7 January 2025, 11am
11 January 2025, 2pm
21 January 2025, 11am
Nida Art Colony of the Vilnius Academy of Arts
E. A. Jonušo g. 3
Nida LT-93127
Meeting place is at the entrance of the NAC
In their ongoing research project Latent Accumulations in Nida, Lithuania, environmental media scholar Léa Perraudin and architect Iva Rešetar are concerned with the scales and phases of paraffin debris in this seemingly pristine natural environment.
The paraffin pollution in the coastal environment of Curonian Spit is a recurring problem but difficult to detect and classify. As a by-product of fossil fuel extraction and transport, paraffin is far from being the main pollutant in this area. However, it is a more latent, dispersed substance – not unlike amber, also found and collected along the coastline, with which it shares the deep geological time scales. In the phase transitions between different states – between solid and liquid, slow and sudden, and between the events of pollution and their materialisation – the clumps of paraffin mixed with sand usually evade attention on a daily basis.
For exploring and addressing the latent accumulation of paraffin on the coastline, three guided walks are organised in January along the Baltic coastline near Nida, inviting audience to map and collect paraffin residues and to share, exchange and connect through experiences, local knowledge, and memories of shifting landscapes and materials at thresholds.
Moving with materials already in motion alters perception, influencing interactions with others and the environment while shaping an understanding of the landscape and its political and ecological thresholds. The walk involves participatory and investigative practices to trace and mediate such processes through witnessing, collecting, and caring for the Neringa environment.
The walks conclude with a visit to NAC, offering warm drinks, snacks, and a space for exchange and discussion.
Organised by Iva Rešetar and Léa Perraudin from the »Matters of Activity« Cluster at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, as part of their NAC residency. The walk will be documented in video and sound recordings by Anna Luise Schubert.
Latent Accumulations is based at the interdisciplinary Cluster of Excellence »Matters of Activity. Image Space Material« at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, funded by the DFG (German Research Foundation) and pursued in collaboration with Nida Art Colony of Vilnius Academy of Arts supported by the Lithuanian Council for Culture.