The 14th edition of the Baltic Triennial (BT14) is set with the conviction that in a paradoxical time of fragmented integration, addressing the local is, simultaneously, to question the global. Consequently, and for the first time since it was established in 1979, BT14 focuses on the geopolitical territory of Central and Eastern Europe and includes historical as well as contemporary artistic practices.
The BT14’s take on the region engages with its composite constitution, highlighting transnational connections. The inclusion of some artists from locations such as the Balkans, the Caucasus or Finland, underlines Central and Eastern Europe’s porous boundaries as well as its belonging to a global and multilayered network of systems.
Regularly experiencing abrupt shifts, Central and Eastern Europe is a key crossroad for social issues related to ideology, ecology and economy. The region’s gravitational pull is further highlighted by the introduction or anticipation of numerous tensions, which later also emerged elsewhere such as disinformation, man-made industrial disasters, nativist nationalism, or the oppression of non-normative identities.
The BT14 connects the rich artist-led Vilnius scene. As the organising institution, the Contemporary Art Centre (CAC) invited the project spaces Atletika, Autarkia, Editorial, Rupert, and Swallow to join as partners. Each platform will autonomously develop a project while including some of the artists presented at the CAC’s exhibition. Another ally, the Lithuanian Artists’ Association, shared their spaces and archive, which holds key documents about the early iterations of the Baltic Triennial.
BT14 will be presented across the city of Vilnius, with exhibitions and/or events programmes at the CAC and the Lithuanian Art Association Gallery (curated by Valentinas Klimašauskas and João Laia), Atletika (exhibition-performance “Who Are You?” presenting artists Žygimantas Kudirka and Felicita), Autarkia (three nights of events curated by Robertas Narkus and JL Murtaugh), Editorial (exhibition “Feed” presenting artist Anni Puolakka, curated by Neringa Černiauskaitė and Vitalija Jasaitė), Rupert hosted by Tech Arts (exhibition “Authority Incorporeal” curated by Adomas Narkevičius), and Swallow (solo exhibition by Tomasz Kowalski).
In collaboration with international partners Kim? Contemporary Art Centre (Riga, Latvia), the Estonian Centre for Contemporary Art (Tallinn, Estonia) and Mousse Publishing, the CAC in Vilnius will also produce a reader with launch events planned in cities including Berlin, Riga, Timișoara, Vilnius and Warsaw during autumn and winter 2021/2022.
BT14’s architecture project by Isora x Lozuraityte studio proposes a radical reshaping of the CAC’s iconic city-centre building, rechoreographing its spaces through a number of interventions which place ecological sustainability at its core and uncover the layered history of the site.
Together, the voices grounding BT14 map Central and Eastern Europe as a kaleidoscopic, queer space-time of strange realism whose extraordinary polyphonic juxtapositions echo the complexity of the world at large.
EXHIBITIONS AND EVENTS
CONTEMPORARY ART CENTRE
Vokiečių str. 2, Vilnius
4 June – 5 September 2021
Exhibition “The Endless Frontier”
Curators: Valentinas Klimašauskas and João Laia
Architecture: Isora x Lozuraityte studio (Petras Išora and Ona Lozuraitytė)
Artists: Jüri Arrak, Tekla Aslanishvili, Alex Baczyński-Jenkins, Zuzanna Czebatul, Anna Daučíková, Aleksandra Domanović, Harun Farocki and Andrei Ujica, Uli Golub, Edvinas Grin, Henrikas Gulbinas, Flaka Haliti, Klára Hosnedlová, Monika Janulevičiūtė and Antanas Lučiūnas, Milda Januševičiūtė and Miša Skalskis, Agnė Jokšė, Dóra Maurer, Flo Kasearu, Zsófia Keresztes, Jiří Kovanda, Vojtěch Kovařík, Tomasz Kowalski, Edward Krasiński, Danutė Kvietkevičiūtė, Sasha Litvintseva, Natalia LL, George Maciunas, Yarema Malashchuk and Roman Himey, Jonas Mekas, Ania Nowak, Markéta Othová, Jaakko Pallasvuo, Agnieszka Polska, Nada Prlja, Anni Puolakka, Karol Radziszewski, Marija Teresė Rožanskaitė, Adam Rzepecki, Kirill Savchenkov, Sergey Shabohin, Jura Shust, Janek Simon, Emilija Škarnulytė, Martina Smutná, Anastasija Sosunova, Mladen Stilinović, Viktor Timofeev, Dominika Trapp, Goran Trbuljak, Evita Vasiljeva, Mona Vatamanu and Florin Tudor, Artur Żmijewski and others
ATLETIKA
Vitebsko str. 21, Vilnius
5 June – 30 July 2021
Exhibition-performance “Who Are You?” presenting artists Žygimantas Kudirka and Felicita
AUTARKIA
Naugarduko str. 41, Vilnius
Part 1
Friday, 4 June, 20:00–00:00
“Kontakt” – a happening at all the spaces of Autarkia
With contributions by Lubomir Grzelak, Robertas Narkus, Lukas Strolia, Oleg Šurajev, Elena Veleckaitė and Delta Mityba (Kotryna Butautytė, Saulė Gerikaitė, Sniegė Naku, Jonas Palekas, Dominykas Saliamonas Kaupas and Maria Tsoy)
Part 2
Friday, 30 July, 20:00 (the door opens at 19:30)
“Atvanga 1”, a performance by Austėja Vilkaitytė with Barbora Matonytė
Part 3
2 – 5 September 2021
“Codomestication” – a performance by Krõõt Juurak and Alex Bailey
Curators: Robertas Narkus and JL Murtaugh
EDITORIAL
Latako str. 3, Vilnius
3 June – 3 July 2021
Exhibition “Feed” presenting artist Anni Puolakka
Curators: Neringa Černiauskaitė and Vitalija Jasaitė
TECH ARTS IN COLLABORATION WITH RUPERT
Vaidilutės str. 79, Vilnius
5 June – 4 July 2021
Exhibition “Authority Incorporeal“
Curator: Adomas Narkevičius
Artists: Juta Čeičytė, Flaka Haliti, Rachel McIntosh, Jaakko Pallasvuo, Karol Radziszewski, Miša Skalskis, Virgilijus Šonta, Stephen Webb, Jonas Zagorskas and Žilvinas Dobilas
SWALLOW
Vitebsko str. 23, Vilnius
5 June – 31 July 2021
Tomasz Kowalski exhibition “Foam City”
Curated by Swallow
