Photography and theatre from Lithuania to be seen in Dudelange and Kayl/Tétange

We are thrilled to announce that the presentation of “H – The Notion of Humanist Photography” took place on 24th November at the Kaunas Photography Gallery and then will take place on 3rd December at the Centre National de l’Audiovisuel (CNA) in Dudelange.

The two European cultural institutions, the Kaunas Photography Gallery in Lithuania and the Centre national de l’audiovisuel (CNA) in Dudelange, Luxembourg, have joined forces to create an innovative project that brings together a group of artists to explore the subject of humanist photography. The idea is to review and combine the experiences of two existing projects of the two institutions in order to create a new collaborative format.

The “Portfolio Days”, hosted triennially by the CNA, and the Magazine “Į” from Kaunas, published every year by the Gallery in Kaunas, seem to be the perfect combination for this initiative since they share a common aim: to bring together creatives from the world of photography and to promote exchange as the basis for new creations.

The group consists of twenty-three international photographers but will also include writers and the designer Nicolas Polli. The group of artists will be led by the photography editor and curator Emma Bowkett, artist and editor Naoise O’Keeffe, as well as the artist and photographer Jim Goldberg.

The project will involve the establishment of a creative platform in the shape of two residencies – one in Luxembourg, one in Lithuania –, which will allow for experimentation and the development of a project on the basis of a photographic commission dealing with a designated topic.

These workshops will culminate in the production of a trilingual publication, with presentations of the resulting work taking place on 24th November at the Kaunas Photography Gallery and on 3rd December at the Centre National de l’Audiovisuel (CNA) in Dudelange.

03.12.22, 6 pm – 10 pm
Centre National de l’Audiovisuel (CNA)
1b, rue du Centenaire L-3475 Dudelange

Programme:
Presentation of the publication
Artist talk with Emma Bowkett and Naoise O’Keeffe (7 pm)
Book market followed by food and drinks with the artists
Free admission, no reservation

But the Lithuanian-Luxembourgish cooperation does not end here. On 17 December, the Psilicone theatre will present a very special performance in Tetange.

As part of the exhibition “The Great Industry”, curated by the artist Auksė Petrulienė, the Lithuanian artist duo Psilicone theater will present their exceptional audiovisual performance “WORK / AARBECHT” at the Schungfabrik.

Psilicone theatre was founded in 2005 by two visual artists – Auksė Petrulienė and Darius Petrulis and is based on an original animation technique: miniature and flexible silicone puppets are animated by pressing them between perspex glasses and revealing this process as live video projection, recognisable because of its original aesthetic.

In 2015, Psilicone theatre started getting involved in research of post-industrial places. The first performance from their industrial trilogy was “Hairy Hairy Mouth” based on the history of the Synthetic Yarn Factory in Kaunas and revealing the grotesque of the soviet planned industry. The second performance “Factory: Love and Loss” premiered in 2022 in Guimaraes, Portugal and was dedicated to the historical textile factory Fabriko de Castanheiro and the Industrial revolution in Europe. Performance Work is the third part of the industrial trilogy.

In this context and in the framework of Esch2022, Psilicone theatre presents the audiovisual performance “WORK / AARBECHT” on 17 December at the Schungfabrik in Tétange.

 The script of the performance is the result of an interesting coincidence: the collaboration between the MUAR and Backup Stories began in 2020 in the former miners’ footwear factory Schungfabrik when the team of Backup Stories was researching the rubber shoe factory “Inkaras” (Anchor). After walking a long way towards each other, the Kaunas sneakers and the miners’ boots from the industrial southern region of Luxembourg finally meet in the performance.

The shoe metaphor not only helps to transcend the different socio-economic systems in which the Luxembourg and Lithuanian industries grew and collapsed. The shoes on the left and right feet invite us to step in search of a unified rhythm that helps us, with our feet firmly planted in the ground, to remain human in the face of dramatic economic and social changes. The show’s actors – miniature flexible silicone figures – embody original characters such as Left and Right Miner’s Boots, Batch of Faulty Inkaras Trainers, Lost Gloves, etc.

This performance by Auksė Petrulienė will be accompanied by the Luxembourg composer, jazz musician and multi-instrumentalist Pol Belardi, who chose an exciting semi-electronic aggregate setup consisting of acoustic instruments made of metal (vibraphone, cymbals, bells…) and an array of digital devices and effects.

His live music performance thus incorporates industrial sounds recorded in the region’s remaining factories (Massard foundry and Cimalux), as well as musical motives derived from the shoe factories’ brand names. The semi-improvised set will be in close dialogue with Aukse’s handling of the psilicone puppets.

This true and special “remix” that will close the municipality’s activities of this cultural year of Esch2022.