Inter-format Symposium 2018
- Published on Friday, 08 December 2017 21:31
FULL PROGRAMME-POSTER (PDF)
ABSTRACTS WITH PARTICIPANTS' BIOGRAMS (PDF)
8th Inter-format Symposium on Rites and Terrabytes
‘Rites and Terrabytes’ refers to the peculiar situation where we increasingly feel or desire a connection with rituals and practices of old despite living in a profoundly mediated ‘post-contemporary’ world. In other words, to reconcile the imagined universes of archaic rites and the ubiquitous terabytes of digital information, we need some firm rooting and grounding (terra), whether in our surviving local indigenous culture or in some newly engineered indigeneity.
It is argued there is notable widespread disaffection with the ‘neoliberal’ globalisation processes and the perceived obliteration of national cultural distinctions. These sentiments have recently led to a reactionary and conservative retreat into essentialist notions of ‘indigeneity’ and ethnocentric cultural superiority in many countries across Europe, including Lithuania and the rest of the Nordic-Baltic countries. This is a topical subject as the Baltic States and Finland celebrate centenary anniversaries of independence throughout 2017-2018. The dangers of xenophobic idolisation of traditional national culture are not new, but their new forms and contexts suggest it might be the time to consider them again in the field of cultural politics.
However, ages-old ‘indigenous’ ways of thinking and making can also inform and inspire much more inclusive, critical, and progressive contemporary practices. There is indeed a trend of reinterpretation of all sorts of cultural archetypes inside and outside the white cube. In particular, these new artist-led approaches seek to place traditional knowledge within the context of the emerging concerns and challenges the humankind faces, such as the issue of the Anthropocene, climate change/breakdown, gender and species equality, eco-centric thinking and displacement. Other strategies may instead focus on what could be the appropriate language and meaning of ‘folk culture’ today.
What can we learn from contemporary art, music and new media, as well as inter- & transdisciplinary hybrid practices that reinterpret older ways of creating, making and doing into new forms, incorporating them into new rites and rituals that constitute our contemporary ‘native’ culture? Does the omnipresence of smart digital devices and social media signal a new form of pantheism? Can one’s roots become universal, timeless and de-territorialized, but at the same time resist vague mysticism and lifestyle trends? How is our relationship with nature, our ecosystem, and gastronomy going to change in the future? What is perceived as ‘authentic’?
A group of about 50 artists, philosophers, scientists, ritualists, musicians and other kinds of practitioners were invited to reflect on the symposium’s issues and to exchange knowledge and experiences during performances, lectures, screenings, discussions, rituals, etc.
Curators
Symposium is curated by Andrew Gryf Paterson (SCO/FI/LV), Vytautas Michelkevičius (LT), Jurij Dobriakov (LT), and Jogintė Bučinskaitė (LT).
Participants
Audrius Beinorius (LT), Kevin Bartoli (RYBN, FR), Eglė Minelgaitė-Beinorienė (LT), Kristin Bergaust and Elin Mar Vister (NO), Yvonne Billimore (SCO), Eva Bubla (HU) and Lilli Tölp (EE), Zane Cerpina and Stahl Stenslie (LV, NO), Eglė Česnakavičiūtė (Obelija, LT), Adrian Demleitner (CH), Vilius Dranseika (LT), Vytenis Eitminavičius (SKELDOS, LT), Marius Grosbahs (LV/LT) and Ieva Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha (LT), Dougald Hine (UK/SE), Elizabeth Hudson (SCO), Jurga Jonutytė (LT), Dovydas Korba (LT), Gareth Kennedy (IE), Mari Keski-Korsu (FI), Anders Kreuger (BE/SE/LT), Žilvinas Landzbergas (LT), Gwenn-Aël Lynn (USA-FR), Obelija (LT), Robert Niziński (Księżyc, PL) and Paweł Romańczuk (PL), Naomi Pearce (UK), Špela Petrič (SLO), Pony Express (AUS), Jussi Salminen (FI), Sumugan Sivanesan and Tessa Zettel (AUS), Erica Scourti (GR/UK) Kristen J. Sollée (US), Audrius Šimkūnas (SALA, LT), Sam Trotman (SCO), Daina Zalāne (Lauska, LV), Małgorzata Żurada (PL).
8th Inter-format Symposium is organised by Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts in collaboration with Inter-PAGAN network (including partners from Finland, Latvia, Estonia, Norway, Scotland and Poland).
A post-symposium conversation by Vytautas Michelkevičius and Andrew Gryf Paterson can be found here
Tasting the Symposium with Raitas Baitas (Dundulis), curators' opening word and sharing of identities and indigeneities of the participants
Panel discussion Indigeneity and Everyday Rites in Contemporary Lithuania and Beyond. Introduction to the Local Context by Jurga Jonutytė, Audrius Beinorius, Eglė Minelgaitė Beinorienė, Žilvinas Landzbergas, moderated by Jogintė Bučinskaitė & Jurij Dobriakov
Installation Teleport to Nida. Rites and Terrabytesby Žilvinas Landzbergas, Tessa Zettel and Sumugan Sivanesan VAA/Outdoors Expo pavilion of Ceramics Creative Centre next to Vilnius Academy of Arts (Maironio str. 4, Vilnius)
Installation Teleport to Nida. Rites and Terrabytes by Žilvinas Landzbergas, Tessa Zettel and Sumugan Sivanesan VAA/Outdoors Expo pavilion of Ceramics Creative Centre next to Vilnius Academy of Arts (Maironio str. 4, Vilnius)
Opening Baltic dinner feat. 'signs of power' Maris Grosbahs & Ieva Bertašiūtė-Grosbaha & Everybody
Opening sunset ritual / performance by Obelija
Performance k.o.p.a. by SALA
Installation Numinosum: Incubation by Dovydas Korba
Participatory performance Phytopolitics by Špela Petrič
Performance Feeding the Celestial Bodies by Małgorzata Żurada
The 2086 T. Rudzinskaitė Memorial Amateur Lichenologists Society Annual Field Trip & Picnic by Tessa Zettel & Sumugan Sivanesan
Flummery - a jelly like pudding made of local blueberries in the plastic forms collected from the beach
The 2086 T. Rudzinskaitė Memorial Amateur Lichenologists Society Annual Field Trip & Picnic by Tessa Zettel & Sumugan Sivanesan
The 2086 T. Rudzinskaitė Memorial Amateur Lichenologists Society Annual Field Trip & Picnic by Tessa Zettel & Sumugan Sivanesan
Performance Interdimensional Transmission by Lilli Tölp & Eva Bubla (Green Root Lab)
Performance Interdimensional Transmission by Lilli Tölp & Eva Bubla (Green Root Lab)
Participatory performance and discussion Fire is Form by Gwenn-Aël Lynn
Participatory performance Beating the Bounds: Peripheries, Survival and the Commons by Elizabeth Hudson 
Photo of the closing discussion by Zane Cerpina
Closing of the symposium with group picture (3/5 of participants are present)
Photos by Andrej Vasilenko
Symposium was organized by NGO MENE in collaboration with Nida Art Colony of VAA. Supported by Lithuanian Council of Culture and The Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.
