY  

A project designed for school children (pri-

mary and pre-gymnasium classes) during 

which they will be working with profes-

sional artists and IT tutors to create stories 

and produce animated movies. 

The children will gain a number of skills: story 

writing,  drawing,  sculpturing,  filming,  sound 

track production, editing, postproduction, 

translation, sub-titling, advertising, presenting 

final results in an 

Animation Festival in 2022.

The workshops will be led by professionals 

from various European countries.

Partners: Kaunas Cinema Centre Romuva, 

Talent Garden, VMU Fashion Design Studio, 

Studio Televeziri  (Georgia),  Picture  House 

(UK), PIXAR (USA).

Twinning involves a cultural contract of 

actions (activities, partnership, legacy) 

coproduced by the twinned communities 

and exchanges of knowledge, experience, 

cooking recipes, gardening traditions, 

songs, etc.

– Embed and prioritise the development 

of a 

Community Culture in Action Strat-

egy in the City development plans beyond 

2022. 

– Work with Municipality as well as Cul-

ture, Health and Social Ministries to 

develop  specific  pathways  and  commit-

ment to the 

Community Culture in Action 

Strategy.

How does it work:

30–35 CulTuRAl lABS are established 

in the City and Metro elderships. Activi-

ties will take place in sleepy microdistricts, 

each with its own issues which have to be 

resolved by community participation and 

artistic tutorship.

The project will start in 2017 with semi-

nars for cultural operators to build capac-

ity in working with communities in the 

framework of 

The New Cultural Tempo 

School. The experts on community devel-

opment and culture will be invited for a 

creative  talks  series  in  2017–2018  e.g. 

Lewis Biggs (UK), Mary Jane Jacob (US), 

Peter Sellars, Steve Powers (US), Gediminas 

Urbonas and Nomeda Urboniene (US); 

Janis Jefferies (UK), Loraine Leeson, Walk 

the Plank (UK), Grizedale Arts (UK), Marie 

Barrett, Jean van Heeswijk (Netherlands), 

Artway of Thinking (Italy), Macnas (IE), 

Neil Peterson (UK), muf Architecture/

Art (UK), Alex Hartley (UK), Nils Norman, 

Bob and Roberta Smith (UK), Mick Wilson 

(Scandinavia), Ute Meta Bauer (Singa-

pore), Wong HoyCheong (Malaysia), Claire 

Bishop (US), Grant Kester (US), Maria Lind 

(US) to hothouse the strategy with local 

stakeholders.

From 2019 to 2022 the teams will consist 

of artists, cultural producers, sociologists. 

The local population will start to research 

their environment, to determine the main 

issues in their neighbourhood and from 

2020–2022  international  cultural  activi-

ties (theatre, circus, public art, street art, 

repurposing of some abandoned venues, 

regaining public space for civil life and 

leisure, community gardening etc.) will 

be initiated, which will ensure the specific 

changes.

The following initiatives of the CON-

SCIOUSNESS strand are well integrated 

and  fit  in  with  the 

Community Culture in 

Action strategy.

CONSCIO

uSNESS

On Language. Nina Bondeson. Kaunas Biennial 2011.  

M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art

©

 RŠ

– PlATFORM

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– NEW INITIATIVE

– WORlDWIDE RECOGNISED EVENT

– ECoC BRIDGE

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DESIGN FlOOD     

Curated by Dr. Jūratė Tutlytė

By introducing 

Design Flood we are merg-

ing ideas word for word drawing the vis-

ual parallels between design and water / 

design as water / design by water aiming 

to  make  design  overflowing  all  grounds 

and environments of the Capital of Cul-

ture –  be 

visual,  literally  visible, as well 

as  stressing  the  positive  benefits  floods 

can bring, such as recharging ground wa-

ter, making soil more fertile and increas-

ing nutrients in some soils. In that sense, 

the ultimate goal is to provoke, nurture 

design-thinking, design-centered culture 

and 

design-aware environment in Kaunas.

Design can link artistic creativity to prod-

uct and service innovation, helps add val-

ue to existing businesses, and foster com-

pletely new opportunities. Design is the 

key to marrying creativity, innovation and 

products. It is the way of “problem solving” 

and “making things better for people”. The 

initiated projects will cover approaches 

from various perspectives: design and/as 

art; design, community and everyday life; 

design, business and industry.

Design for All / 2018–2022

Vision – make Kaunas the most accessible 

city in Lithuania / Europe.

Of the many facets of design relevant to 

today’s society Kaunas would like to fo-

cus on those empowering the City equally 

to serve its citizens whilst enabling the 

citizens to be able to contribute to their 

habitat. This means accessibility has to be 

put forward in all planning stages and im-

provement to public spaces and services 

must be carried out.

As in the 

Design for All theory, making cit-

ies and services accessible doesn’t only 

Future of the City

Exhibition and seminar held in 2022 (cu-

rated  by  Lorenzo  Piazzi  /  Italy  and  Rūta 

Valušytė  /  KTU),  DesignLibrary  (Milan 

branch), street art actions and exhibitions. 

Venue –  Kaunas  Arena,  platforms  on  the 

rivers, KTU Design Centre Confluence Val-

ley).

Design(ing) for Emotions / 2017–2022

The idea is to create an innovative and in-

teractive design-architecture object, a vi-

brant symbol and iconic landmark for the 

Kaunas European Capital of Culture 2022.

In co-operation and co-creation with and 

for the city community 

an object is envi-

sioned to become an inspiring piece of 

art and an instrument at the same time 

operating as a “thermometer”, “barom-

eter” or “hedonometer” and measuring 

emotional temperature and pressure of 

creative atmosphere in and of the Euro-

pean Capital of Culture – mirroring and 

reflecting  in  a  very  visual  way  people’s 

emotions and feelings, their state of hap-

piness.

Blending artistic creativity with scientific in-

genuity using tools of new and social media 

and other ICT possibilities, the experimen-

tal project is here to deal creatively with a 

core problem of cultural events and culture 

in general. That is an urgent need for alter-

native tools measuring their value/effect 

in and for society. It also aims at breaking 

boundaries between disciplines and bring 

together science, engineering, IT and new 

media art, sculpture, architecture, design for 

innovative thinking. The idea drives inspira-

tion from the emotional side of design and 

examples such as D-Tower (http://www.arc-

space.com/features/nox/d-tower/), Hedo-

nometer  (http://hedonometer.org/about.ht-

ml) and will be developed in collaboration 

with international and domestic partners: 

designers, architects, engineers, universi-

ties, research centers, art and technology 

associations, industry players by organising 

workshops and international competition. 

Time schedule: Idea generation and preop-

erational works starts in 2017. Competition 

held  in  2019–2020.  Object  construction 

and opening until 2022. 

It forms a key and 

innovative part of our Happiness Evaluation 

(Q8).

Design For-Room

The aim is to create an open forum, a 

medium for stakeholders and players in 

design  fields  and  within  design-related 

(creative) sectors to share attitudes, knowl-

edge, skills and competences for leading 

excellence in competitive environment.

Seeking to transform Kaunas into a true 

creating city in the context of creative 

economy design in all its forms is the key 

discipline to marry creativity, innovation, 

production and distribution helping grow 

and complete all the supply chains. There 

is a great need for sharing and merging 

artistic, business, industrial and communi-

cative sides of design striving for Kaunas 

to become place of design-led distinctive 

products and services.

The Forum is envisioned to be place and 

action all in one. It would be literally set-

tled in (but not limited to) a room or house 

in one of the interwar modernism build-

ings (as part of UNESCO Creative Cities 

Network,  Design  field,  programme)  op-

erating as 

design lighthouse with mixed 

activities including experimental lab, 

science shop, creative hub, incubator and 

cluster to support creative ecosystem. The 

Forum is seen to lead various initiatives 

(conferences, international meetings, sem-

inars, workshops, trainings, consultations) 

in cooperation with international and lo-

cal partners and in accordance with other 

Kaunas – Contemporary Capital 2022 pro-

gramme events to name the most impor-

tant ones:

Conference Creative City 

(VU KHF and other universities, led by prof. 

Dovilė Kulakauskienė).

Design star on board. Series of lectures and 

workshops with leaders of design field. Ini-

tiation of TEDxKaunas events. 

Design Map. Creating online platform for 

the data and research base within design 

types (fashion, product, furniture, architec-

tural etc.) and design-related sectors mak-

ing operators and stakeholders become 

“visible” and enabling networking, com-

munication and dissemination.

Celebrating Social entrepreneurship. A num-

ber of events dedicated to social business 

idea presentation, bringing together social 

entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers 

and academics sharing knowledge, ideas 

and stimulating social entrepreneurship. 

In cooperation with National Institute for 

Social Integration Lithuania, SSE Riga, 

Utrecht  University,  the  Grameen  Creative 

Lab.

Design  for  Sharing. Initiating the interna-

tional competition and prize for the best 

sharing culture practice, community-

based, community-driven design projects 

and solutions created by and for com-

munities, community cooperatives and 

collaborative consumption (open source, 

collaboration, creative commons). We are 

what we share.

Design for Two 2020–2022 

Programme developed and implemented to-

gether with twin ECoC city for 2022 – Esch-

sur-Alzette. The concept is to initiate competi-

tions and productions in the field of design 

dedicated for two persons: interior design, 

urban planning, furniture, fashion, accessories, 

learning tools, etc. The best examples will be 

produced and used by both cities inhabitants 

in parks, libraries, cultural points, schools, 

universities, factories, and homes. Both cities 

benefit  people  with  physical  functional 

disabilities. In fact, everyone in a given so-

ciety has either permanent or temporary 

physical or cognitive limitations, especial-

ly city guests and foreign tourists. While 

investing in communication efforts and 

building transportation infrastructure like 

Kaunas airport, Via Baltica and Rail Baltica 

by the beginning of the third decade the 

City will have been made easily accessible 

by the main means of transportation. It is 

crucial to focus on real world 

users’ expe-

rience.

European Design Conference (in 2018 and 

2022) focusing on accessibility for all, in-

cluding the local and governmental plan-

ning authorities, professional associations, 

academia, non-profits and local activists.

International Student Workshop and Compe-

tition / in 2022

Students from local universities and acad-

emies under guidance from international 

team of tutors gaining knowledge and ex-

pertise in urban, architectural planning, 

industrial and interface design, thus be-

coming local ambassadors for the cause 

of accessibility in design. Actual City prob-

lems (live/urgent cases) solved by mem-

bers of the international professional com-

munity as a fresh perspective and second 

opinion on Kaunas’ most acute accessibil-

ity problems. 

Annual Design Week

Design week in Kaunas is a part of nation-

wide Design week programme, staged 

each year since the 2006 Lithuanian De-

sign Forum. Through a national design 

network provided by the organisation, the 

insights and knowledge can be dissemi-

nated, thus both establishing Kaunas as a 

leader of progressive design development 

through an exemplary attitude by the City‘s 

authorities towards design and also acting 

as a catalyst for positive developments in 

other parts of the country.

CON

FluENCE

Cultural and  

artistic content

The Long Awaited. Patricia Piccinini. Kaunas Biennial 2013 

M. K. Čiurlionis National Museum of Art

©

 KČ

This  programme  strand  is  about  encouraging  multidisciplinary, 

inter-institutional co-operation. Raising the openness for collabo-

ration and quality of cultural service providers. Initiating art and 

science projects. Culture and business collaboration. International 

partnerships and exchanges. Boosting the creative industries sector.

– PlATFORM

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– WORlDWIDE RECOGNISED EVENT

– ECoC BRIDGE

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will incorporate their international partners’ 

network for this special programme, whose 

representatives will also participate in other 

design programme sections.

Partners of DESIGN  FLOOD programme: 

Lithuanian Design Forum, Vilnius Academy 

of Arts, Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas 

University of Technology, The Lithuanian 

Association of Persons with Disabilities, 

Lithuanian Architects Association / Kaunas 

Branch, European Association Design for 

All Europe, Design for All Foundation, ENAT 

European Network for Accessible Tourism, 

BEDA Bureau of European Design Associa-

tions, UNESCO Design Cities Network offic-

es in Helsinki, Budapest, Singapore, Bilbao, 

Berlin,  Torino,  Graz  (Kaunas  is  a  member 

since 2015), DesignLibrary Milan, The Eu-

ropean Institute for Design and Disability 

(Dublin, Ireland),

 Esch-sur-Alzette 2022.

NO BORDER RADIO 2022 

 

The Radio for Independent Europeans

Curated by Gediminas Skrandis Banaitis

When Lithuania joined the European Un-

ion, the Lithuanian ambassador at one oc-

casion asked his Luxembourgian counter-

part: “Do you know that I grew up listening 

to your radio?” There was much surprise in 

the response.

Radio Luxembourg English service is quite 

a phenomenon in the Eastern Bloc of the 

seventies. Although they were broadcast-

ing primarily to the UK, Radio Luxemburg, 

due to their phenomenal long wave sig-

nal reach had become famous all over the 

world. It was the only radio station from 

the West you could listen to in occupied 

Lithuania. It was almost like a breath of 

fresh air, a passion – people would record 

entire programs and share them. Radio 

Luxemburg had brought The Beatles, The 

Rolling Stones and The Doors to the Lith-

uanian listeners, was an on-air English 

teacher and a voice of freedom through 

culture. The DJs in Luxemburg had no 

idea how true their slogan of the day was: 

“The Only Independent Station on the Air”.

For Kaunas – a birthplace of the Lithuani-

an national radio – “the Luxembourg expe-

rience” was even more remarkable.

Possibly holding the ECoC 2022 title togeth-

er with Luxemburg’s Esch-sur-Alzette stu-

dents from Kaunas and Esch will run a mul-

timedia based internet radio using internet, 

music, video, news, promoting the ECoC pro-

grammes for both cities in 2021 – 2022 with 

two headquarters in two ECoCs of 2022.

Concept / structure: Public news radio 

broadcasted on Internet by contributors 

via Skype or similar media broadcast in 

English. The contributor presents his/her 

account on current political, cultural and 

social situation in his/her country: what’s 

on the news, the front and back pages of 

national newspapers, TV news through the 

prism of public journalism.

The program is moderated / hosted by 

the  Radio  Staff  –  presenters,  based  in 

Kaunas and Luxemburg. The programme 

is archived and rated by the internet au-

dience.

Led by ECoC offices in Kaunas and in Esch-

sur-Alzette. During the preparatory and 

implementation  period  both  offices  will 

exchange the cultural producers for a one 

year period at least. Partners: Kaunas uni-

versities (KTU, VMU, VU), Luxemburg Uni-

versity.

DIGITAl DIPlOMACY   

Connecting to the time as temporary Capi-

tal of Lithuania when V. Putvinskis Street 

became  the  alley  of  Diplomatic  Offices 

of Sweden, Finland, USA, France, Hunga-

ry, Argentina, Czechoslovakia etc. we are 

opening  a  diplomatic  office  in  V.  Putvin-

skis’ street building No. 56. Currently it is 

the Kaunas Artists’ House, originally built 

as the Vatican diplomatic mission (Nun-

ciature) in 1931. For the young country 

(independence of Lithuania was declared 

in 1918, the first diplomatic offices estab-

lished in Kaunas in 1922) this diplomacy 

was crucial for being signed into the po-

litical and cultural map of Europe again. 

Being European Capital of Culture in 2022 

the project Digital Diplomacy will become 

a new quality cultural platform for artistic 

exchanges, translations of literature and 

the strengthening of civil society.

Special focus on the history around the 

Japanese and the Dutch embassies whose 

ambassadors saved thousands of Jewish 

people in the early days of the Nazi period 

will also be remembered through this pro-

gramme initiative.

The Digital Diplomacy concept and special 

actions for the project will be developed 

during the selection phase if Kaunas is 

shortlisted.

Partners: Kaunas Artists’ House, Vytau-

tas  Magnus  University,  Goethe-Institut 

Litauen, Embassies of the Netherlands, 

UK, Armenia, Ukraine, Austria, Estonia, 

Greece,  Denmark,  Croatia,  Latvia,  Russia, 

Luxemburg and others with a special pro-

gramme dedicated to artists, historians, 

philosophers, and diplomats of the coun-

tries involved.

BAlTIC SEA YOuTH PHIlHARMONIC TOuR

14 days’ workshop for emerging Euro-

pean music performers held in Kaunas, 

rehearsing a common European pro-

gramme and a newly commissioned 

piece for 

Kaunas 2022. Contributing 

to the community with public rehears-

als, courtyard concerts, public perfor-

mances.  Each  year,  the  finest  musicians 

are chosen from across Denmark, Esto-

nia,  Finland,  Germany,  Latvia,  Lithuania, 

Norway, Poland, Russia and Sweden to 

form  a  unique  orchestra.  Guided  by  the 

Founding Conductor and the Music Di-

rector Kristjan Järvi, BYP prepares origi-

nal programmes for international tours 

that bring the rich sounds of the Baltic 

Sea to the world, including many world 

premieres. In its commissioning of new 

music by living composers and in reimag-

ining familiar works, BYP dedicates itself 

to keeping the musical landscape of the 

region alive.

After the concert in Kaunas, the Philhar-

monic will make a tour through Europe-

an countries as ambassadors of 

Kaunas 

2022. Tutors of those young musicians 

will be well known European profession-

als.

Partners: Kaunas State Philharmonic Soci-

ety, VMU Music Academy, World Lithuanian 

Centre, youth organisations, professional 

culture institutions, The Baltic Sea Youth 

Philharmonic (BYP), Usedom Music Festi-

val and Nord Stream AG.

BAlTIC SONG FESTIVAl 

uNESCO sign for intangible heritage 

In the beginning of June, 

Kaunas 2022 

will organise a Lithuanian, Latvian and Es-

tonian song and dance festival. Open air 

venue: Dainų slėnis (Valley of Songs) after 

renovation will be able to host up to 4000 

singers per performance and an audience 

of 7000. School and university students’ 

choirs will be invited to present their pro-

grammes and to rehearse common songs 

and dances in situ. 

Organised in partnership with: Kaunas 

Cultural Centre Tautos Namai. 

Partners:  Lietuvių  liaudies  kultūros  cen-

tras, Tallinn Song Festival, Latvian Song 

and Dance Festival.

THEATRE FluX  

National Kaunas Drama Theatre hires a 

temporary European Artistic Director for 

the Contemporary Capital programme. 

His/her responsibility is a 2 year reper-

toire with several new theatre plays, di-

rected by several European directors (Ar-

pad Schilling, Paavo Piik, Valters Silis, Alvis 

Hermanis, Krzysztof Warlikovski, Oskaras 

Koršunovas) and conceptually related to 

the Kaunas story / legend / contemporane-

ity. Activities will include public rehearsals, 

inclusion of local communities (both in the 

selection of plays and in the acting pro-

cess), broadening accessibility for people 

with less possibilities and disabilities.

The Kaunas State Musical Theatre will 

work on several new editions with inter-

nationally recognized directors and actors.

The Puppet Theatre will collaborate with the 

AURA Dance Theatre. Kaunas Chamber Thea-

tre will dedicate some new plays and perfor-

mances to the history and stories of Kaunas.

International Drama Theatre Flux (theatre 

festival and conference in partnership 

with IFTR) will be initiated in Kaunas from 

2022. It will analyse contemporary chal-

lenges of stage performance in the context 

of audience development and inclusion.