The Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) invites students from various disciplines and levels to participate in the educational programme Loaded Silence. Now in its fifth year, the programme combines the disciplines of political science and art. As usual, it will consist of both public and private meetings, discussions, and workshops.
This year’s programme focuses on the relationship culture and social sciences have with war and militarisation. The exhibition Bells and Cannons, which opens at the Contemporary Art Centre on 16 October, will serve as a starting point for dialogue. Through artworks, discussions and texts, the exhibition aims to explore how militarisation affects contemporary life, what circumstances have led to the current situation, and what we can expect in the future.
The programme will not seek definitive answers. Instead, participants are invited to engage in uncomfortable reflections on current tensions and what it means to live in loaded silence. We will consider how these changes affect not only the geopolitical and security situation but also the cultural field in a broader sense. Rather than a straightforward occurrence, militarisation will be examined as a process that has direct ties to both the role of the artist and power structures. How are we to talk about these issues when they are no longer just theoretical, and the current security situation is forcing us to face them head-on?
Participants are welcome to visit exhibitions and join discussions, readings, video and film screenings, and meetings with representatives from the fields of art and politics. The participants will be working together with the programme’s curators and mentors Jogilė Ulinskaitė (VU TSPMI) and Vytenis Burokas (VAA).
PROGRAMME DURATION:
October 2025 – January 2026
During this period, 6 meetings/seminars are planned, each lasting 1.5–2 hours. The schedule may be adjusted in agreement with the participants. Preliminary meeting schedule:
17/10 12:30 pm – first meeting at the CAC
29/10 – 10/12 12:30 pm every second Wednesday
07/01/2026 – final meeting
GROUP:
20 participants
LANGUAGE:
If necessary, the sessions may be conducted in English
FEE:
Participation is free of charge.
REGISTRATION:
We invite you to register by 14 October 2025, by sending a motivational letter (up to 1,500 characters) at [email protected] with the subject line ‘PROGRAMME FOR STUDENTS _ Name Surname’.
Selected participants will be notified by 15 October. We trust that those selected will make every effort to attend the sessions.
PROGRAMME CREATORS AND MENTORS
JOGILĖ ULINSKAITĖ is an Associate Professor at the Institute of International Relations and Political Sciences, Vilnius University (VU TSPMI). Her research is currently focused on the discourse of populist parties and the memory of post-communist transformation.
VYTENIS BUROKAS is an artist, curator, and lecturer. Burokas completed his Master’s studies in Contemporary Sculpture and Art Education at the Vilnius Academy of Arts (VAA). He has worked as an education and exhibition curator at the LNMA National Gallery of Art and currently teaches in the Sculpture Department of the VAA.
PROJECT CURATOR
MARGARITA ŽIGUTYTĖ is the curator of the CAC education programme. Her current interests lie in radical rest.