Between Sky and Earth (2025), installation

When a wasp stings, you have to put a cool soil on the wound.
When civilization fails, people often seek salvation in nature.
Is painting part of human nature?
Is purposeful, imperialistic evil present in nature?
Tough resistance and amazing revival capabilities can be found in nature for sure.

I stand with Ukraine and Palestine.

Andris Eglītis

The installation Between Sky and Earth by Andris Eglītis is a refuge inviting one to experience, endure, and reconsider both individual and collective crises. The artist here abandons rational control, trusting the organic flow of processes and natural transformation. The paintings and installation explore the relationship between humans and nature, conveyed through gesture, brushstroke, or narrative, thus offering alternative ways of perceiving the world.

This is not only an exhibition but also an experiential space that encourages pausing, observing closely, listening, and feeling the rhythm dictated by nature, rather than solely by human-imposed rules.

Andris Eglītis (b. 1981) lives and works in Riga. Since 2008, he has held over 20 solo exhibitions and participated in 30+ group shows internationally. He won the Purvītis Prize in 2013 for his Earthworks series and represented Latvia at the 56th Venice Biennale (together with Katrīna Neiburga) in 2015. Eglītis has designed theater and opera sets and created commissioned works for the Latvian President’s Palace (2020) and Latvian National Opera (2023). He co-founded the Savvaļa outdoor art space in 2020.

Tuskulėnai Peace Park Chapel–Columbarium, Žirmūnų g. 1F, Vilnius

14 September at 1 p.m. meeting with the artist (in English)

Visiting Hours:

11 September 4 p.m. – 6 p.m.

12 September 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.

13 September 12 p.m. – 6 p.m.

14 September 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.

The space is wheelchair accessible. There are no visitor-accessible toilets.

Monkshood (Aconitum napellus) (2025), musical performance (45 min)

Arturas Bumšteinas’ practice spans music, contemporary art, radio works, performances, theatre, and audiovisual projects. His work is shaped by an interest in voice archives, sound collections, decompositional processes, explorations of the boundaries between art and reality, and the conceptual revision of music history. Often, his pieces invite the listener to play with conventions, shifting between fiction and reality.

Bumšteinas’ work Monkshood is inspired by a plant of exceptional beauty yet extreme toxicity. Its active compound, aconitine, initially stimulates the nervous system before paralysing it, causing respiratory failure and death. Historically, this plant has been used both as a poison—applied to arrow tips for hunting or execution—and as a medicine. In Tibetan homeopathic tradition, it is considered highly valuable, even honoured as the ‘king of medicine’. Despite its lethal nature, small doses of aconitine are still used in certain cold and pain remedies.

In this work, musical performativity and pharmacological mythology merge to explore the threshold between beauty and danger, between the plant’s poetic presence and its toxicological effects. The composition, built on interpretations by non-professional voices, deconstructs the genre of the classical song, giving the voice both an informational and an emotionally expressive role. The chosen space becomes not only a backdrop but a semantic component of the performance, prompting reflection on the relationships between knowledge, healing, and poisoning. Here, Monkshoodfunctions as a sonic herbarium, centring on the plant’s ambivalent nature—a bearer of both danger and remedy.

Arturas Bumšteinas (b. 1982) is a composer and sound artist. His work has been presented in more than thirty group exhibitions and seven solo shows, as well as at numerous contemporary music festivals across Europe. He has released fifty albums and received the European Broadcasting Union’s Palma Ars Acustica Prize (2013) and the Borisas Dauguvietis Earring Award (2019). He has held residencies with the DAAD in Berlin (2017) and the Camargo Foundation in France (2022). Bumšteinas has been nominated for the Lithuanian National Prize for Culture and Arts and the Government Culture and Arts Award.

Musicians:
Salomėja Kalvelytė, Artūras Kažimėkas, Arnas Kmieliauskas, Arturas Bumšteinas.

Vocal:
Jonė Miškinytė

Recorded vocals:
Adolfina Kunčiūtė, Agata Orlovska, Andrėja Juškaitė, Armanda Rudelytė, Augustina Gruzdytė, Domakinja, Elena Adejevaitė, Elmyra Ragimova, Gabrielė Griciūtė, Miglė Marcinkevičiūtė, Ugnė Uma, Agnė Jonkutė.

Lithuanian Medical Library, Kaštonų St. 7

Performance Times:

12 September 6 p.m.

13 September at 2 p.m.

14 September at 3 p.m.

There are steps inside and no lift. There are no visitor-accessible toilets.

Vilnius University Ideas Observatory Park, M. K. Čiurlionis St. 29

Visiting Hours:

11 September 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

12 September 12 p.m.– 7 p.m.

13 September 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.

14 September 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.

The artwork in the park. There are no visitor-accessible toilets.

Things We Don’t Want to See (2023), video performance (8 min 43 sec)

For Gabija Švanaitė, artistic practice is above all a form of self-reflection, enabling her to explore inner processes and recognise both personal and collective experiences. During her studies, she developed a growing interest in sculptural forms and performance art—a shift away from traditional textile practice that prompted her to experiment with the body as the primary medium of artistic expression.

The video performance Things We Don’t Want to See arose from the understanding that seemingly peaceful times are nothing more than an illusion. We live in a constant flow of change, where everything around us shifts, loses its defined shape, and the pursuit of stability often proves to be no more than a mirage. These transformations of the world compel us to reconsider our identity and invite us to step into change—even when it is uncomfortable, uncertain, or frightening.

At the heart of the work is the body, becoming an almost monolithic object. Through physical tension and fatigue, a path opens towards a sensorially unknown, liminal state—a temporary loss of self, suspended between what was and what will be. In this in-between moment emerges the need to shed what has become a burden, to abandon outdated forms of identity, and to embrace change as a condition for growth.

Švanaitė’s work is a sensitive invitation to reflect on transformation, both internal and external, in which the body becomes not only an artistic object but also a metaphor for change.

Creative team: Laurynas Kamarauskas, Vytenis Jankauskas, Klaudija Adelė Armonavičiūtė, Virginija Kemeželytė Šiaučiūnė, Aidas Šiaučiūnas.

Gabija Švanaitė (b. 1997) is a young-generation artist who graduated with a BA in Textile Art and Design from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2023. In her practice, she primarily follows an empirical approach to art-making, without binding herself to any specific creative medium.

Lukiškės Prison 2.0, Lukiškių Skg. 6

Visiting Hours:

11 September 4 p.m.– 7 p.m.

12 September  12 p.m. – 7 p.m.

13 September 12 p.m.– 7 p.m.

14 September 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.

There are steps inside and no lift. There are no visitor-accessible toilets.

Laidi (2023), video (38 min), photographs

The documentary film Laidi tells the story of the final year of Laidi Primary School, located in Laidi Manor in southwestern Latvia. In autumn 2021, artist Ieva Epnere arrived for a creative residency to explore the area’s history and develop new work. During this time, she collaborated with the school’s theatre group and choreographer Elīna Gediņa to create the performance Laidu leģendas (en. Tales of Laidi). When Epnere learned that the Kuldīga County Council had decided to close the school after a century of operation, she began filming daily life and the emotional lead-up to a farewell reunion. The result is a documentary that captures a community in transition, across all seasons.

In this work Ieva Epnere masterfully combines documentary filmmaking with subtle performative gestures to meditate on the slow erosion of rural community life in Latvia. The closure of Laidi Primary School becomes more than a local event – it is reframed as a universal narrative of loss, memory, and the fragility of cultural continuity. The accompanying photographs function not simply as documentation but as meditative tableaux, reinforcing the sense of stillness and transition that permeates the work. Through this multi-layered approach, Laidi becomes an elegy – quiet, precise, and deeply political in its attention to the spaces and stories often left behind.

Creative team: cinematographers Valdis Celmiņš and Baiba Kļava, editors Andra Doršs, Ieva Epnere, composer Kārlis Auziņš, sound director Edvards Broders, sound operator Arvīds Ceļmalis. 

Special thanks to the children of Laidi Primary school and the staff. 

I wish I could tell you / I wish you could tell me (2025), photography, installation

In Ieva Epnere’s practice, personal experience often serves as a gateway to broader collective themes such as identity, memory, and history. Her project I wish I could tell you / I wish you could tell me emerged in the aftermath of her father’s death – a moment that marked a shift in her artistic direction. For the first time, Epnere turns the camera on herself, using self-reflection as a means to explore familial relationships and the intergenerational transmission of memory.

This body of work reflects a process of self-redefinition, where personal loss becomes a lens through which to re-examine one’s place within a larger narrative. By engaging with her family history and uncovering forgotten or unknown fragments, Epnere investigates how individual stories connect to collective identity and cultural memory.

With this work the artist also expands the boundaries of photography by printing on unconventional materials and creating sculptural photo-based installations. These tactile, object-like works blur the line between image and form, reinforcing the idea that memory and identity are layered, fragmented, and constantly being reconstructed.

About artist

Ieva Epnere (b. 1977) lives and works in Riga. She holds an MA from the Latvian Academy of Art and completed the HISK postgraduate program in Ghent (2011–2012). Her work has been widely exhibited internationally, including at steirischer herbst 24′ (Austria), IMMA (Ireland), Fogo Island Gallery (Canada), Art in General (USA), DAAD Galerie (Germany), and Kunsthalle Wien (Austria), as well as at RIBOCA1. Her works are held in public and private collections, including the Latvian National Museum of Art, Malmö Art Museum, Contretype. In 2019, she received the Purvītis Award for her solo exhibition Sea of Living Memories at the KIM? Contemporary Art Centre in Riga, fellowship of DAAD Artists-in-Berlin Program (2019).

Vilniaus St. 25 (entrance through the archway to the inner courtyard)

Visiting Hours:

11 September  4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

12 September 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.

13 September 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.

14 September 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Nearest public transport stops: Vinco Kudirkos aikštė (trolleybuses 2, 3, 6, 12, 15, 20; buses 1G, 2G, 11, 53, 88, 88N, N1, N4, N5, N6, N8) and Operos ir baleto teatras (trolleybuses 4, 10, 17; buses 43, 46, 52, 56). Nearest car parks: Gedimino Ave 9 and the Operos ir baleto teatras car park. The exposition is located on the 4th floor, accessed by stairs. It is dog- and guide-dog-friendly. No sanitary facilities; and there is no mother-and-baby room.

The Change of Necessity (2024), kinetic object 

The work, barely lifted from the ground, drifts through space like a living, breathing sculpture. At its centre is a gigantic maternal form, encircled by white figures that, together with the main body, gradually fill with air. The humanoid shapes seem to come to life, transforming into a powerful, dynamic mass that embodies a collective desire for change and renewal. The installation vividly illustrates how individual aspirations merge into a shared current of transformation, becoming a potent metaphor for social change.

The artist describes people as ‘drops that create rivers’, whose flow overcomes any dam or obstacle. United by a common vision, people are capable of transcending all boundaries—physical, geographical, political, or symbolic. The Change of Necessity lays bare the complex interplay between the individual and the social structure, showing how this structure, not unlike a living organism, is constantly reshaped by political, social, and individual forces. At the same time, the installation prompts reflection on each of our roles in shaping a shared reality.

About the artist

Kęstutis Svirnelis (b. 1976) lives and works in Stuttgart. He graduated from the Vilnius Academy of Arts in 2002. From 2002 to 2009, he studied at the State Academy of Fine Arts in Stuttgart under Professors Werner Pokorny, Micha Ullman, and Christian Jankowski, earning a degree in Freestanding Sculpture. In 2010, he became a master student of the renowned artist Christian Jankowski. Svirnelis has participated in numerous exhibitions in Germany, Poland, Italy, the United Kingdom, South Korea, and the USA.

VILNIUS TECH “LinkMenų fabrikas”, Linkmenų St. 28

Entrance/access from Linkmenų Street. Linkmenų 28-3.

Visiting Hours:

11 September 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

12 September 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.

13 September 11 a.m. – 5 p.m.

14 September  11 a.m.– 4 p.m.

The exposition is located on the ground floor. There are threshold inside and no lift. There are no visitor-accessible toilets.

Encounter (2014 & 2025), video (19 min 11 sec), installation

Kristaps Epners’ work reflects on the profound story of resilience and resistance during the harshest times of Soviet repression. Nearly every Latvian family was scarred by the mass deportations of the 1940s, raising a haunting question: how did so many endure exile or death without fighting back?

In 1954, a rare spark of resistance flared during the Kengir uprising, where prisoners briefly took control. They drove out the guards, established self-governance, and broke down barriers between men and women. In this fragile freedom, people of different backgrounds connected deeply—sharing stories, finding love, singing, and dancing. To reach the outside world, they crafted delicate messages. Though the revolt was violently suppressed, it marked a turning point: camp conditions gradually eased, and political prisoners began to be released. Even in the harshest conditions, the human spirit found ways to resist and hope.

Encounter meditates on the tension between fragility and resilience, silence and expression. The work navigates the liminal space between confinement and freedom, where gestures – however delicate – become acts of resistance. Communication is reframed not as transmission, but as hope: messages launched into the void, uncertain of their destination, yet vital in their intention. Epners engages with the poetics of disappearance, tracing the quiet persistence of the human voice against systems of erasure. What emerges is a contemplation of presence – fleeting, ephemeral, and deeply insistent – carried by wind, light, and the memory of touch.

The artist is most grateful to conversation partners Ausma and Dzintars, once inmates of this camp.

Kristaps Epners (b. 1976) lives and works in Riga. He obtained a master’s degree in visual communication at the Latvian Academy of Arts in 2003. Epners was nominated for the Purvitis Prize in 2017, 2019 and 2023. His works are regularly exhibited in Latvia and also internationally, including Flughafen Tempelhof, Germany; Tallinn Art Hall, Estonia; Den Frie Center for Contemporary Art, Denmark; At Latvian National Museum of Art;  Rothko Museum and elsewhere.

Vilniaus St. 25 (entrance through the archway to the inner courtyard)

Visiting Hours:

11 September 4 p.m. – 7 p.m.

12 September 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.

13 September 12 p.m. – 7 p.m.

14 September 12 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Nearest public transport stops: Vinco Kudirkos aikštė (trolleybuses 2, 3, 6, 12, 15, 20; buses 1G, 2G, 11, 53, 88, 88N, N1, N4, N5, N6, N8) and Operos ir baleto teatras (trolleybuses 4, 10, 17; buses 43, 46, 52, 56). Nearest car parks: Gedimino Ave 9 and the Operos ir baleto teatras car park. The exposition is located on the 4th floor, accessed by stairs. It is dog- and guide-dog-friendly. No sanitary facilities; and there is no mother-and-baby room.

Petrified Waters (2025), installation, sound – Simon Gimelstein

At Vilnius University’s Rector’s Hall, Milda Dainovskytė presents her scent and sound installation Petrified Waters, inspired by the phenomenon of artificial grottoes that spread across Europe in the 16th century. These man-made caves and rocky structures, created in the parks of manor estates, were intended as secluded spaces—places of withdrawal for contemplation and escape from daily life. While their purpose has remained much the same to this day, their form has evolved—from decorative, theatrical constructions to attempts at faithfully replicating natural landscapes, embracing their imperfections and irregularities to create the illusion that these are objects of natural origin.

Visitors are invited to engage their sense of smell and explore conceptual scents—a world suspended between ‘real’ and ‘artificial’, between nature and imitation. This olfactory threshold becomes a basis for reflecting not only on sensory experience, but also on broader themes of humanity’s relationship with the environment. Scent—one of the most intimate senses, deeply bound to memory and emotion—here becomes a means of infusing the space with historical and emotional resonance. It works quietly, like an invisible narrative, prompting attentiveness to what cannot be touched yet can be felt. The installation not only investigates the possibilities of scent as a medium, but also asks how convincing artificiality can be and whether it might even surpass natural experience. Thus the grotto tradition continues, in which, by imitating nature, humans create a new reality that mirrors their own view of the world.

The installation integrates into the space of the Rector’s Hall, whose walls are adorned with a fresco by Antanas Kmieliauskas. In it, figures absorbed in everyday tasks harmoniously coexist with scenes from ancient mythology and religion. This visual whole is echoed by a sound piece composed by Simon Gimelstein.

Milda Dainovskytė holds a BA and MA in Graphic Arts from the Vilnius Academy of Arts. Her practice spans a variety of media, including printmaking, scent, sound, video, and archival research. Since 2018, she has also been active as a curator, co-founding the curatorial duo Lokomotif with Laurynas Skeisgiela. From 2020 to 2023, together with Vytenis Burokas, she curated the JCDecaux Prize exhibitions and carried out numerous projects in unconventional or peripheral spaces. Dainovskytė has exhibited in Lithuania, Latvia, Germany, Estonia, and France.

Simon Gimelstein is a young-generation composer living and working in Vilnius. Having completed his studies in film composition at the University of Huddersfield in the UK in 2022, he is currently pursuing an MA at the Lithuanian Academy of Music and Theatre in the class of Professor Vaclovas Augustinas. His work focuses on applied music for films and art installations, and he collaborates with other composers and artists.

Vilnius University Rector’s Hall, Universiteto St. 3, 2nd floor

Walk from the gates of the Presidential Courtyard, upon reaching the Kristijonas Donelaitis monument, enter through the main entrance.

Visiting Hours:

11 September 4 p.m.– 7 p.m.

12 September 12 p.m.– 7 p.m.

13 September 12 p.m.– 7 p.m.

14 September 12 p.m.– 4 p.m.

Nearest public transport stops: MO muziejus, Dailės akademija. Nearest parking: Gaono St 1/Dominikonų St 15. The artwork is on the 2nd floor. There are steps inside and no lift. There are no visitor-accessible toilets.