Since September 8 Saulius Leonavičius resides at MASS Alexandria in Egypt. After spending there a bit more than a week, he has shared his first impressions of his time there.

Last week an alternative education programme took off at MASS Alexandria including 30 students from Alexandria University Fine Arts Department and other foreign as well as Egyptian higher education institutions. During this one-year programme, artists and researchers from different countries give lectures and spread the knowledge of contemporary art. This is an important feature of the programme as traveling for local artists is rather complicated and there are no study programmes in contemporary art at Egyptian universities. The  participants present their creative works at the final exhibition.

During the opening event of the educational programme Saulius Leonavičius has presented his ongoing project Vegan on Acid aimed at possible and existing connections between diet and identity. Saulius is interested in how nutrition and lifestyle can be perceived as a creative strategy, research method or a relevant part of an artistic practice. At the core of Vegan on Acid dinners are vegan waffles baked with an old granny‘s waffle pan, which is surrounded by specific sounds, smells, and conversations.

This residency is part of the project 4Cs and of the exchange programme between MASS Alexandria and VAA Nida Art Colony. The project is supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, the Founding Director of MASS Alexandria Wael Shawky, and the EU programme Creative Europe.