Dear CAC’s partners, artists, colleagues and friends in every country of the world,
this is a call for action against the war in Ukraine.
We, the Contemporary Art Centre Vilnius, invite you to:
- Stand in solidarity and publicly express that you stand against war in Ukraine: use the facades of your institutions as well as others that you have access to, their websites, press releases, social media, events, interviews, and whatever other means possible.
- Counter Russian propaganda by following and providing trustworthy information from the leading international information channels like BBC and CNN. Here in Vilnius we also follow Kyiv Independent, in Russian: UNIAN – Ukrainian Independent Information Agency of News and Current Time TV.
- Revise your programs and partnerships and cancel your cooperation with Russian institutions and businesses unless they have clearly and openly expressed that they acknowledge the war and stand against it.
- Consider other ways to personally and/or locally support Ukraine, their refugees, and the world’s mutual effort to make this hell stop.
- Reach out to your partners and fellow human beings – in your country and abroad, institutions or businesses, public figures, individuals professionally related or not related to art, politicians and political organisations – to speak up, publicly acknowledge and oppose the war.
- You can help by donating to the Red Cross, Blue-Yellow or other organisations listed here: standforukraine.com. Another list of trusted funds and other initiatives is RazomForUkraine.
- Please also share and add — links to emergency resources for Ukrainian artists and cultural workers (it’s a growing list)
So far many important art institutions and professionals, including the Garage in Moscow; Kumu Art Museum, Tallinn; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam; Kiasma, Helsinki; KW Institute for Contemporary Art, Berlin; IKT – International Association of Curators of Contemporary Art, La Biennale di Venezia, The East Europe Biennial Alliance, CIMAM, ICOM, Kunstkritikk, e-flux, Artnet News have already expressed their solidarity and opposition to war, we need more voices of support.
Copyright-free image of an anonymous graffiti in Vilnius quoting the words by soldiers of the Ukraine’s Snake Island, “Russian battleship, go fuck yourself” (there is still a chance that the soldiers are alive but in captivity): (wetransfer link)